Climate Education
Cell Phones vs. Classrooms
October 9, 2024
As we recognize World Teacher Day on October 5th, there can be no single device that most teachers dislike more in their classroom than cell phones!
It was in 1983 that clunky big cell phones first became available to the public, albeit at a steep price, but it was not till 1990 that their popularity and affordability truly soared, and their size shrunk. Today, these insidious devices have become ubiquitous, functioning as pocket computers that many of us can’t seem to put down.
We can use search engines, shop, take riveting photos of our low-carb salad lunch, game, text friends, watch sports, make and post videos, scroll through a seemingly never-ending supply of social media websites from YouTube, TikTok to the Dodo, and pretty much learn anything, anywhere and at any time. Oh, and we can make cell phone calls with them too but that is probably the thing that most of us do the least!
As cell phones become part of our lives they are increasingly becoming part of the classroom too. Cell phone usage in the K-12 classes is soaring with one study by Common Sense Media reporting that 97% of teenagers in the U.S had their own cell phone. Their study discovered that students picked up their phones to look at them while at school, a median of 51 times per day, with some students admitting to doing this 498 times per day. It’s fair to say that our cell phones are addictive but this level of usage in students in school is worrying.
Schools are a place for learning, and technology can and is often successfully incorporated into classroom work, be it via computers or digital whiteboards, but cell phones are unique in that they have become an almost universal disruptor of learning.
Teacher Tribulations
If you’re a teacher, or know a teacher, you will probably hear them complain about their constant need to nag their classes to “put that phone away” while they are midlesson. Cell phones are the thorn in the side of many teachers.
Which is why it has become the topic of conversation globally in educational departments. The Focus on Learning Act, introduced in the U.S Congress aims to study their impact on student performance, engagement, mental health and more. We know that excessive mobile phone usage in general can result in compulsive buying, low mood, and tension.
When students are gazing at their phones and preoccupied in class with their screens instead of focusing on what teacher is doing right in front of them, it takes away from instructional learning. This has been found to be detrimental for memory learning in what is called the “bandwidth effect” – students are only able to take in so much information and their cell phones draw them away from focusing on class work, to look at kittens or play Pokémon, so that paying attention to chemistry or retaining information in a history class suffers. Currently 72% of teachers say cell phones are a distraction.
It is tough for teachers to force students to learn if they are competing with a wall of cell phones in the class setting which is exactly why we need legislation and policies banning phones during school hours.
Bans and Regulations Are Spreading
As a result, already in the U.S, at state level, Indiana and Minnesota, have banned cell phones in school K – 12 and Governor DeWine of Ohio is asking every school in his state to formulate a cell phone policy to limit usage in school hours by July, 2025. A few US states have even incentivized backing regulations by offering financial supports for school districts who want to implement regulations.
As of 2020, almost 80% of U.S schools have prohibited cell phone usage, in some capacity, during school hours. As far back as 2015 there were calls to limit cell phone usage in Jamaican but more needs to be done to make this a reality, even regulation. Already many schools here have banned student cell phone during school hours.
The rise in cellphone regulations and even outright bans in schools, around the world comes after two recent advisories from the U.S. Surgeon General on the youth mental health crisis and the harmful impacts of social media use on student.
It is one of the few bipartisan issues that all sides can agree on, and it is not just the U.S acting, the United Kingdom, Italy, France, Portugal and China have all restricted cell phone use in schools. UNESCO too has suggested curbing cellphone use in all schools as a priority.
Identifying cell phones as a problem that distracts students during instruction as well as impacting their overall well-being and mental health is increasingly being recognized but it is not the only issue we face with cell phones in classrooms.
Information Overload
The instant access to information that cell phones afford students has revolutionized learning spaces as well as information gathering, especially for relatively new topics such as climate change. So, it is not surprising that You Tube is where the largest share of teens—60 percent—say they have seen information on the climate crisis.
Graphic images of flooding, storms, drought, wildfires, mud slides and ecosystem loss, litter these platforms. This can spark passionate responses and motivate direct action, but much of the information is factually wrong or very one note. As a result, it can cause serious climate fear.
Transforming Instruction Is Critical
The climate crisis is very real, and students in Jamaica can see the impact of it first-hand but many students have no ‘off’ button, and they cannot look away. Which means cell phones are increasingly triggering climate anxiety.
That is why we need comprehensive climate education in schools, across all subjects. Be it using carbon emissions as the factors in math class, wildfire realities in English classes and studying greenhouse gas impacts in science. Students need to be placed at the center of learning to improve their climate engagement which in turn will increase agency, resiliency, and retention. Active learning is critical when tackling topics like climate change in the classroom, as this topic directly affect students in the here and now.
We need to push out all the “cell phone noise” and have a fact based and holistic approach to teaching the one subject no student should be able to skip. Let’s redefine how we interact with learning. Ban cell phones all school and back universal climate education in every classroom.
