Figures on smartphone use in school by students suggest that the overwhelming majority are being distracted from their lessons by gaming and social media.
The data emerging from studies and surveys by education nonprofits and other experts point to smartphones and other personal devices potentially impacting students’ ability to focus and their overall well-being.
For instance, a study conducted by Common Sense Media found that 200 study participants between ages 11 and 17 were besieged by a median of 273 notifications daily, with approximately 25% being received during school hours and 25% being interacted with by the recipient. Alarmingly, 1 in 5 students logged an average of over 500 daily notifications.
Nearly all study participants (97%) reported using their phones at least once each school day at a median rate of 43 minutes. Unsurprisingly, such interaction predominantly veered towards social media, occupying nearly one-third of in-school smartphone usage time, followed by YouTube and gaming.
Students picked up their phones a median of 51 times.
Common Sense Media noted in its study that its figures were logged despite phone use policies being in place that limit or prohibit usage at school. In fact, the participants reported that even when policies were in place, they were not always enforced.
Although 91% of schools had prohibited the non-academic use of cell phones during the 2009-10 school year, the figure dipped to 77% by 2019-2020, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.
However, it is unclear whether having strict phone usage policies would have the desired effect on students.
For instance, one 11th grader told Common Sense Media, “I feel with those teachers that are really strict on it, I feel like if anything, it
just causes kids to wanna act out even more.”
A 9th grader said, “We have a no-phone rule, and if it’s out, the deans and our teachers are pretty harsh about giving us detentions. So I think that mostly keeps our phones away, but I would definitely say in class … If I’m done with an assignment, my phone will be in my backpack and I’ll tap the screen to see if there’s any notifications.”
“And obviously it’s kind of pointless because it’s like, OK, well, you can’t actually open those notifications, but it’s just like seeing what’s there, and I think that’s kind of the addicting part of it,” the student continued.
Moreover, some experts have actually encouraged educators to integrate the use of phones within the educational sphere. They suggest that it might help kids develop a healthier relationship with technology.
As previously reported by The Dallas Express, after much ambiguity on the subject, the  American Psychological Association issued its first-ever guidelines on social media use and teens in May. The recommendations urged parents to educate their children on best practices for social media and to keep a dialogue going to proactively tackle issues that may arise.
At Houston ISD, the biggest public school system in Texas, a stricter phone policy was rolled out this school year. The updated rules now mandate that students keep their phones in their backpacks throughout the school day. The district was taken over by the state this summer after one of its campuses struggled with its student achievement outcomes.
Still, the district performed better than Dallas ISD. Some 43% of Houston ISD students scored at grade level on their STAAR exams during the 2021-2022 school year. At Dallas ISD, only 41% of students scored at grade level.
