Leaders are pushing to ban cellphones in schools. Are they a distraction or necessary tool? – USA TODAY

Kids may no longer be allowed to whip out cellphones to type essays, operate calculators, make videos or text their parents from school starting this school year in some parts of the U.S.
Officials in California, New York and Virginia are urging school leaders to restrict student cellphone usage. If the implement such rules, schools in those states would join a growing number of districts that ban the devices.
These governors’ directives have reignited a debate over an issue some parents never contended with in their youth: Are cellphones a distraction, a safety tool or an aid in modern classrooms?
The directives from governors and state legislatures to limit kids’ access to cellphones in class are a new phenomenon, said Kenneth Trump, the president of the National School Safety and Security Services. Local officials have tried to ban smartphones and other electronic devices in classrooms for more than a decade – these debates go as far back as bans on pagers in the 1980s, he said.
The new concern comes on the heels of a call to action by the U.S. Surgeon General directed at policymakers, technology companies and families to implement measures to address the harms of social media on children.
Elizabeth Keren-Kolb, a clinical professor of education technologies and teacher education at the University of Michigan who has written books on cellphone use in school, said concerns about kids’ increased exposure to screentime during the COVID-19 pandemic and pandemic-relief funding that allowed schools to buy devices for every student so they didn’t need to use their cellphones as much have also played a role.
States weigh school cellphone bans:Atop district policies
Keren-Kolb opposes the sweeping bans these governors are proposing.
Each community should be able to decide whether to allow cellphones in classrooms, in her view.
Even though schools purchased devices for kids to have access during the pandemic, students could be left with only cellphones as a technology resource, she said. Many electronic devices that districts purchased in 2020 during the sudden surge in remote learning have become outdated or broken, and pandemic relief funding to replace them will soon disappear.
In low-income communities where students are more likely to own only a smartphone and not a tablet or a laptop, banning devices will only further existing inequities in student achievement, she said. Some students have to complete homework or assignments on cellphones if they don’t have laptops. Their schools should have the flexibility to let kids use them as instructional aids and as an in-class resource for academic purposes, she said.
“Cellphones clearly can be distracting in school, and there are studies that support that, but cellphones also have been ways to help schools become more equitable in terms of technology access,” she said.
Richard Culatta, CEO of the International Society for Technology in Education, said the renewed calls for smartphone bans in classrooms remind him of the recent bans on OpenAI’s ChatGPT tool and other artificial intelligence tools.
And he thinks that’s regrettable.
Any technology ban in a schoolhouse represents “an old way of thinking” and “not a good digital culture,” Culatta said. Educators should instead utilize smartphones as learning tools and teaching aids to create a good digital culture on their campuses, he said.
“It’s generally a terrible idea to ban a tool they’ll need to use in the future. It harms kids when we aren’t teaching them to use technology effectively,” Culatta said. “The question I’ll often ask schools is ‘Do you think kids are going to use them in the future?’ They say, ‘Yes.’ And so, if we as educators are not teaching them how to use them effectively, who is?”
If kids aren’t learning how to use technology effectively in schools or at home they might learn how to use cellphones from advertising or other kids, but the classroom is a more suitable and safe environment, Culatta said.
The International Society for Technology in Education guides schools in teaching kids about digital citizenship, including training on how to use electronic devices and artificial intelligence in smart and safe ways.
Is banning them the solution?Schools don’t want kids on cellphones.
People who support cellphone bans in schools largely say they’re a disturbance, they distract student learning and allow kids additional time to be on social media, which they view as either harmful or wasteful.
The U.S. Surgeon General, Dr. Vivek Murthy, said in his directive that policymakers should find ways to limit young people’s access to social media.
“Children are exposed to harmful content on social media, ranging from violent and sexual content to bullying and harassment,” Murthy wrote in a May 2023 advisory. “And for too many children, social media use is compromising their sleep and valuable in-person time with family and friends.”
A recent global UNESCO report suggests that kids can learn better and be better protected from cyberbullying if they don’t have smartphones as a distraction. The report also acknowledges that kids need to learn how to use the devices to thrive in the future.
“Students need to learn the risks and opportunities that come with technology, develop critical skills, and understand to live with and without technology,” the report reads. “Shielding students from new and innovative technology can put them at a disadvantage.”
Is banning them the solution?Schools don’t want kids on cellphones.
District officials weighing how to regulate cellphones in their schools have turned to Trump, the school security expert, for advice. He’s been working on this issue since the mass shooting at Columbine High School in 1999 and the September 2001 attacks. 
The debate has come full circle, he said, but he views the broader statewide restrictions on cellphones as political posturing rather than a genuine solution to a problem.
Phones can be a major distraction during a life-threatening event at a school, Trump said. He thinks there are benefits to removing them from classrooms. His concerns include the fact that assailants can hear a phone ding or kids could urge their parents to come on campus when authorities are trying to manage the situation. But it’s also understandable that parents would want their kids to have their phones in these instances given the real threats of gun violence, he said.
Parents are split about whether kids should have cellphones on campus and about who should be making those determinations. A recent national survey from the National Parents Union shows that 57% of more than 1,500 parents polled supported a local-level decision on cellphone bans rather than a statewide one. About the same percentage of parents said students should be allowed to use cellphones during breaks from class and during afterschool activities, the survey found.
Even in places where bans go into effect, it’s up to principals, teachers and other officials to enforce the rules, Trump said. Many schools are already burdened by the increasing list of policies that policymakers have required them to add to their school safety handbooks following a school shooting or other incident.
Officials and educators already have a hard time enforcing everything on the books, he said.
Keren-Kolb, who has written books on cellphones in schools, agrees.
“While there are laws, they are often haphazard because of (the) lack of enforcement,” she said. “It’s very difficult to be able to support (them) because there’s not exactly funding that comes with it.”
Some districts that have banned phones are struggling to enforce the rules, because they say students or parents are refusing to comply. Kids are also finding innovative ways to bring them into classrooms, and educators say they’ve struggled to police their use.
Contact Kayla Jimenez at kjimenez@usatoday.com. Follow her on X at @kaylajjimenez.

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