MANSFIELD — At the beginning of each school day, students at Malabar Intermediate place their smartphones in a locked case in their homeroom.
New state legislation led to several area schools cracking down on cell phone use this year. But Malabar, which serves students in third through sixth grade, was ahead of the curve.
The school began requiring schools to turn in their phones a few years ago. Teachers say it’s helped reduce distractions in the classroom.
But Principal Tom Hager also said it will take more than phone-free schools to address technology’s harmful effect on students. Students use technology to bully and harass each other, which leads to tension when they see each other at school.
“It’s an every-day thing. It affects kids’ education and social well being,” he said.
“The amount of things that are said on those cell phones, (parents) would even be surprised. The language, the profanity, the amount of threats that our kids make — if (parents) don’t monitor it, then it’s going to continue.”
Educators at Malabar recently completed a book study on The Anxious Generation, a book on the decline of youth mental health amid the rise of smartphones, big tech and social media.
Now, they’re sharing what they learned with students and parents in an effort to change the tide. One teacher made a brochure with after-school activities, family-friendly activities and tips for parents on setting screen boundaries.
While it’s unlikely to resolve the issue completely, educators said they hope it can be a step towards a healthier, more peaceful school community.
“If we can try to provide some information for our families, we can look ourselves in the mirror and go, ‘Okay, we’re trying to address the issue,'” Hager said. “If we can help three or four families, I think we’re doing the job.”
‘They don’t know how to interact with each other’
Access to smartphones and video games can provide children opportunities to connect with family and friends and express themselves creatively.
But they can also negatively impact users’ mental health and body image. Too much screen time can lead to inadequate sleep and declining interest in grades and hobbies.
“I had a kid who wanted to sleep all afternoon because they were up all night playing video games,” said Emily Nicol, a fourth grade teacher.
Sixth grade teacher Brad Strong said he believes kids’ excessive screen time has lead to a lack of social skills.
“Kids can’t play nice together, they don’t know how to interact with each other,” he said. “They don’t have to talk with each other.”
Teachers say students have become accustomed to constant stimulation from screens, which makes it hard for them to sit still and focus in class.
Educators combat this phenomenon with fidget-friendly seating, attendance-based competitions and frequent “brain breaks.” Class stops for a few minutes for movement, team building exercises or mindfulness activities.
Strong had a toy dance party button that played 30 seconds of music. He used it so often, it broke.
Teachers also expressed concerns about students accessing inappropriate content and online predators.
Stranger danger has moved online
Courtney Bohn said her students talk about “friends” online whom they’ve never met.
“Fifth graders are talking about ‘My friend who lives in Florida,'” she’s said. “That’s terrifying to me. who’s on the other end of that?”
The FBI has repeatedly warned that purveyors of child sexual abuse material use social media and gaming platforms to target and exploit children. One expert told a CBS affiliate in Pittsburgh that children under age 10 are frequent targets.
“Back we grew up, it was always don’t get in the van with the guy,” Strong said. “Those people are now tracking these kids on social media.”
Despite the challenges, teachers say going phone-free and encouraging more free play during recess have yielded some promising results.
Students are becoming more creative at recess, invent their own games and embrace free play.
“We’ve tried to encourage that. When we play at the butterfly garden or on the soccer fields, we don’t take anything,” said Michelle Lehman.
“Next thing you know, they’re out there, they’re doing races with cartwheels, and we’ve got a kid who’s doing back flips. So they’re starting to at least get a little physical too, get some exercise.”
Students have also gotten used to handing over their phones at the beginning of the day and even forget about them sometimes.
“I think a lot of times, these kids welcome that break from it,” said Jennifer Plaisted. “There’s so much pressure to have the phone and be on social media at night. I think they probably like that little break sometimes.”
Nevertheless, educators say students are frequently glued to their phones as soon as the school day ends. Strong said he’s seen students bump into their walls and doorframes on their way out
“You’re 11 years old. You’ve got that important business you need to take care of?” he said.
What can parents and caregivers do?
In The Anxious Generation, Haidt offers four recommendations:
- No smartphones before high school
- No social media before 16
- Phone-free schools
- Far more unsupervised play and childhood independence
For many Malabar students, it may be too late to implement the first two.
One fourth grade teacher said at least seven of her 18 students bring phones to class every day.
But there are other practical ways parents and guardians can set age-appropriate boundaries arounds screen time. Some tips from the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP) include:
- Turn off all screens during family meals and outings.
- Learn about and use parental controls.
- Avoid using screens as pacifiers, babysitters, or to stop tantrums.
- Turn off screens and remove them from bedrooms 30 to 60 minutes before bedtime.
- Familiarize yourself with programming to make sure it is age-appropriate.
- Encourage your child to learn other activities such as sports, music, art, and hobbies that do not involve screens.
- Set a good example with your own safe and healthy screen habits.
- Teach children about online privacy and safety.
- Actively decide when your child is ready for a personal device.
- Encourage using screens in ways that build creativity and connection with family and friends.
The AACAP also recommends the following limits around screen time:
- For children younger than 18 months of age: Limit screen use to video chatting along with an adult family member.
- For children between 18 and 24 months: Limit screen time to watching educational programming with a caregiver.
- For children ages 2 to 5: Limit non-educational screen time to about 1 hour per weekday and 3 hours on the weekend days.
- For children ages 6 and older: Encourage healthy habits and limit activities that include screens.
Mental health is multifaceted issue
Parents and caregivers should also consider other factors that could be impacting their child’s mental health.
In a survey of 1,400 clinicians, 28 percent cited social media as the biggest driver of mental health issues in kids.
They also cited contributing factors like social isolation, a lack of resources, poverty, abuse and neglect. Many said a shortage of mental health care providers and costly care inhibit families from getting kids the help they need.
When EdWeek surveyed teens about their mental health, they listed a number of factors. The most common stressors were schoolwork, grades, concerns about their physical appearance, anxiety over societal issues and concerns about what others thought of them.
While mental health experts generally agree excessive screen time and social media use negatively impact kids, some critics argued Haidt’s focus on technology was too simplistic to explain the startling rise in youth mental health struggles.
“Few would disagree that unhealthy use of social media contributes to psychological problems, or that parenting plays a role,” psychology and neuroscience professor Tracy A. Dennis-Tiwary wrote in a book review for The New York Times.
“But mental illness is complex: a multidetermined synergy between risk and resilience. Clinical scientists don’t look for magic-bullet explanations.”
