Kathy Do

You know, a lot of us adults didn't grow up with phones, but for young people, phones are now like the main ways that they stay connected.

They keep their social lives intact.

They learn new information.

And so also I think it's really important for us to help young people figure out that balance because it's kind of everywhere for them in a way that wasn't as pervasive for us growing up.

Yeah, I think a lot of families and teachers everywhere are raising real concerns about how cell phones are shaping how young people learn and their mental health.

We know that cell phones affect students differently.

For some, they support connection, communication, and learning.

But there's also risks around distraction, exclusion, and inequity.

Especially for school districts from lower resource communities, they're having kids use their phones and apps on them in science experiments.

So like using the speedometers on their phones that are just naturally there to measure how fast certain objects fall in the classroom.

And so it's really aiding a lot of

teachers and helping give them the tools to learn, to collaborate and group projects.

Yeah, I think some of the test score and data that Dave is highlighting aligns with research showing that, you know, splitting attention between classwork and cell phones can hurt learning and focus and test scores.

And this is kind of in part due to the type of learning strategies students use when they're not on their phones.

They tend to take more detailed notes sometimes.

and in turn kind of do better on tests.

And so, you know, in some cases, you know, this work suggests that unless phones are used as tools for learning, limiting phone use in classrooms can help students build attention and self-regulation skills that boost this achievement.

But I think some of the other pieces that David is highlighting is

You know that some students are really going to have a harder time adjusting to these new phone rules and our report is just highlighting why it's so important that schools build these flexible, equitable policies and have support systems in place, not necessarily more suspensions because the goal should be to help kids access the tools they need to learn and thrive.

I think one kind of positive that we saw from what students were sharing about the kind of benefits for themselves that they've seen is just realizing what phone-free interactions kind of feel like, like really pushing them out of their shell.