The many consequences of allowing phones at school

The evidence for why we need bell-to-bell phone bans

On Tuesday, I testified at a hearing for the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Education and Workforce on screentime in schools. The video of the hearing, including the compelling testimony of the other witnesses, is here (scroll down to the second video).

Below is part of my written testimony, some of which is also featured in my upcoming book, 10 Rules for Raising Kids in a High-Tech World (out September 2 and available for pre-order now; Rule #10 is “Advocate for No Phones During the School Day.”) The book also includes a draft letter parents can send to ask their child’s school to ban phones during the school day bell-to-bell. If you’d like to write your own email or letter to the administration at your child’s school, the evidence below should be helpful.

After the hearing in D.C.: Dr. Rich Nye, Dara Gardner, myself, and Dr. Matthew Gibbins

The first smartphone, the iPhone, went on sale in 2007. By 2012, the majority of Americans owned a smartphone. The years since have resembled a vast experiment, especially on children and adolescents. The results of that experiment have been a disaster.

That is especially true in education, where most schools allow students to use their phones during the school day. These lax policies have had devastating consequences for students attending K-12 schools, including increases in loneliness, declines in academic performance, lack of social interaction, exposure to pornography during school hours, discipline referrals, and declines in teacher morale. Below, I detail these consequences with reference to my academic research as well as the research and reports of others. This evidence supports school policies banning student use of phones from the beginning to the end of the school day.