Adams must reinstate NYC schools’ former cellphone ban — for our kids’ sake
Last week the Los Angeles Unified School District took a big step in favor of common sense: It voted to ban mobile-phone use by students during school days.
Other districts should follow its lead, starting with the largest one in the country, New York City.
Two decades ago, our administration banned mobile phones in all public schools, despite the storm of protests it generated.
The ban was one of many policy changes that allowed us to transform the school system in ways that dramatically raised student-achievement levels.
Although it was undone by our successor, public support for mobile-phone bans has grown nationally — and across party lines.
Teachers know all too well how disruptive phones are to learning, with 72% of high-school teachers nationwide calling phone use a “major problem.”
No wonder: One study found that 97% of teens use their phones during school hours, receiving a median of 237 push notifications a day.
Much of that screen time consists of playing video games, browsing social media and watching pornography — not exactly the three R’s.
Unsurprisingly, this can have devastating effects on learning.
A large body of evidence has associated increased phone use with impaired academic performance, including lower test scores, worse grades, reduced long-term retention and wider achievement gaps.
Phone-related anxiety is widespread: One study found that students who are glued to their screens can create a cascade of distraction among their peers, while another found that the “mere proximity” of a mobile device is enough to impede focus.
Phones in classrooms can contribute to serious harm outside of school, too.
A growing body of evidence suggests a connection between increased smartphone and social-media use and threats to young people’s brains, including a higher risk of depression, poorer cognitive control, chronic sleep deprivation and worse socio-emotional functioning.
A recent advisory from US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy warned that social media is creating a “profound risk of harm to the mental health and well-being of children and adolescents.”
Although the data isn’t conclusive, ignoring it would be crazy.
About three-quarters of US schools report that they prohibit phone use for non-academic reasons, but without a complete ban — including on flip phones that allow texting — students easily evade the rules.
Plus, many schools allow exceptions that can vary from classroom to classroom.
Such policies are hard to enforce, impose outsized burdens on teachers and often leave students just as distracted, as their phones buzz and beep in their backpacks all day.
Districtwide bans, enforced uniformly throughout the school day, including during lunchtime and breaks, are far more likely to be effective.
Studies suggest that mobile-phone bans can do a lot of good, as we saw in New York City.
Analyses of previous prohibitions in Europe have found evidence of increased grades and test scores, less bullying and reduced achievement gaps.
That will come as no surprise to high-school teachers here.
A bill proposed in Congress, the Focus on Learning Act, would provide funds to study the issue, solicit feedback from parents and help schools pay for phone lockers and other equipment.
It deserves support, but districts and states should not wait for its passage.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom has signaled his support for a statewide ban, as has New York Gov. Hochul.
They should move quickly, and other governors should join them — but in the meantime, individual districts should take action on their own.
In New York City, where mobile-phone policies vary from school to school, Mayor Adams can help lead the way in adopting a comprehensive and uniform ban.
Of course, some kids and parents will complain and argue. My advice to elected officials and school boards is simple: Don’t buy it. There’s too much at stake.
It’s encouraging that more elected leaders are finally acknowledging what teachers have known for years: Mobile phones are a problem that children can’t be expected to manage.
Let’s do students the great service of taking that problem out of their hands.
Michael R. Bloomberg was mayor of New York from 2002 to 2013. Adapted from Bloomberg.com.
