Pressure to ban mobile phones in America’s schools intensifies
The idea of banning mobile phones from school classrooms has achieved the politically impossible: persuading many US Republicans and Democrats to agree on something.
As the new academic year starts, California’s Democratic governor Gavin Newsom has urged all schools in the state immediately to restrict mobile phone use in the classroom, while Republican Indiana banned phones in class this year. Several other states have also passed bans. At the local high school where I live outside Chicago, new restrictions took effect last week. Surgeon-general Vivek Murthy has said social media platforms should carry health warnings.
I sense a new conventional wisdom brewing.
Research shows mobiles in class distract students, reduce performance and can lead to cyber bullying. A Common Sense Media study of 200 11- to 17-year-olds found 97 per cent used their phones in school hours, receiving a median of 237 notifications a day and about a quarter during school time. According to Pew Research more than 70 per cent of US high school teachers say mobile phone distraction is a major problem.
