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Parent cites research supporting strict cellphone ban as state bill advances
Summary
A parent at the Neshaminy School District meeting summarized studies he said show strict bell-to-bell cellphone bans can improve academics and reduce disciplinary incidents, urging the board to prepare for likely statewide action.
Chris Lyman, a Langhorne Borough parent, told the board he has followed research on in-school cellphone policies and urged officials to prepare for likely state-level action on a bell-to-bell ban.
Lyman cited a University of North Carolina study that he said found "the average student spent 2.2 hours a day" on their phone during school hours and noted a Norwegian School of Economics review of nearly 160,000 students that, according to his summary, showed substantial academic and mental-health benefits under strict bans. He also cited a UK Policy Exchange review that compared confiscation rates under strict versus lenient bans.
Lyman characterized the evidence as showing the largest benefits under strict policies in which phones are collected or kept out of students’ reach, saying strict bans correlated in the studies with GPA and math-score improvements and reductions in bullying and mental-health visits among some groups.
Board members did not take immediate policy action at the meeting. The parent’s comments were presented as information for the board to consider as a proposed Pennsylvania bell-to-bell cellphone ban moves through the state Senate.
