WAYNESBORO – Local school superintendents, teachers, parents, and state staff met in the echoing cafeteria in Kate Collins Middle School on July 31.
Everyone there was worried about the same problem – youth smart phone use.
The talk was part of the ongoing Commonwealth Conversations between the state and local educators. Virginia Superintendent of Public Instruction Lisa Coons told the crowd the conversations would go towards creating draft guidance for schools on how to get ahold of the problem by Aug. 15.
Between Aug. 15 and Sept. 15, VDOE will ask for feedback on the draft guidance. Per the executive order, the final state guidance will be released on Sept. 16 "for school divisions to adopt policies and procedures by Jan. 1, 2025."
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Why the interest in smartphones?
The guidance is coming as a part of Governor Glenn Youngkin’s executive order looking to reduce or eliminate cell phone usage in schools. The Staunton school system has recently updated its cell-phone policy for students.
“As we think about 2010, a lot of us were shifting from flip phones to blackberries to smartphones that actually had social media. So were our young people,” said Coons. “Our 10- to 19-year-olds dramatically changed in 2010 and their access to cell phones and social media. That is the year that Instagram really came on to cell phones and became prominent. There is a lot of research and a lot of data about the increase of cell phones, smartphones, and social media starting in 2010. The bigger challenge is the data around the mental health of our youth starting in 2010.”
Teens are spending nearly five hours daily on social media, according to the American Psychological Association (APA). The Virginia Department of Education website cites the APA reporting, then claims that "recent studies indicate that spending more than three hours a day on social media doubles the risk of poor mental health for adolescents." The website does not give a citation for the studies.
“From 2019-2021,the rate of suicide has increased 167% since 2010 for girls and 91% since 2010 for boys,” reads VDOE’s website. “In the same timeframe,boys and girls experienced a spike in depression of 161% and 145%, respectively.”
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Coons also reported an 188% increase in self-harm in girls and 48% increase in boys since 2010, citing the Center for Disease Control.
'Addictive' social media design is a feature, not a bug
The Pavlovian slot machine design of many social media apps keeps people wanting to check their phone just one more time.
Uncertainty is what drives the compulsion – if the person got what they wanted every time, they would not be incentivized to keep checking. Maybe this is the time they see an interesting post. If one in 20 posts you see is interesting, that’s still 20 opportunities for the social media company to sell ad space.
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Those with notifications turned on get interrupted by one-off comments or likes, disrupting what they were working on to come back to roll the slot machine once again. It’s not a coincidence swiping down is how a user refreshes an endlessly scrolling social media feed.
Coons said one-third of students self-reported having addictive tendencies when it comes to smartphones. Coons compared cell phones to vapes or drugs, requiring a combination of consequences and support for addicted students. Another attendee compared phone use regulation with school food sodium and sugar dietary restrictions.
“It is something our students are addicted to,” said Coons. “Often and frequently, we think about addictions in a variety of ways, but I don't know how many of you have noticed how your cell phone dings at you when you have a message or it has likes, retweets, comments. All of those things have resulted in addictive behaviors in our young people. Recent studies even say seeing the social media or the app or the cell phone can trigger some of those addicted behaviors. That's a challenge that our families are experiencing. It’s a challenge our teachers are experiencing.”
Does the 'addictive' design of the cell phone contribute to depression?
Coons encouraged reading “The Anxious Generation” by Jonathan Haidt to learn more about the link between smartphones and mental illness in youth. Youngkin's executive order also cites the book in its footnotes.
The book is not without critics.
Developmental Psychologist Candice Odgers recently wrote in The Atlantic that cell phone use is "one of theleastinfluential factors in predicting adolescents’ mental health." Odgers wrote the most influential factors are family histories of mental disorder, early exposure to adversity, such as violence and discrimination, and school- and family-related stressors.
She cited a meta-analysis, a systematic review of available studies, on adolescent social media use and depressive symptoms. The study found a "small but significant positive correlation" between adolescent social media use and depressive symptoms.
"When associations are found, things seem to work in the opposite direction from what we’ve been told: Recent research amongadolescents– including amongyoung-adolescent girls, along with alarge reviewof 24 studies that followed people over time– suggests that early mental-health symptoms may predict later social-media use, but not the other way around," wrote Odgers. "Shockingly few experimental studies have specifically tried to test whether reducing social-media use improves mental health."
The American Psychological Association (APA) research cited by VDOE suggests this could be the case. Of high frequency social media users who report "low parental monitoringandweak parental relationships," 60% self-report "poor or very poor mental health." This is much higher than the 25%ofhigh frequency users who report "high parental monitoring and strong parental relationships" reporting poor mental health outcomes.
"Similarly,22%of the highest users with poor parental relationships and monitoring expressed thoughts ofsuicide or self-harmcompared with2%of high users with strong parental relationships and monitoring," reads the APA reporting cited by VDOE.
When facing mental health struggles, youth will turn to the online world to find resources they might not have available in person. Some with marginalized identities find safe spaces online when unable to find them in person. Outright preventing these youth from having a publicly visible online presence might push them to anonymous, more dangerous places online.
