Students returning to Texas schools will have to learn to do without their cell phones.
State lawmakers banned them from classrooms to reduce distractions and hopefully improve student focus and mental health.
KERA's Sam Baker talks more about this problem with Dr. Ken Jones, a Behavioral Health Clinical Officer for Texas Health Resources Behavioral Health.
Dr. Jones: The research has shown over time that the distractibility factor when it comes to cell phones, and the way the algorithms are created, they're designed to create a bit of an addiction.
We've had young people tell us this is a bit of a problem, and it's difficult for them to attend to education or even track with what's being taught in the classroom when there are so many alerts demanding their attention daily. Some of the studies just indicated that teens are receiving more than 200 alerts per day. And many of those are happening during the learning hours.
Baker: And is it something more than that that keeps the kids plugged into that cell phone?
Social media is designed specifically to kind of create those emotional hooks. The linkage that takes place in the frontal lobe, specifically in response to the constant reels back to back to back, is well documented. And like I said, even teenagers are talking about how I don't feel much better after spending an hour or two connected to the reels over and over. So, it does have a neurological impact.
Does taking away the phones from the kids work?
Well, we're about to find out in Texas.
The details of how that happens, there is some ability for the schools to indicate how they implement those rules. But certainly I think given where we are, it's say positive attempt to help students be successful in the academic environment.
Are there other effective means of dealing with this problem without going that far?
One of the ideas that I've been up on for some time is using software that is able to limit the content of what's available during school hours.
And so, oftentimes you hear from parents who have a reason to be concerned that they want to be able to reach their child during the school day.
I think a compromise for that would be to have monitoring software or to utilize monitoring software that allows parents to set the parameters so that the child can reach certain people on the phone during the day, but don't have access to the social media platforms that are causing the disruption during the school day.
And so, you know, that may be one compromise that would satisfy both the parents' concern as far as access to their child during the day and, at the same time, limit the young people's access to, you now, to TikTok and Instagram and those types of things that are creating the negative impact on the learning environment.
When the kids return to school and they're no longer able to use the phone, are schools going to face some difficulties in trying to make that transition happen?
I think there's going to be, as with any significant change, I think, there's going to be some challenges that are faced across the state and across school districts. And I think that's where the messaging and how it's implemented are key.
I believe everyone is pulling in the same direction as far as wanting young people to be able to be successful in the academic environment. So, how we implement that and the benefits of that are as important as the conversations about not only the why but also how we do this effectively.
I would expect that once the implementation is in place, young people will find this is different, but it's not the worst thing. I'm able to be present with my friends. I am able to engage with them, and the opportunity for deepening of relationships, I think, is going to be a key takeaway of this.
Even now, if you think about it, you've seen this in social settings or at restaurants: The ability to just interact and have a conversation with each other, those are key developmental aspects of becoming a young adult and finding a partner, a life partner, that sort of thing.
So, I do think there are cascading benefits from being able to create spaces in which learning can take place and in which a deeper socialization can have an impact on the emotional well-being of young people.
RESOURCES:
How Smartphones Create Distractions in the Classroom
The potential effect of technology and distractions on undergraduate students' concentration
Cellphone Distraction in the Classroom Can Lead to Lower Grades, Rutgers Study Finds
Mobile ban in schools not improving grades or behaviour, study suggests
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