Dr. Jacqueline Nesi: School cell phone policies
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Several states have enacted (or are considering) laws limiting student cell phone use at school, and many districts and individual schools are also implementing new policies.
On August 15, 2024, SciLine interviewed: Dr. Jacqueline Nesi, an assistant professor of psychiatry and human behavior at Brown University, author of the newsletter Techno Sapiens, and co-founder of Tech Without Stress. See the footage and transcript from the interview below, or select ‘Contents’ on the left to skip to specific questions.
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Introduction
[0:00:19]
JACQUELINE NESI: I’m Jacqueline Nesi. I am a clinical psychologist and an assistant professor at Brown University, and author of the newsletter Techno Sapiens. And I study the role digital technology like smartphones and social media in adolescents and young people’s mental health and development and what parents can do to help.
Interview with SciLine
How does smartphone use in schools affect students?
[0:00:46]
JACQUELINE NESI: We have some good evidence around how smartphones impact behavior, academic performance, socialization, and a lot of it is in line with, I think, what we would expect. So we know that smartphones can be distracting. They can distract from attention in class. They can also distract from socialization—so talking to the people around us—which, in turn, can impact mood. We know that those things can have an effect, and that smartphones can play that role. We actually do have studies that look at when students are randomly assigned to either have their phones with them or not during class periods, that those who do have phones with them tend to show worse attention, worse memory for what’s covered in the class. So, we do have some evidence that when phones are present and available, that they can be distracting.
Can you expand on how smartphone use at school can affect academic performance?
[0:01:40]
JACQUELINE NESI: There are a couple studies that look specifically at phone bans and basically what happens when schools implement policies around limiting students phone use. Those studies vary a lot in terms of what they consider a phone ban. So, in some of those studies, phones are turned off and put away for the entire school day. Some of those studies are looking at just, you know, students aren’t allowed to use their phones for non-academic purposes in the classroom. But we do have some evidence from those studies that would suggest small effects on academic achievement, which includes test scores when phones have a policy limiting cell phone use during the school day.
What should school administrators or parents know as they consider implementing a school cell phone policy?
[0:02:40]
JACQUELINE NESI: Yeah, so we don’t have great evidence in terms of specific policies and whether some policies are better than others. There are basically a couple different policies that schools could turn to. One is a complete ban—so not allowing any phone use whatsoever during the school day—whether that means collecting students’ phones at the beginning of the day, or simply making sure that they have them turned off and in their backpacks throughout the day, or something like that. Some schools will have a partial ban, which basically covers a lot of other things, like banning phones during class, but maybe allowing them during passing periods between class or during lunchtime, or in bathrooms. The schools have different policies around what they do with that. And then the other option is basically having no policy and letting teachers sort of decide for themselves what the policy is in their classroom. So, there’s a lot of different options. Schools are doing this many different ways. We don’t have great evidence about which of these is, you know better. I think what really matters is the implementation. So, how do schools actually put these into place? How are they supporting their teachers around enforcing these policies? I think that’s probably what matters more than the specific policy that’s in place.
What are teachers’ views on smartphones in school?
[0:04:03]
JACQUELINE NESI: Teachers, just like all other people, of course, vary in their opinions on these things. You know, we do have some evidence, though, that teachers are finding this to be difficult to manage—finding cell phones difficult to manage in the classroom. We know that over 70% of high school teachers say that students being distracted by their phones is a major problem in their classroom. And about 60% of high school teachers say that enforcing these policies is very or somewhat difficult. So, I think that just speaks to some of the challenges that teachers are running into around these policies, trying to enforce them, trying to make them work. At the same time, I’ve heard from teachers who really like being able to integrate phone use in the classroom as part of a lesson or for educational purposes. So, certainly there are differing opinions on this, but what we do know is that this is a struggle for a lot of teachers.
What are parents’ views on smartphones in school?
[0:04:24]
JACQUELINE NESI: Parents are also mixed in their views on these policies. We have data from the National Parents Union—a survey they conducted last year—which suggests that 79% of parents say that students should be allowed to use their phone actually, at least sometimes during the school day. Most parents, of course, are concerned about distraction and about phones getting in the way of class time, of achievement, of educational opportunities, of socialization. But a lot of parents actually are wanting the convenience of getting in touch with their children sometime during the school day, or maybe they’re concerned about emergencies that might take place during the school day, lockdowns, that kind of thing at school, and they want to be able to get in touch with their child just in case. So certainly, parents have concerns about total phone bans. I think what that speaks to, though, is just the importance of when school districts and schools themselves are thinking about these policies, making sure that all stakeholders are kind of on board, and that means parents too, making sure that policies are communicated well and that they’re addressing some of parents’ concerns about these issues.
What are students’ views on smartphones in school?
[0:06:28]
JACQUELINE NESI: We don’t have a ton of data on students’ perspectives on this, which I think is very telling that we generally, I think, could do a better job of speaking to students in terms of what they think about these policies and how best to implement them. Since they’re the ones who this is really going to affect, but what we do know is that students have differing opinions on them, so there are certainly some students who say that these policies are great, but they like having the opportunity to have some time during the day that’s focused more on their learning or focus more just on socializing, that it changes the culture in the school, which they like. But then, of course, there are students who don’t like these policies and feel like they’re inconvenient or they’re unfair, or they’re somehow taking away from their experience. So, I think it’s a mixed bag.
Can you tell us about your research on the role of social media and smartphones in adolescent mental health and development?
[0:07:24]
JACQUELINE NESI: Yeah, so when it comes to the role of social media and smartphones and adolescents mental health, I think this is, of course, a topic that has been in the news a lot—that we hear a lot about. I think a lot of us would think, based on what we hear, that the story is very simple. That smartphones and social media are bad for mental health, full stop, but what we know from the research is that it’s actually more complicated than that. The research would suggest that the effect of smartphones and social media really depends on how they’re being used. There are both risks and benefits, and depending on how students are using these technologies, that will, of course, play a role in how it affects them. We also know that all students are not affected the same way. So, some young people, their use of smartphones will and social media will have a more negative effect than others, and it really depends on the person in question. The other thing we know is that mental health is really complex. So, there are a lot of different factors that go into a young person’s mental health beyond just smartphones, and it’s never going to be the case that say social media is the only cause of mental health concerns. And so, I think it’s important for us to be keeping in mind that these effects are really nuanced. It depends on a lot of different things, on who students are, how they’re using the technology, and all the other factors that are happening and going on in their lives and in their schools.
Do you have advice for parents regarding kids’ use of cell phones and social media?
[0:08:51]
JACQUELINE NESI: When it comes to advice for parents, I would focus on three main areas. So, communication, boundaries, and modeling. So, when it comes to communication, having, you know, open conversations, asking a lot of questions of our kids about how they’re using these technologies, what they enjoy about them, as well as what’s hard, just really trying to keep those lines of communication open. When it comes to boundaries, this means just having sort of smart rules, age-appropriate rules around the use of these technologies. So, that might include not allowing them to use a certain technology until they reach a certain age. It might be something like having policies around who they can talk to online, how much time they can spend, maybe even where in the house, and when they can use their devices. And then finally, modeling. We know that the way that adults use their devices has a major impact on how their kids do, and so really making sure, as much as possible, that we’re trying to set a good example in using these technologies the way that we want to see our kids using them.
