Republished with the permission of Bacon’s Rebellion

by James A. Bacon

Chesapeake public schools banned cell phones and tablets in school for most of the school day and now report to The Virginian-Pilot that students are less disruptive and paying more attention in class.

The rule enacted this year requires devices to be stored in a bag, locker or vehicle during school hours. High school students were allowed to use them during lunch, writes the Pilot, but officials said they will likely remove that exception next year.

“Teachers are ecstatic about it,” says Jeff Johnson, principal of Great Bridge High School. They’re spending less time asking students to put devices away and making fewer referrals for discipline issues, he explains.

The article offered no metrics to demonstrate an improved climate for learning — although we may get some in August when the state releases its Standards of Learning results — but the anecdotal evidence is overwhelming.

Social psychologist Jonathan Haidt makes a powerful argument in his latest book, The Anxious Generation, that cell phones and social media are not only disruptive to learning but have contributed greatly to the increase in anxiety and depression in Gen Z. He advocates banning cell phones from school, and an increasing number of school districts are listening.

Banning cell phones from schools is low-hanging fruit for reversing the decline in educational performance. Every lawmaker in Virginia should read Haidt’s book. The General Assembly should mandate statewide standards to get cell phones out of schools.