Are cell phones doing irreparable harm to our children? – Richard Kyte

Both girls started out picking up discarded soda cans and water bottles, but after a few minutes Nina got bored and wandered off to a corner of the room. She spent the next two hours sitting by herself looking at a screen.

Meanwhile, Elsa was busy helping out. After picking up all the cans and bottles, she began loading plates onto trays and rearranging chairs, all the while chatting away with adults in the room. Every once in a while, she would walk over to Nina and try to engage her, saying things like, “Hey Nina, look how much we got done!” But Nina wouldn’t even look up.

This is an all-too-common scenario. To many observers, the obvious response is that parents should take the phone away. But will that do any good?

Schools across the country are faced with the same question. Fortunately, we are just beginning to see actual evidence.

A new study released last week concluded that cell phone bans in schools have been largely ineffective at increasing test scores, improving attention in the classroom, or reducing online bullying. That’s the headline, anyway. The larger story is more nuanced, complex and positive.

The study, sponsored by the National Bureau of Economic Research, was conducted by scholars from Stanford, Duke, the University of Pennsylvania, and the University of Michigan. It is the most comprehensive study yet conducted on the cell phone bans that have now been implemented in two-thirds of states.

The researchers were interested in the effects of the strictest kind of cell phone ban, adopted by about 5,000 schools across the country. Those schools use Yondr pouches to lock up cell phones during the entire day, making them completely unusable until the phones are removed as students leave the building.

The study found that Yondr pouches are highly effective at reducing cell phone usage by students and that most teachers were much happier with the bans in place. Most importantly, even though student well-being fell somewhat during the first year of a ban, it rebounded in the second year, and by the third year, student well-being was higher than before the ban.

Student well-being has always been the chief concern of psychologists like Jonathan Haidt and Jean Twenge, who have been the foremost advocates of cell phone bans. It would, of course, be good to see academic improvements as well, but that’s not what matters most.

Since 2011, there has been a steady increase in anxiety, stress, depression and suicide among youth. The evidence overwhelmingly indicates that this increase is due largely to screen time replacing face-to-face social interaction.

Cell phone bans in schools are an important step in providing a healthy environment for social, emotional and cognitive development during the teen years. But it is only one step. The bans must be part of a larger cultural shift in how we think about our relationship with digital technology.

Those concerned about kids spending too much time on screens have focused mostly on the harmful content that children may be exposed to. School counselors report increasing cases of adolescents struggling after viewing pornographic or extremely violent images. And AI-generated YouTube videos made for very young children tend to be both addictive and bizarre, leading to shortened attention spans and a distorted sense of the world.

But from my point of view, the greatest concern about children spending large amounts of time on screens is that they don’t invest nearly enough time making friends.

I don’t know what Nina was watching on her phone, but even if it was not harmful, it was still preventing her from developing the essential social skills she will need to do well in life. It also was unfortunate for Elsa, because she missed out on the opportunity to spend two hours deepening a relationship.

Research informs us that it takes about 200 hours of time together to consider someone a “close friend.” We also know that nothing is so important to mental health as the number and quality of friends in one’s life and that friendship is declining rapidly among all age levels in our society.

People who have 10 or more close friends overwhelmingly describe themselves as “succeeding” or “thriving,” according to a recent Mental State of the World Report. Those with no close friends tend to describe themselves as “distressed.” More people are distressed today than ever before.

According to the Survey Center on American Life, in 1990, 33% of the population reported having 10 or more close friends. By 2021, only 13% reported having that many close friends. That is largely due to spending less time together. Two decades ago teens reported spending about four times as many hours per day with friends as teens today.

And that’s why cell phone bans in schools are a good first step, but schools also need to focus on helping children who are growing up in an impoverished social environment learn how to engage with one another. In other words, children need to be habituated to the conditions of friendship. Parents need to be involved as well, not just limiting screen time but also encouraging participation in social activities like sports, clubs and hobbies.

Yesterday I asked a friend how her children were doing. “They are doing great!” she said. She told me about going over to a neighborhood playground. Her daughter jumped out of the car and ran over to two girls on a swing set. She introduced herself. “Do you want to be my friend?” she asked.

That little girl has a bright future. I wish we could say the same for all our children. Let’s work together — our schools, our families, our communities — to make it so.

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