Cell phone screen usage and the damaging effects on our children
“But Mom! Everyone else has one!” These all-too-common words are heard in households across America when you deny your child a cell phone or, more specifically, a smartphone. They feel left out and afraid of not fitting in. Meanwhile, you want to keep them engaged with the real world instead of addicted to a phone screen. If your child has a bad case of “nomophobia”—no mobile phone phobia—read on.
This year, multiple efforts have been made nationwide to limit or ban cell phone use for children in school. Why? Among the many reasons are screen addiction, cyberbullying, anxiety, depression, poor academic performance, and increased fighting in schools. Some simply say it’s because of porn and predators. But it goes well beyond that.
Schools take action
Florida recently passed a ban on cellphone use during class time and some schools are putting even stricter restrictions on students.
Florida public schools are to prohibit student cellphone use during instructional time and block students’ access to social media on district Wi-Fi, the law says. It also requires schools to teach students about the effects social media has on their behavior.
Officials in Orange County Public Schools — the nation’s eighth-largest school system — said after the pandemic that students’ attachment to their phones was intensified. Students rarely looked up from their phones while walking down hallways and recorded and posted other students on social media platforms, according to The Times.
The second-largest school district in the country, Los Angeles United School District, elected to enforce a full ban on cell phones at school. New York is following suit, banning cell phones for 1 million students in 2000 schools. And the teachers agree. 72% of high school teachers see phone use as a major issue claiming it not only distracts students from learning but also keeps kids from engaging with their peers.
Other schools, like La Vega High School in Mead, TX, are using cell phone pouches that students lock their phones inside. They keep possession of their phones but when they have to use them, “they need to step outside the phone-free zone and tap their pouch on an unlocking base.” One parent at La Vega noticed a marked improvement in her son’s mental health since using the pouch, “He’s able to enjoy more friends… He’s forced to talk to them and actually have conversations.”
You’re probably thinking, what’s the big deal? It’s just a phone? Well, it’s such a big deal that U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy called on Congress to put warning labels on social media platforms highlighting its potentially harmful effects on young people. When the creators of smartphones and search engines and algorithms keep their own children from using those very devices, maybe we should listen.
Let kids be kids
AdventHealth Orlando pediatrician Analise Casey, MD says that Smartphones can create stress, affect mood and increase risks for depression and sadness. This is because too much screen time can cut off your interaction with the outside world and your social relationships, which help protect you from anxiety, depression and sadness. In children, social activities are critical for healthy development.
Along those lines, if your child is moving from one screen to the next, this doesn't help in promoting healthy attention and focus to an activity. So, for children with attention disorders such as ADHD, screen time is especially important to monitor.
Melanie Smith, PhD, LMHC, Program Therapy Supervisor at Halifax Health Child and Adolescent Behavioral Service, shares “The biggest risks we see in our practice is that cell phone use severely impacts younger children's ability to focus and remained focused, it negatively impacts the reward center of the brain which leads to obsessive behaviors, and also leads to a more sedentary lifestyle which increases obesity. There are also secondary effects like sleep disruptions and disturbances, and also increased irritability
For elementary-aged children who have not developed the emotional regulation to navigate cyberbullying, cell phones can be an even bigger problem. That’s why Brooke Shannon started the Wait Until 8th movement. Parents can sign a pledge vowing to wait until their child is out of 8th grade before giving them a smartphone. In turn, the platform helps connect you with fellow parents in your area to combat that nomophobia.
Research from the National Library of Medicine shows that smartphones are partly to blame for soaring rates of teenage anxiety and depression. Jonathan Haidt, author of The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness, notes “The younger the age of getting the first smartphone, the worse the mental health the young adult reports today.”
How to be phone free kid
Protect Your Eyes, makers of the PROTECT App that teaches internet safety, has suggestions to arm kids with responses when asked why they don’t have a phone. One is “My parents have read the research that says they’re not good for kids. They can’t find a benefit to me having one.” Another way to handle it is to blame your annoying parents and say they signed the Wait Until 8th pledge
In a similar effort, Ben and Erin Napier of HGTV’s Home Town have started their own screen-free movement called OSPREY which stands for Old School Parents Raising Engaged Youth. Their goal is to help children achieve a social-media-free childhood. Taking their pledge means being connected with other like-minded families in your area to “set your children up for success before peer pressure can take it from them.”
What are the alternatives?
Of course, you want to be able to communicate with your kids, especially in an emergency. And you probably want to know where they are at all times. Those two issues might seem hard to fix together but there is a solution that tackles both: a GPS-tracking device made just for kids. One such device is the multiple award-winning option from Japan called BoT Talk, a GPS with voice messaging functionality designed with kids in mind. BoT Talk allows you to communicate with your child without them having to use a screen.
BoT Talk is for parents who want the location of their children along with automatic notifications for safety’s sake and peace of mind. This screen-free GPS device with two-way voice messaging features advanced "monitoring AI" offering accurate and consistent location tracking and anomaly detection. This child-friendly GPS is lightweight, durable, and simple for kids to use. If you value simplicity and affordability, BoT Talk is designed to meet the needs of modern parents and families and could be the right choice for you.
You have a choice
No matter what option you choose, choosing is the point. You get to choose who has access to your children. You can still have contact with your child should an emergency happen at school. You do not need to throw your child to the social media wolves. They can still be independent, free thinkers who know how to make eye contact and conversation while you maintain your peace of mind. So, wait, delay, or abstain, just make the best choice for your family now that you know you have one.
