Would banning cellphones from schools help kids? A study in Norway says yes.

From The Epoch Times. Banning cellphones in schools improved academics, reduced bullying, and reduced students’ need for counseling, a 73-page Norwegian paper found.

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Girls benefited the most from the policies.

“Banning smartphones significantly decreases the health care take-up for psychological symptoms and diseases among girls,” Sara Sofie Abrahamsson, a postdoctoral researcher and the paper’s sole author, wrote in the abstract. Post-ban bullying among both genders decreases.”

Therefore, Ms. Abrahamsson used a survey to collect data from Norwegian middle schools on smartphone use and whether and when they had introduced any smartphone regulations.

These data were then matched to a school’s data. …

Girls from low socioeconomic backgrounds showed the most improvement. …

Several school districts have introduced more stringent phone policies that have received growing support from teachers, students, and parents alike.

Bill Wilson, the superintendent of Brush School District in Colorado, who has a doctorate in education, introduced a change to the district’s cellphone policy in 2021.

While the district always had a policy prohibiting cellphone use during school hours, there were no consequences for violating this policy. So in 2021, a policy was implemented: Unexempted students caught using phones would have to get their parents to come to the school to remove the phone. …

The school policy was later amended so students could have their phones, but they had to be in their backpacks. Furthermore, students with medical conditions or certain obligations that required smartphone monitoring could check their phones in the school office. …

Mr. Wilson said teachers and students were among the first groups to appreciate such a policy.

“[Students] were thankful to not have that distraction, and that pressure and that worry about whether somebody was going to make a comment about their clothes or take a picture of them or multiple pictures of them while they’re talking, and wait until they get a silly one and make a meme out of it,” Mr. Wilson said.

In schools that have implemented cellphone restrictions, teachers have also begun reporting that their students are more engaged in and out of class. Students have become more social and interact with each other, and disciplinary actions have been reduced. …

In 2023, Florida became the first state to enact a statewide ban on phones and social media during class time. …

Ohio, Oklahoma, Vermont, and Kansas have since passed bills to control phone use in schools. Several school districts, including those in Maryland, California, Virginia, and Connecticut, have also implemented phone bans. …

What do you think of cellphone bans? Share your thoughts in the comments.

(Excerpt from The Epoch Times. Photo Credit: ClarkandCompany/Getty Images Signature via Canva Pro)