MESSAGE
| DATE | 2024-11-07 |
| FROM | Ruben Safir
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| SUBJECT | Subject: [Hangout - NYLXS] The Mental Health of the Children starts with the
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In this Florida school district, some parents are pushing back against a
cellphone ban
By KATE PAYNE
4–5 minutes
Image
Updated 12:40 AM EST, November 7, 2024
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — It’s no surprise that students are pushing back
on cellphone bans in classrooms. But school administrators in one South
Florida county working to pull students’ eyes away from their screens
are facing some resistance from another group as well – parents.
Since the beginning of the 2024 school year in August, students in
Broward County Public Schools, the country’s sixth largest district,
have been barred from using cellphones during the school day, including
during lunch and breaks, unless given special permission.
The schools are some of the many across the country wrestling with how
to crack down on cellphones, at a time when experts say social media use
among young people is nearly universal – and that screen time is linked
to higher rates of anxiety and depression among kids.
But a survey sent out by the South Florida school district earlier this
fall found that of the more than 70,000 students, teachers and parents
surveyed, nearly one in five parents believe the cellphone ban is having
a negative impact on their student’s wellbeing.
Among the top concerns for the students and parents surveyed is not
being able to communicate with their family members, especially in an
emergency — an anxiety that cuts deep in the district that’s home to
Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, where a 2018 shooting killed 17
people.
District officials have said students can use their phones during an
emergency and that teachers have the flexibility to grant kids access
for other reasons too.
“I don’t think any of us thinks kids should be on their phones during
class,” said Erin Gohl, a parent and advocate in the district.
“We’re really talking about giving kids tools during those times when
they need it,” she added, including letting students use their phones
for “positive mental health purposes”.
Officials in the Fort Lauderdale-area district have acknowledged that
implementation of the policy has been inconsistent. Some teachers have
struggled to monitor students’ phone use, and are facing the reality
that for some kids, phones can be a needed tool to access online lessons
and turn in assignments, especially for those who don’t have a
school-issued laptop. And parents have argued their students are better
off with their phones, helping them coordinate afternoon pickup times or
text their parents for advice about a school bully.
“I don’t expect students to say — or parents of high schoolers to say —
right, that, they don’t want their kids to have cellphones,” said Howard
Hepburn, Broward superintendent of schools. “The expectation that we’re
going to just have a hard stop is not reality. It takes time.”
Landyn Spellberg, a student advisor to the Broward school board, said
there are a lot of benefits to phones — and that the district’s blanket
ban isn’t helping students with something many adults still struggle
with: learning how to use technology in a healthy way.
“I think it’s important that we teach students about the negatives,” he
said. “We don’t inform students of those things.”
___ Kate Payne is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for
America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit
national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to
report on undercovered issues.
--
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