For my third blog post for class EDCI 568, I thought I would discuss the current cell phone ban in high schools and what the preliminary results researchers are finding. My instructor for EDCI 568 posted an article in Matter Most that was most interesting (Phone bans in schools don’t help grades or health, study suggests) by Alice Evans.

The main reasons for the ban on cell phone use in high school are largely due to a couple of factors: one issue is that cell phones have become a major distraction during classroom time, and a second issue is cell phones and social media usage have created a generation of unhappy school-aged children. There is mixed research on this subject, but the majority of the research does say that increased cell phone usage and social media usage decrease mental well-being in teens. If we looked at the issue in more detail, it would show that it is more accurately, how students use social media on their cell phones that affects mental health, but that goes beyond this article.

This article states that the ban on cell phones is not really improving the grades or behaviour of school-aged children. This article also suggests that the ban on cell phones in high schools is not enough to counteract the negative effects of smartphones. It discusses how cell phones and social media are so ingrained within a teenager’s life that a more drastic intervention would likely be the only way to help students with their mental health. As I read many different studies on this topic for my literature review, I found other issues that need to be addressed other than cell phone bans in schools. This article confirms my reading that the amount of sleep students get, as well as how much exercise they get after school, plays a large part in mental well-being, along with how much time students spend on their phones outside of school. Evans suggests that we need to now focus on” reducing how much time students spend on their phones overall, adding: “We need to do more than just ban phones in schools.”” (Evens, p.1 Phone bans in schools don’t help grades or health, study suggests) Joe Ryrie, the director of a campaign group called Smartphone Free Childhood, was also quoted within this article stating that ”tougher regulations were needed to make social media platforms safer and non-addictive to children.” (Evans)

               Some anecdotal comments from students suggest that there’s been a change in the atmosphere of their school, stating that there are fewer fights and less filming of violent episodes within the school. It has been indicated that bullying has been reduced but has not been completely eradicated. Apparently, there’s been some pushback from parents who are having trouble contacting their students to check-in. Due to the cell ban, there have been some glitches, such as students not bringing their phones with them to school and then getting lost on public transport.

 Looking at the comments after Alice Evans’ article, some of the commenters appear to be researchers, educators, curriculum advisors, and writers offering their opinions on how the cell phone ban on high schools is progressing. The opinions of those who contributed to the comments seemed to vary somewhat from the article. One commenter, Nathan Nugent, a Self-professed educator writer and researcher suggests that the headline is misleading he goes on to say, “There are other social benefits from restricting phone use in schools, including improved campus culture concerning bullying and fights which are exacerbated by the normalized use of social media — which any teacher will tell you is the real problem.” Nathan believes, as I do, that it is not the cell phone itself that is the issue; how the cell phone is used creates problems in school and mental health.

Dave Fript, a self-professed curriculum advisor, thinks that not just cell phones but all technology in the classroom creates issues. He believes that technology invites us to multitask, which has proven counterproductive and, if I may add, can also cause mental health issues such as anxiety.

In conclusion, I found this article a good starting point to learn about issues with social media, but it was fairly shallow. I also read many of the links attached to it, and they were also a good start to getting your feet wet in the world of learning about mental health and social media with teenagers. The article misses a lot of the deeper issues surrounding social media, cell phones and mental health.