By Mark Tallman

Find more updated information about the State Board’s recommendations for cell phone use and screen time in this article.

Student cell phone use at school, parental oversight of district technology, and other screen time issues are expected to be topics of interest over the next few months. A special task force looking at these recently presented their recommendations to the Kansas State Board of Education. 

The 36-member Blue Ribbon Task Force on Student Screen Time was appointed by the State Board of Education this summer. It is composed of superintendents, principals, teachers, students, parents, IT staff, State Board members, and Legislators. The discussion had been prompted by new research on the impact of cell phones and screen time on students. The effort was also driven by a desire to evaluate recent initiatives limiting student cell phone use and screen time along with the experience of districts that have adopted stricter requirements.

The State Board asked the Task Force to consider the impact of screen time on mental health as well as parental oversight of district devices. That resulted in the recommendation that districts provide digital citizenship education, offer technology guidance, and share research on mental health dangers with students, families, and staff. This includes the areas of social media, gaming, messaging, and texting. Districts are encouraged to have ways outside of social media to communicate with students. Having regular breaks for students from screen time during the school day was another recommendation.

Parental oversight of devices provided to students was addressed with a number of recommendations. These include making it easier for parents to understand and use these devices along with the ability to opt their students out of the device, set stronger controls, block specific content, and to access everything that students can access.

An area of particular interest is the Task Force’s recommendation that school districts adopt a bell-to-bell prohibition on most cell phone use and require that phones be secured so students can’t access them during school. The decision was not unanimous with about one fourth of voting Task Force members opposed to these recommendations.

While these proposals would just be recommendations for district policies, some say these ideas go too far in regulating how students and families use phones or argue that these decisions should be made by local school boards without state input. Some State Board members also worried that the districts may not have the resources or expertise to implement the recommendations. The Kansas Legislature considered bills in the past to force districts to adopt related policies and could do so again in the upcoming session.

"The committee should be proud of the work they have done,” said Fredonia High School Principal Brian Houghton, who co-chaired the Task Force along with Mission Valley High School Student Ava Gustin. “Collaboratively, they helped craft a comprehensive report that proposes measures to help students learn with the distractions presented by screens minimized. This is an important step for students, teachers, and school systems in Kansas."

What the Task Force Considered

Information provided to the Task Force included details on a surge in mental health problems among young people beginning around 2010-12.  Social psychologist Johnathan Haidt’s book the “The Anxious Generation” was cited. Among U.S. undergraduate college students, for example, rates of anxiety increased from about 10 percent in 2010 to around 25 percent in 2020, and rates of depression rose from 10 percent 20 percent. While other age groups have also reported higher rates of anxiety, the largest increase has been among the youngest Americans. 

Haidt lists two major reasons for worsening youth mental health. The first is a loss of free, unsupervised childhood play time due to parental concerns about safety. “The loss of free play and the rise of continual adult supervision deprived children of what they needed most to overcome the normal fears and anxieties of childhood: the chance to explore, test and expand their limits, build close friendships through shared adventure, and learn how to judge risks for themselves.” The second reason he cites was the transition from cell phones to smart phones and expanding access to social media and unlimited high speed internet content. As a result of these two factors, he writes, “We ended up overprotecting children in the real world while under protecting them in the virtual world.”

Research presented to the Task Force identified four major concerns associated with cell phones and screen time based on surveys.

Social Deprivation

Between 2003 and 2020, daily time spent with friends declined from 160 minutes to 50 minutes per day for 18-24-year-olds, the largest of any age group.

Sleep Deprivation

According to a 2023 survey of 11 to 17-year-olds, 85 percent said they sometimes or often had difficulty in stopping the use of technology such the internet or cell phone after starting, and 67 percent said they sometimes or often are short of sleep after being on their phone or internet late at night.

Attention Fragmentation

That same study found that teens receive a median of 237 notifications every day and about 25 percent of notifications arrive during the school day.

Addiction

Sixty-one percent of teens say they sometimes or often neglect daily obligations (school or family) due to use of technology; 70 percent sometimes or often feel restless, frustrated, or irritated when they cannot access the internet or check their mobile phone; 69 percent sometimes or often use technology to escape sorrow or get relief from negative feelings; and 58 percent sometimes or often choose to spend more time online over going out with others.

Other studies indicate differences in how phones and technology impact girls and boys. Female students in middle and high school spend far more time on social media than males. One study found around 12 percent of girls spent more than forty hours a week on social media, about double the percentage for boys. For girls, social media is connected to body image and eating disorders. Girls are more likely to be cyberbullied. Boys are more likely to have issues with addictive video gaming, higher susceptibility to radicalization and belief in conspiracy theories, and are more likely to watch pornography. Most teens of both sexes have seen pornographic materials, and one in seven children between nine and twelve shared a nude photo of themselves in 2020. 

