Banning Smartphones in Michigan’s K-12 Schools: Pros and Cons

What would happen if Michigan educators and parents worked together to ban smartphones from K-12 schools? I know, I KNOW! We want to be able to reach our kids at any moment, OR we want to know exactly where they are at every moment. What if there's an emergency? What if, and I'll just put it out there because it's what we're both thinking, there was an active shooter at my kids' school? Wouldn't that give my child a lifeline?

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But what if we looked at the other side of the argument? What happens to students who attend schools with strict smartphone bans? What about their parents and teachers?

Exploring Michigan K-12 Smartphone Ban: Cons

As someone who left school and came home to an empty house, I wanted to give my kids some security I lacked that I felt a cell phone offered. While there were times I used location tracking to make sure my kids were where they said they would be, I realize part of that suspicion is because I lied about my whereabouts on several occasions growing up in Michigan.

Would our parents have used this technology to track us? Would your life be different if you had access to all the good and bad offered by a smartphone in grade school, middle school, or high school?

Of course, the biggest 'pro' of buying your school-age child a smartphone is that they will stop begging you to buy them a smartphone. While I'm sure there might be more pros beyond satisfying my parental need to know what my kids are doing 24/7 and ensuring they can reach me at any time, let's look at what schools with successful and safe smartphone bans have to say about student performance.

Exploring Michigan K-12 Smartphone Ban: Cons

Multiple studies have shown that students who attend schools that enforce cell phone bans and have parental buy-in see improvement in and out of the classroom. Teachers report that students pay better attention in class, make better eye contact, and are more likely to have actual face-to-face conversations about educational topics. This sounds like what many adults complain that "kids these days" lack.

Students, parents, and teachers report less bullying outside the classroom due to cell phone bans. A Norwegian study revealed that banning cell phones resulted in fewer psychological consultations, improved grades, and improved mathematical performance. The benefits were most strongly seen in students whose families come from low socioeconomic backgrounds.

Let's face it—it's not the phone; it's that the phone provides access to social media. Even as adults, we suffer social media-induced anxiety, whether it comes in the form of an angry political debate or feelings of jealousy over our neighbors' vacation pictures.

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So, should Michigan schools institute a cell phone ban? Chances are your school already has one in place; it's just not enforced. Here's what I ended up asking myself: Would I be a better ________ without the distractions provided by and within my smartphone, and do the pros outweigh the cons?