15 Apr Students Say Phone Bans Don’t Fix Distraction

(Photo by Vitaly Gariev on Unsplash)

Editor’s note: The author is a student at Middle College High School.

Commentary, Juliana Libunao

Cell phone bans — and whether they help or harm students — have been a growing topic of debate across schools around the country.

Supporters say that banning phones during school hours will create ideal learning environments for students. Critics raise concerns on whether these bans really address the root of issues at schools. For the general public, it’s been difficult to come to a consensus.

Distractions like social media and online games have been viewed as problems in school for years now, but it seems the recent rise in artificial intelligence use has prompted district leaders to tackle these issues more head on.

As of last October, 31 states and the District of Columbia require their school districts to restrict cell phones to some degree, according to Education Week; 22 of those states do not allow students to use their phones at all during the school day.

So are the bans working? The answer is a lot more complicated than a simple yes or no.

Dr. Timothy Pressley, an associate professor of psychology at Christopher Newport University in Virginia, said during a recent American Community Media briefing that there are three main factors to consider when discussing the success of phone bans: academic outcomes, mental health and engagement.

When it comes to the impact on academics and mental health, results are mixed. Research has shown anything from no changes in academic performance to a boost in schoolwide test scores.

Research has also found little to no difference in the mental health of students before and after phone bans were put in place.

The other two areas were mixed, but engagement improved — which isn’t surprising.

When my friends and I are hanging out and someone pulls out their phone, we ask them if it’s phone time or friend time. What started out as a joke has become a reminder for us all to stay present.

“Technology itself isn’t the issue,” said Dr. David Marshall, an associate professor of educational research at Auburn University. “The issue here is that people are distracted by technology.”

From my perspective, it’s less that students, and young people as a whole, want to be glued to our phones 24/7and more that reaching for our devices has become a habit when we don’t have anything else or better to pay attention to — it’s a distraction, most definitely, but one that can be combated.

If the goal is student interaction and focus, I just don’t think taking away phones entirely is the best way to accomplish that.

The type of cell phone ban that we’ve been seeing most recently is known as a bell-to-bell ban. As the name suggests, students have their phones taken in the morning before classes and are given them back once everyone has been dismissed for the day.

KaiTamsin Bwor, a senior at Granada Hills Charter School in Los Angeles, was asked, “How can schools have balanced policies that don’t feel overly strict?”

In response, she pointed to the approach her AP psychology teacher takes. She said he is very involved, prompting his students to actively take part in his lessons, which in turn leads them to stay off of their phones by choice.

Choice is really the keyword here. It’s human nature. If you’re forced to do something that you don’t see the benefit of, you’re going to try and find an escape in anything you can — enter a student’s phone.

Engagement is a two-way street. If teachers want their students contributing to class discussion, they need to make sure that their lectures are making room for just that.

Bwor also said that rather than taking away cell phones when he sees them, her teacher instead reminds his students of the importance of taking his lectures in and learning from them, as well as the consequences of not paying attention.

I think it’s fair to say that schools are taking a pretty extreme approach with the initial rollouts of cell phone bans. On paper, it may seem like removing phones from the equation altogether will solve the problem of distracted students, but that doesn’t mean it’ll always work.

Multiple times throughout the briefing, speakers also raised concerns that students will find ways around full bans. In some cases, they already have.

There’s a phenomenon known as the “forbidden fruit effect.” When something is taken away or you’re specifically told you can’t have something, the more you’re going to want it. Now, imagine that the thing that’s been taken from you is something that you’ve grown incredibly attached to and use on a daily basis.

Ultimately, it’s a matter of balance.

Policies that allow students to make responsible decisions of their own accord, instead of just taking devices away, may achieve better results.

Phones aren’t going away.

The real lesson is in knowing when to put them down, look up, and be a part of the world in front of us.