Smartphones Hinder Students’ Education, Rise in Distraction

With the additions of technology in the high school through the use of laptops, as well as sites like Schoology that are used throughout the school for educational purposes, there has grown the issue of students misusing technology, specifically their cell phones, throughout the school day.

Since the technological advances of the smartphone and growing popularity of use among adolescents with social media, there has been a decline in students’ grades as teens become more glued to their screens. Elongated screen time with prolonged exposure to blue light given off by cell phones, can throw off sleep schedules causing students to be less attentive during class.

According to the report “Effects of Mobile Use on Subjective Sleep Quality” from the National Center for Biotechnology, “[Using] mobile screen [more than or equal to eight] hours [per] 24 hours, using the mobile for at least 30 minutes before sleeping after the lights have been turned off and keeping the mobile near the pillow are positively associated with poor sleep quality.”

In addition to causing students to be less attentive during class, a recent study published by Elsevier found that for every 100 minutes a student spends on their phone during the day, the student drops 6.3 places in terms of their academic ranking. This effect is doubled when a student is on their phone during class.

While a student might be forced to put their phone away while they are face-to-face at school, there is nothing preventing them from being on their phone while they are learning from home. With some students choosing to learn from home, or being forced to due to a quarantine period, this can have a detrimental effect on their grades.

The distraction of social media can also lead to teenagers becoming addicted to their phones. This concern is growing quickly as phones and other devices are being given to younger children.

According to a study conducted by Common Sense Media 72 percent of teens and 48 percent of parents feel the need to respond to notifications on their phones immediately.

Students who have their phones with them during classes are going to have trouble focusing as they see, hear or feel the notifications they are receiving. When students receive notifications their brains treat it as a reward and their dopamine levels increase as if it were a drug.

This urge to check up on social media can only increase when students are choosing to take virtual classes or are quarantined. Although students are expected to turn on their cameras for virtual learning many teachers don’t enforce this rule allowing students to pay less attention.

In order to resist the urge to open a phone and check social media students can simply turn off notifications that aren’t as important such as Snapchat or Instagram. Setting alarms or having a “phone use schedule” has worked especially for younger children that may use their parents devices. These steps can help eliminate phone usage and overall its addictiveness.

Apple has been urged by shareholders to make an attempt at addressing the addictiveness of their products. Both Jana Partner LLC and the California State Teachers’ Retirement System have urgent Apple to make changes.

Letters have been sent to Apple asking the company to develop software that would allow parents to limit children's phone use back in 2018. Since then companies like Apple have made steps to decrease the addictiveness of their products or apps however the problem is difficult to eliminate.