Cellphone bans can teach students appropriate usage: Superintendent

( NewsNation ) — A Pew Research Center survey found that 72% of high school teachers and 33% of all teachers say cellphones are a “major problem” in the classroom . Now, many schools are working to rein in student cellphone use.

Adam Swinyard, superintendent of Spokane Public Schools in Washington, which has enacted partial cellphone bans, says schools need “practical strategies” in limiting cellphone use while educating families.

“We need to raise awareness amongst families about what kids are taking in, the exposure that they’re getting to bullying, harassment, normalization of violence, sexualization,” he said. “They’re ingesting things that are having a significant detrimental impact to their mental health.”

However, cellphone restrictions aren’t always easy to enforce. The survey also found that 60% of high school teachers say it’s “very/somewhat” difficult to enforce cellphone policies.

Swinyard noted that some high school students have become accustomed to having their phones on them all the time and these devices are “designed to be highly addictive.”

“It’s going to be a process, not an event, to create an environment and to normalize for them, that there’s times when it’s OK to have your phone out, and there’s times when it’s not OK,” he said.

Meanwhile, at least eight U.S. states have recently passed laws banning or restricting cellphone use in schools.

Swinyard said the Spokane district will ban phones in elementary and middle schools but allow them in the halls and at lunch in high schools.

“We think that’s a developmentally appropriate next step because as adults, there are spaces where it’s appropriate to be looking at your cellphone,” he said. “That’s part of adult life, and we should be teaching kids and helping them make that progression.”

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