Lock up phones in schools, so that school time becomes protected time

A large body of research suggests that mobile phones have been harming students and youth. There are good reasons to bar them from classrooms but, in Singapore, many parents insist their children have access to smartphones.

In doing so, such parents ignore mounds of evidence presented by experts such as leading American social psychologists Jonathan Haidt and Jean Twenge. Their research points to a likely link between the increased use of smartphones and the worsening mental health of young people.

What is striking is the data showing a sharp decline in various measures of student well-being around 2012 throughout the West, just as smartphones and social media emerged as the attentional centrepieces of teenage life.

In Singapore, a r

ecently published study by researchers at the Institute of Mental Health

found that nearly half of young people between the ages of 15 and 21 have “problematic smartphone use” with users reporting that they find it hard to concentrate in class, or while doing their assignments. They also feel fretful when not holding a smartphone and will never give up using their smartphone even when their daily life is affected by it.

These findings align with various studies in the US, which have shown a negative relationship between device use and life satisfaction, happiness, paying attention during lessons, information retention and student achievement.

In his best-selling book, The Anxious Generation: How The Great Rewiring Of Childhood Is Causing An Epidemic of Mental Illness, Prof Haidt from New York University has called for a ban of smartphones in schools. He has also urged parents to delay giving their kids smartphones and to check if their kids are on social media platforms for too long and at too young an age.

There has been some pushback by other experts, who say that the link to children’s mental health is unclear. Some also argue that even if phone use by teenagers was damaging in some ways, it probably could not be radically curtailed anyway, given how essential social media has become to young people.

Even if some among us doubt that mobile phones are the main cause of the growing mental health crisis among teens, we can agree that smartphones suck time and are undoubtedly a distraction.

So, there’s a case to be made for keeping smartphones out of the reach of students in the classroom.

Phone police?

But first, what are the rules with regard to smartphone usage in our schools?

In response to queries from The Straits Times, the Ministry of Education (MOE) said that schools here have rules and routines in place to manage students’ use of mobile phones during curriculum hours.

These include dedicated mobile phone storage spaces in classes or at the general office where students deposit their phones before the start of lessons. MOE said schools may also restrict the use of mobile devices to designated areas or times, like during recess, after school or at the foyer.

At a few schools, including Queensway Secondary and Springfield Secondary, students are required to keep their mobile phones in designated mobile phone lockers.

In many schools, students are warned that they are not to use their phones in class but, needless to say, they have found ways around the rules and bans, including taking more bathroom breaks and submitting “dummy” phones for storage in the lockers, while continuing to use their own phones under the table.

Teachers interviewed are only too aware of their students’ tricks, and some expressed frustration at having to play “phone police”.

Said one secondary school teacher: “We have a strictly worded policy banning phone use during lessons and it is sent to parents as well. But to me, it is not really a ban – how can it be when it is unenforceable? With my students, there is a constant struggle, trying to catch them looking at the phones hidden in their laps and books.

“Once I made my students switch off their phones and put them on top of the desk, but then I found out that a few kids got around it with a second phone. I am exhausted by the never-ending game of phone policing.”

Her frustration is understandable, as teachers cannot be expected to play sleuths to try to catch their students checking their devices under the table. And they can’t say no to students who request bathroom breaks to check their messages in the stalls.

Should all schools follow the practice of the likes of Springfield Secondary and Queensway Secondary, so that learning time is protected? There is a strong case to be made for it.    

Several studies show that in educational settings, smartphones have an almost entirely negative impact.

 A 14-country study cited by Unesco found that the mere presence of a mobile phone nearby was enough to distract students from learning. It can take up to 20 minutes for students to refocus.  

Another study to note is titled “Brain drain: The mere presence of one’s own smartphone reduces available cognitive capacity”, where researchers at the University of Texas asked 800 students to come into a lab and take tests that are commonly used to measure memory capacity and intelligence.

Before completing these tasks, the researchers asked participants to either: place their phones in front of them (face-down on their desks); keep them in their pockets or bags; or leave them in another room.

None of these conditions involves active phone use – just the potential distraction of knowing your phone is there, with texts and social-media posts waiting.

The results were clear: The closer the phone was to students’ awareness, the worse they performed on the tests. Even just having a phone in their pocket sapped students’ abilities.

This led the researchers to note that the “mere presence of smartphones is like the sound of our names or a crying baby – something that automatically exerts a gravitational pull on our attention”.

The parent factor

Locking away phones would of course require parents to work with schools. After all, some parents have become the most vocal opponents of phone bans in schools. Some insist on the need to remain in contact with their children – to arrange pickups and keep track of their whereabouts.

Other parents insist they should be able to stay in touch with their children in case of “emergencies”. Unfortunately, among the scenarios they classify as emergencies are mundane ones such as their children forgetting to take books to school. In such cases, parents should ask themselves if their children would be better served by learning how to deal with the situation themselves.

They try to protect their children from all risks, even when that deprives their children of valuable experiences of independence.

And if there’s a true need to communicate with home, there’s always the option of using the school office’s landline, as students have done for decades.

Countries that have already adopted smartphone bans have seen positive results; reductions in bullying in Spain and improved academic performance in Norway and Belgium. The UK government supports schools introducing smartphone bans, and a Norwegian study concluded such bans improve grades and reduce bullying.

All in, such strict policies that give students six or seven hours a day of time away from their phones are likely to produce substantial educational, social and mental health benefits.

We just need to reflect on our own experience as an adult with our phone – how hard it is for us to keep focused on an important task, at home or work.

We are constantly being pulled away from the tasks at hand by e-mails, texts and social media alerts – all presenting opportunities to do something easier and more fun. Now imagine how much harder it must be for a child or teenager, with the phone buzzing every few minutes with an invitation to do something other than pay attention. 

As The Washington Post said in a November 2023 editorial – In the face of the mounting evidence, one could argue that children shouldn’t have access to smartphones at all. 

The least we can do at this point is to keep smartphones out of classrooms.