Banning cellphones in schools is not so simple

Enforcing bans would be burdensome. These policies increase negative sentiments and tensions between teachers and students. Student-teacher connection is an important factor in predicting engagement and educational success. Also, decreasing confidence in self-independence is a major factor in increasing rates of adolescent anxiety. Banning smartphones reinforces this lack of a sense of independence in educational settings, and could lead to parents feeling less confident in giving independence to adolescents. Parents’ anxieties about smartphone bans largely relate to emergencies and communication. Though smartphones can certainly be used in monitoring capacities that seemingly diminish independence, they also might be serving as the safety measure that allows parents to extend independence to their children.

Do we want to prepare students for the world, or for the confines of the classroom? A world without smartphones, and their facilitation of both on-demand information and their distraction, is not a world our children will live in. A nuanced approach to facilitating and managing smartphone use in educational settings might be difficult to figure out, but it does not pretend that we can simply close the Pandora’s box of technology in our daily lives.

Anthony G. Vaccaro, Los Angeles

My pet peeve with basic education of young children in our country is that, as they move from kindergarten to elementary school, then to middle school, they have essentially lost their sense of curiosity. Curiosity is the vital force that enables us to seek new knowledge, new adventures and new avenues to face everyday challenges. When some proclaim that “this is going to be a hard math chapter” or “science is not for everyone,” we can imagine the serious blow to a child’s curiosity.

Are there other ways a child’s innate curiosity can be sustained and nurtured? Absolutely. Parents can help. Field trips are a natural. What about children’s books? Of course. This is muted by the recent efforts in the country to whimsically, sporadically or systematically ban certain books. Book-banning is a measure that will undoubtedly further contribute to the decline of children’s curiosity when we should be moving in the opposite direction. How sad is this for the future of our children and the nation?

Shree Iyengar, Severn

We were pleased to see the editorial highlighting the challenges cellphones can present to students in the classroom. Cellphones in schools are, at best, distracting; at worst, they are fueling a mental health crisis among children and undermining education. Our nation needs to explore more options to support our students and overcome pandemic learning loss. That is why we introduced the bipartisan Focus on Learning Act, which would require the Education Department to study the effects of cellphones and the impact of removing them from the classroom.

The study would include insights from a pilot program established by the legislation, which would provide $5 million a year for five years to select schools interested in creating a cellphone-free environment for their students. Those schools could use this money to pay for the installation of lockers or other secure containers where students could store their cellphones during the school day.

This pilot program would include exceptions for students with significant health conditions, disabilities or language difficulties. Participating schools would be required to ensure that safety-related communication is not interrupted.

Technology can improve lives and livelihoods, but it can also isolate and distract. It’s the responsibility of schools and parents to harness the benefits of new technologies and prepare young Americans to use them, while protecting students from their negative effects. The Focus on Learning Act would help communities achieve this difficult balance.

Tim Kaine, Washington

The writer, a Democrat, represents Virginia in the U.S. Senate.

Tom Cotton, Washington

The writer, a Republican, represents Arkansas in the U.S. Senate.