A Parent's Case Against Phones in Schools

"These messages and dozens more like them could have been avoided had my daughter chatted with a classmate or waited to talk with me later. But just as objects in motion stay in motion, kids who have a cellphone use it. And my daughter has very much had hers while in school, when she's supposed to be focused on learning and engaging with the people around her."

"I also appreciate why many parents want their kids to have a phone accessible: It can be comforting to think that kids can be reached in an emergency, and convenient to communicate on the fly when after-school plans change. On the other hand, as a former teacher and a writer steeped in the academic literature on psychology, child development, and pedagogy, I know that letting kids have phones in schools comes with many costs."

Students frequently use cellphones during school for nonurgent matters, creating constant interruptions to classroom activities and teacher instruction. Such device use can distract learning, increase social anxiety and stress, and limit opportunities for emotional and intellectual development. Cellphones can also reduce student autonomy by keeping children tethered to parents through constant access. Parents often want phones for safety and convenience, to reach children in emergencies or coordinate plans. Historically schools left device policy enforcement to individual teachers, but many states and districts now adopt formal phone limits or bans to reduce in-school distractions.

Read at The Atlantic