Florida school district’s cell phone bans are a step in the right direction

Graphic by Alec Guan

Florida school district outlaws the usage of cell phones during school hours; those who violate this rule will be punished.

In September, the 3,600 students at Timber Creek High School in Orlando, Florida, were greeted with shocking news: Any student found using a cell phone during school hours would have their device confiscated. 

Timber Creek High School is one of many high schools undergoing this policy change in Florida, which has recently passed districtwide laws prohibiting the use of cell phones during class hours. This ban on mobile devices on school grounds is a step in the right direction for America’s declining school system.

From personal experience, it’s easy to see how distracting smartphones can be during class. It seems that every class I attend there’s always that one kid who’s chronically distracted by their mobile device — even though teachers tell us not to use our phones, there is very little they can do besides yell at us with some aggressive hand movements, or tell us to put up our phones in the phone caddies. Students don’t seem to care about what their teachers say, though, and those who are caught with their devices seem to use them in class regardless. It’s quite infuriating to see that these individuals always get away with this constant violation of rules with little to no consequences.

“This is one step to help protect our youth and our kids from the grips of social media. It’s also going to create a less distracted classroom and a better learning environment,” Brad Yeager, a member of Florida’s house of representatives, told the New York Times regarding the bill.

The rise of short-form videos on TikTok and similar platforms has only exacerbated the issue of constant distraction during class leading to reduced academic performance, as these pointless videos only shorten our attention spans even further and reduce our ability to perceive multiple stimuli at once. 

Social media not only decreases attention span; it has also been linked to decreased cognitive function, analytical thinking skills, and short term memory, which are all very important in an educational setting.

A prime example of social media’s effect on young people is Gen Alpha, or the “iPad Kids,” which has the highest illiteracy rate in many decades. Being glued to screens for hours on end per day simply cannot be beneficial to young, impressionable minds, especially with the rise in misinformation online. 

It’s no secret how addicting social media algorithms are; they are designed to keep users hooked for hours on end. For many students, the constant urge to check their social media apps and their notifications is one reason contributing to why their grades are rolling down a constant downward slope; research shows that overuse of social media decreases overall academic performance. If students spend their entire afternoons scrolling through Instagram reels instead of focusing on their homework, it’s no wonder that their grades will drop from an A to a C. 

America is all about freedom of individuality, but there has to be a line drawn somewhere. Students all across America are choosing the short dopamine spikes from watching TikTok videos or Instagram reels over their education, which should be held at the utmost importance. Now, students are spending over 4 hours per day on average mindlessly scrolling on social media, gaining absolutely nothing but instant gratification and poorer mental health out of it. Is it really a good idea to hurt your chances at learning something new and interesting for a few minutes of fruitless entertainment?

Students have proven time and time again they are unable to control their impulsive urges to look at their phone, so the only way to make sure they get everything they can out of their classes is to simply remove the source of their distraction.

Florida’s ban on cell phone use during school hours is the first to directly address this issue, and other school districts across the country are now following suit in their crackdown on the usage of smart phones during school hours. 

Although it sounds cliché, cell phones are indeed a privilege and not a right. If students are constantly on their phones and not learning at school, then it’s about time the American school system does something to combat the rise of social media addiction. With the rise of “iPad Kids” and the almost illiterate Gen Alpha, it’s becoming increasingly clear that more school districts should adopt this firm but effective policy.