Despite these concerns, research shows there are positive mental health benefits that can be influenced by social media such as connection with friends and the global community, wider engagement, and outlets for expression. There is also evidence that parents are also more supportive of phone and screen time use. One survey showed 48 percent of parents felt cell phones were a positive influence on their children, while 35 percent felt they were negative. Some parents say their ability to communicate directly with their children is important and question how far schools should go to restrict personal devices.

Input from Kansas Educators and Experts

Tracie Chauvin, Director of Student Support Programs for Kansas City Kansas Public Schools USD 500, who has worked in public schools as a clinical social worker in outpatient and inpatient settings and in suburban and urban schools, told the Task Force she observes students in a state of hyperarousal, caused by more stress hormones. She says constant exposure to the “blue light” of screen interferes with students’ circadian rhythms, interrupting sleep/wake cycles and making sleep less effective. Screens have an impact on our overall physiology.

Hanna Kemble-Mick, a school counselor at Indian Hills Elementary in Auburn-Washburn USD 437 and Kansas 2024 School Counselor of the Year, sees hyperactivity and inability to focus which she believes is a result of using screens and personal devices outside of school. Mallory Jacobs, an elementary school counselor in Topeka Public Schools USD 501 and a counselor consultant for the Kansas State Department of Education, says some children use phones or tablets late into the night. “That lack of sleep is a very real obstacle to learning throughout the school day,” she says, even in elementary schools where few students bring phones to school. These educators acknowledge there are benefits to phones and other devices, and that students will have to learn to manage them, like other types of technology.  

Other experts like Basehor-Linwood USD 438 Social Worker Shelby Burnett along with University of Kansas Medical Center Pediatric Program Director Dr. Robert Stiles and Professor of Pediatrics and Psychiatry Dr. Eve-Lynn Nelson stressed the need to reduce the current harms of excessive cell phone and screen use with a balanced approach that recognizes the benefits of technology and works positively with students and families.

Policy Actions

In response to mounting concerns over cell phone use, states across the political spectrum have already acted. California, Florida, Indiana, Louisiana, Ohio and Virginia have passed laws or have executive orders generally banning student use of cell phones during the regular school day, or requiring districts to adopt such policies, with some exceptions.

Alabama, Connecticut, Minnesota, Oklahoma and Washington are encouraging districts to develop policies restricting or regulating cell phone use. Arkansas, Delaware, and Pennsylvania have provided funding for secure storage pouches for phones during the school day. Other states, including the Kansas Legislature, have considered bills that would have required limits on cell phone use.

Some Kansas school districts have also taken action related to cell phones. These range from classroom restrictions to total bans during the school day. These policies can vary by grade level, by exceptions that may be allowed, by whether phones must be stored securely when not in use and if so how, and by what other personal devices, if any, are also included (such as headphones, ear buds, smart watches, etc.).

Along the way, opinion has been divided. Some teachers strongly support excluding phones, some want to be able to use phones for educational purposes, and some worry about their role as enforcers. Some parents see phones as a major problem while some see it as an important way to communicate with their children. Some students are strongly resistant to cell phone limits, even to the point of being traumatized by the idea. Some students see benefits of limitations.

Chanute USD 413 has adopted a strict ban on cell phone use at the high school level. Assistant Principal Tyler Applegate told the Task Force his school recently adopted a bell-to-bell policy, completely prohibiting phones from the start of school to the final bell. He has seen improvement in behavior and an increase in social interaction of students. “Before the first bell, it is quiet in the commons, with everyone looking at their phones,” he said. “At lunch time, without devices, it is noisy; it is fun; it is social.” Several educators told the Task Force encouraging face to face interaction is one of the major benefits of a bell-to-bell policy.

Concordia USD 333, Beloit USD 273, Riley County USD 378, and Caney Valley USD 436 have all adopted policies prohibiting students from using phones during the entire school day, with certain exceptions. Other districts, including Coffeyville USD 445, Halstead-Bentley USD 440 and the state’s largest, Wichita USD 259, recently adopted polices to prohibit student use of cell phones during class periods, but allow students to use them between classes and during lunch.

These districts say the overall results have been positive, citing benefits around student mental health, focus during class, and more face to face social interaction. They note some initial opposition and concerns among students and parents, but generally report the new policies quickly became accepted. None report negative consequences that are causing reconsideration of the new policies.