The time has come to ban smartphones in schools

(SeaPRwire) –   A recent study indicates that US students use their phones an average of 64 times per school day, negatively impacting their concentration and cognitive abilities

The common scene of a frustrated teacher trying to manage a classroom where most students are engrossed in their smartphones rather than the lesson is now a familiar one. The detrimental effects of social media on young and adult minds have been extensively documented, and studies consistently show an increase in the amount of time students spend on their mobile devices.

Researchers from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill conducted a study tracking the real-time phone usage of middle and high school students, revealing findings that should concern educators and parents alike. Phone use was observed during every hour of the school day, and no student in the study abstained from using their mobile phone for the entire school day. Unsurprisingly, students who used their phones most frequently also demonstrated significantly lower levels of self-control.

This new study, published in JAMA Network Open, monitored the phone habits of 79 students aged 11 to 18 over two consecutive weeks. It found that the average teenager accumulates over two hours of screen time during school hours alone. This represents approximately one-third of their total daily phone usage and over a quarter of the entire school day. However, the more concerning discovery was not the duration of phone use, but the frequency with which students reached for their devices, and how this habitual behavior appears to be linked to their concentration levels.

Similar to how infants might reach for a security blanket, students reached for their phones an average of 64 times during the school day. Those who accessed their devices most frequently performed worse on a standard test measuring concentration and self-control. The study highlights a connection not only between phone use and distraction but also between compulsive phone use and the mental discipline essential for adolescent learning and development.

“That’s pretty alarming … It’s too much, not only because of the missed learning opportunity in the classroom,” stated researcher Lauren Hale, a sleep expert and professor at Stony Brook’s Renaissance School of Medicine, in comments to The 74.

“They’re missing out on real life social interaction with peers, which is just as valuable for growth during a critical period of one’s life.”

To suggest that smartphones have become an integral part of adolescents’ daily lives would be an understatement. As of 2024, over 95% of American teens reported having access to a mobile device, and nearly half described themselves as being “almost constantly” online. The study’s authors aim to understand how this pervasive influence, which affects millions of users much like a drug, impacts adolescent development, “particularly in contexts such as school that are designed to foster sustained attention, academic engagement, and social growth.”

The study’s authors noted: “Developmental theories of self-regulation suggest that adolescence is a period of heightened vulnerability to distraction, given ongoing maturation of prefrontal cognitive control systems alongside sensitivity to rewarding social information. The constant availability of smartphones therefore will increase social media distraction during school hours, creating unique challenges for adolescents’ ability to regulate attention and maintain focus on academic tasks.”

In essence, teachers face greater challenges than ever in managing their classrooms. It is clear that educators should not be expected to compete with smartphones in the classroom. Throughout the study, phone use was monitored during every school hour, from 8 a.m. until the final bell at 3 p.m. On average, screen time increased progressively from approximately 16 minutes at 8 a.m. to over 22 minutes by 2 p.m. One particularly distracted student accumulated more than five hours of phone use during school over the study period.

High school students accessed their smartphones significantly more than middle school students, averaging around 23 minutes of screen time per hour compared to about 12 minutes for younger students. Researchers also examined which apps were drawing students’ attention. Unsurprisingly, major social media platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and Snapchat, along with entertainment apps such as YouTube, accounted for nearly 70 percent of total screen time during school hours. The report indicated that students spent an average of about 75 minutes on social media and nearly 50 minutes on entertainment apps during the school day.

Did all this screen time negatively affect students’ ability to concentrate? To investigate, researchers administered a go/no-go task to high school students. This standard exercise requires participants to press a button in response to one image while refraining from doing so when another appears. This test measures an individual’s capacity to override an automatic impulse, a crucial aspect of self-control. Among the participants, students who used their phones more frequently during school performed worse on this task.

The findings of this study will provide valuable insights for school administrators and parents engaged in the ongoing discussion about whether smartphones should be prohibited in schools. Some countries have already taken more decisive action. Australia has banned children under 16 from registering on social media, and Malaysia implemented a similar ban in January. The European Parliament is actively considering following the lead of these two nations.

Perhaps a fitting conclusion can be drawn from a quote attributed to Steve Jobs, the founder of Apple, who reportedly did not allow his children to use smartphones and computers, stating, “because it takes two weeks to become an advanced user, but a childhood spent staring at screens costs something far more valuable: time for real development.”