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Expert testifies phones harm classroom focus, social development during House Education hearing
Summary
A child and adolescent psychiatrist told the Vermont House Education Committee that smartphone and social media use are linked to distraction, worsening mental-health trends and learning problems, and urged schools to consider phone restrictions while limiting medical exemptions.
BURLINGTON, Vt. — Dr. Harris Strokoff, a child and adolescent psychiatrist who works in South Burlington and with NCSS in St. Albans, told the Vermont House Education Committee on April 23 that widespread smartphone and social media use is harming classroom attention, social development and mental health and that school limits on phones can produce measurable benefits.
Strokoff said mounting research and his clinical experience show a pattern he described as similar to addiction: “Almost all the same symptoms we see in substance use disorders we see in Internet and gaming addiction,” he told the committee. He added that even a phone turned off but present on a student’s desk reduces academic performance in controlled studies.
The committee was hearing continued testimony on a phone-free schools bill. Strokoff said the problem goes beyond academics, affecting skills that develop through face-to-face interaction: “For many kids, especially…
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