Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Student Mental Health Technology topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Commenters say smartphones undermine students' focus and increase loneliness
Summary
Attendees at a meeting warned that the rise of smartphones since about 2012 has reduced students' ability to concentrate, contributed to feelings of loneliness, and fostered disrespectful interactions through social media; no formal action was taken.
Commenter 1, a meeting attendee, said the onset of smartphones around 2012 has undermined students' ability to focus and contributed to loneliness, and urged changes to give students “a chance” to concentrate and build classroom discipline.
“First of all, I think that was 1 of the more 1 of the more important, hearings we've had. We can start to see the link of, the the onset of of of this technology around 2012 right in in sync with, with what's happening with our school system,” Commenter 1 said. “We have to be able to think. And when you have all the distractions and all the pressures and all anxiety that comes with with with things that happen with the cell phone ... they're not getting the ... habit, the mindset to stay focused and to be able to have these conversations.”
Commenter 2, a meeting attendee, cited a 2022 statistic and asked staff to explain psychological effects: “The data shows roughly 22 percent of students do feel lonely in school. That was from 2022. Who knows where it is now, and it's directly correlated to these devices. Talk to us about the psychological impact, of these screens and FaceTime and things like that that that it's having on kids.”
Commenter 1 described a pattern they said is common in classrooms: students use phones to self-soothe when anxious or uncomfortable, which the speaker called “a bad habit to get into.” Commenter 1 added that heavy social-media use can normalize disrespectful behavior: “You start to see the disrespect we're seeing across our country. It is running prevalent because our kids being taught how to treat each other, how to talk to each other through social media.”
Speakers framed the issue as one of both student mental health and basic literacy and civic skills, saying that reducing device-driven distractions would help students “read, write, and think.” The discussion consisted of public comments and questions; no motions or formal actions were recorded on the topic during the meeting.
No staff directive, vote, or policy decision was made at the meeting based on these comments.
