Isabella Pires first noticed what she calls the “gradual apathy pandemic” in eighth grade.
Only a handful of classmates registered for service projects she helped organize at her Massachusetts school. Even fewer actually showed up.
When she got to high school last fall, Isabella found the problem was even worse: a lackluster Spirit Week and classes where students seldom spoke.
In some ways, it’s as if students “just care less and less about what people think, but also somehow care more,” said Isabella, 14. Some teens, she said, no longer care about appearing disengaged, while others are so afraid of ridicule they keep to themselves. She blames social media and the lingering isolation of the post-COVID era.
Educators say their tried and true lesson plans are no longer enough to keep students engaged at a time of struggling mental health, shortened attention spans, reduced attendance and worsening academic performance. At the crux of these challenges? Addiction to cell phones. Now, adults are trying new strategies to reverse the malaise.
Cell phone bans are gaining traction, but many say they’re not enough. They argue for alternative stimulation: steering students outdoors or toward extracurriculars to fill time they might otherwise spend alone online. And students need outlets, they say, to speak about taboo topics without fear of being “ canceled ” on social media.
“To get students engaged now, you have to be very, very creative,” said Wilbur Higgins, lead English teacher at Dartmouth High School, where Isabella will be a sophomore this fall.
Lock them up
Cell phone pouches, lockers and bins have grown in popularity to help enforce device bans.
John Nguyen, a chemistry teacher in California, invented a pouch system because he was so distressed by bullying and fights on phones during class, often without adults interfering. Many teachers are afraid to confront students using phones during lessons, Nguyen said, and others have given up trying to stop it.
At Nguyen’s school, students lock their phones in neoprene pouches during classes or even all day. A teacher or principal’s magnetic key unlocks the pouches. --->READ MORE HERE
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| ABC News Photo Illustration |
Student cellphone bans are quickly becoming the buzziest back-to-school topic as more states work to keep phones away from kids from "bell to bell" or throughout the school day.
Virginia is one of the latest states to propose a cellphone ban after Gov. Glenn Youngkin signed an executive order in July to address "the alarming mental health crisis and chronic health conditions affecting adolescents." The momentum is continuing in California, with the nation's second-largest school district in Los Angeles voting to ban cellphones and social media use for over 420,000 K-12 students by the spring semester of the 2024-2025 school year.
The move comes as parents debate when or even whether to give their kids cellphones in the first place and experts like "The Anxious Generation" author and social psychologist Jonathan Haidt argue more children are being harmed by cellphone use instead of benefiting from it.
Scientific research suggests increased phone and social media use among children and teens has led to an increase in psychological impacts and mental health issues, leading the U.S. surgeon general to call for health warnings for younger users on social media platforms. A March 2024 study published in JAMA Network Open focused on children 5 and under and also found that just one extra hour of screen time, from one to two hours or more, led to lower psychological well-being scores.
A renewed focus on cellphones
School staffers and teachers say more students turned to phones and computers in the last four years since the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 led to more remote learning, and the increase in screen time has persisted since then.
The recent push for no phones in classrooms comes as teachers and administrators say students now tend to be more distracted when they use cellphones and social media excessively throughout the day.
At a June meeting of the Los Angeles Unified School District board, where the vote to ban phones passed, high school math teacher Jessica Quindel described the fight to keep students off phones as an "uphill battle."
"Managing student use of smartphones as a classroom teacher is now more like running a nonstop marathon. It takes a lot of energy, and it's really hard to keep up," Quindel said. --->READ MORE HEREFollow links below to relevant/related stories and resources:
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