"All adolescents will eventually need to know how to safely navigate online spaces, so shutting off or restricting access to smartphones and social media isunlikely to workin the long term," Odgers wrote. "In many instances, doing so could backfire: Teens will find creative ways to access these or even more unregulated spaces, and we should not give themadditionalreasons to feel alienated from the adults in their lives."
Even as she questioned the connection between the two variables, Odgers still recommended following the "reasonable interventions designed to help people without causing undue alarm" released by the office of the Surgeon General.
Cell phones are disrupting classrooms
Everyone in the Commonwealth Conversation agreed cell phones are disrupting classrooms.
One parent reported their daughter said classrooms can’t go 10 minutes in lectures without a cell phone buzzing. They supported the bell-to-bell policy. A school staff member said some students are responsible with cell phones in the hallways or at lunch, but felt phones were doing a lot of damage.
A “bell-to-bell” ban could mean students drop off their cell phones at the start of the day and pick them back up when they leave for the day.
An attendee who identified themselves as a school superintendent was in favor of bell-to-bell, but could “not imagine how we accomplish that.”
Another superintendent disagreed, saying they put a similar policy in place recently.
“One of the pieces that's most gratifying as superintendent is to walk in our high school, walk in the cafeteria, and see our students conversing with one another, laughing having great conversations. That’s one reason we have chosen not to allow them outside of the classroom. All day, off and away. I think it’s been a real benefit. Our families have really embraced it, our students have embraced it, and our staff has embraced it.”
One teacher said he’s got three sons, 31, 27, and 14. He’s watched the technology progress for long enough to remember parenting his oldest while he texted his girlfriend from a flip phone in his pocket.The teacher felt schools would have to “fight” parents “who believe they have to have contact with their kid” at all times “or their kid’s not safe.”
Coons said there would be exceptions for students who use their devices to monitor medical conditions.
Increasing anxiety among students
There was support for policies against middle school students having smartphones at school. Several attendees were skeptical of middle schoolers having their own smartphones at all.
“I’ve been teaching for 17 years, all middle school,” said one teacher. “The amount of anxiety and things that I’ve seen in students post-COVID is scary.”
“We’ve seen that in middle school sometimes too, especially in the bathrooms,” added another middle school staffer. “They’ll go text the parent ‘I’m sick, I’m anxious, I need to come home,’ and then the parent comes to the school to pick the child up. Our school nurses are like ‘I didn’t know this.’ If a student is struggling with anxiety or some other kind of emotional need, the school counselors haven’t been informed. It’s a struggle sometimes.”
One attendee said teachers and substitutes should avoid allowing cell phone use as a reward for certain behaviors or achievements in the classroom. Coons agreed with the suggestion.
Some were concerned about school safety overall without cell phones. For example, a student could reach out to law enforcement in the case of a shooting or an emergency if they have their cell phones on hand.
Several attendees felt teachers should also not have their cell phones visible during school hours. There was pushback on the idea of teachers not having their phones at all, as some school safety systems are accessible through apps on teacher phones.
One attendee called for more resources.
“The reality is that the school is expected to address every single thing,” he said. “Addictions to nicotine, vaping, we’re now addressing the addiction of cell phones. It takes people resources; it takes financial resources. It’s a very heavy lift.”
New CDC figures offer optimism, phone or no phone
On Tuesday, the CDC released new data showing improvements in youth mental health and a rise in safety concerns.
The national data, ranging from 2021 to 2023, shows:
- "Decreases in the percentage of students overall who experienced persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness (from 42% to 40%).
- "Decreases in the percentage of female students who experienced persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness (from 57% to 53%) and who seriously considered attempting suicide (30% to 27%).
- "Decreases in the percentage of Hispanic students who felt persistently sad or hopeless (from 46% to 42%), who experienced poor mental health (30% to 26%), who seriously considered attempting suicide (22% to 18%) and who made a suicide plan (19% to 16%).
- "Increases in the percentage of students who were threatened or injured with a weapon at school (7% to 9%).
- "Increases in the percentage of students who were bullied at school (15% to 19%).
- "Increases in the percentage of students who missed school because of safety concerns either at school or on the way to school (9% to 13%)
- "Decreases in the percentage of Black students who attempted suicide (from 14% to 10%) and who were injured in a suicide attempt (4% to 2%).
- "Significant health disparities, particularly among female and LGBTQ+ high school students, who report higher rates of violence, poor mental health and suicidal thoughts and behaviors than their peers. In 2023, nearly three in 10 LGBTQ+ students were bullied at school, and two in 10 attempted suicide."
Here's how to give your feedback and thoughts
After the meeting, Coons told The News Leader the Waynesboro talk had the most school superintendents present of any of the talks so far.
“I thought the dialogue was really great,” Coons said. “A lot of feedback and everybody seems to be challenged with this. Let’s come together and try to share what’s working and what’s not and what the challenges are.”
Coon encouraged anyone who would like to add their feedback to use this online form to do so.
More information about cell phone use in schools can be found on the relevant page of the Virginia Department of Education website.
Lyra Bordelon (she/her) is the public transparency and justice reporter at The News Leader. Do you have a story tip or feedback? It’s welcome through email tolbordelon@gannett.com. Subscribe to usatnewsleader.com.
