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address regarding smartphone use in K–12 public schools?","Question",{"text":63,"@type":64},"The report addresses how smartphones distract students from learning and classroom engagement, and how they can impede healthy childhood socialization.","Answer",{"name":66,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":67},"What evidence does the report cite for smartphone-related harms?",{"text":68,"@type":64},"It cites polling results and studies showing smartphone dependence relates to poorer academic performance and elevated anxiety, loneliness, and distress, along with teacher reports of classroom distraction.",{"name":70,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":71},"What is the purpose of the model legislation included with the issue brief?",{"text":72,"@type":64},"The model legislation is intended to help states adopt a broadly implementable smartphone restriction policy in public schools, including clear enforcement provisions for elected leaders and school 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activists, and civic leaders committed to advancing economic opportunity, individual liberty, and the rule of law in America and its great cities.  \nJanuary 2025  \nModel Legislation to Restrict Smartphone Use in K–12 Public Schools  \nJohn Ketcham  \nFellow, Director of Cities  \nManhattan Institute  \nJesse Arm  \nExecutive Director of External Affairs, Chief of Staff  \nManhattan Institute  \nIntroduction  \nAcross the United States, a consensus has emerged around the need to limit youths’ access to smartphones in schools.1 Manhattan Institute polling done in July 2024 revealed that 60% of likely voters nationwide are extremely or very worried about cellphone use in school. Despite today’s divisive political landscape, 73% of voters agree that schools should take steps to limit access to cellphones in schools.2  \nGeneration Z, those born after 1995 and often lauded as “digital natives,” was the first cohort to grow up with constant access to technology. This fluency with digital devices was often framed as a benefit, equipping today’s youth to navigate the modern world with ease. But as social psychologist Jonathan Haidt and others have written in recent years,3 this constant digital stimulation—especially on social media platforms—comes with downsides. As Haidt notes, the six to eight hours of screen-based leisure that teens spend each day comes with a high opportunity cost: time not spent playing with friends, learning new skills, and exploring the physical world.4  \nIn a recent poll of 1,006 Gen Z adults aged 18 to 27, 60% responded that they use social media for at least four hours each day, with 22% spending seven or more hours daily.5 Almost half wish that social media platforms like TikTok and Snapchat were never invented, indicating the frustration that many young American adults feel with social media.  \nGeneration Alpha—the children born from 2010 onward and often known as “screenagers”—has screen time rates that exceed those of previous generations, even Gen Z.6 About 65% of Generation Alpha spend up to four hours a day on social media, with 58% obtaining a smartphone before the  \n Model Legislation to Restrict Smartphone Use in K–12 Public Schools  \nage of 10.7 This younger generation of students has already had its elementary educational and social experience hindered by Covid-19-related masking and remote-learning policies.8 Smartphone dependency is eroding their educational capabilities and social development further.  \nAmericans increasingly recognize that smartphone dependence can harm our youngest generation. Mounting evidence from personal experiences as well as from scientific studies demonstrates that smartphone use relates to poorer academic performance, heightened anxiety, loneliness, distress, and risks to healthy childhood socialization. Teachers confirm that cellphones and smartphones are pulling students’ attention away from their work. A recent Pew Research poll found that“72% of high school teachers say students being distracted by their cellphones in the classroom is a major problem.”9  \nAs a result, states, cities, and individual school districts across the U.S. are revising their policies on phone use in public schools. The problem transcends partisan, state, and even national lines. Large urban and small rural districts, Republican and Democratic jurisdictions alike, are beginning to look for solutions. The United Nations’UNESCO body has even called for a global smartphone ban in schools.10  \nThis issue brief and accompanying model legislation aims to provide states with a broadly implementable smartphone restriction policy in public schools, along with clear, straightforward enforcement provisions to help state and local elected leaders and school officials limit smartphone use in public schools across the United States.  \nThe Deleterious Effects of Smartphones in Schools  \nSmartphone use in schools can h","cbCairHKJo3wCgM1","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCairHKJo3wCgM1","pdf",230179,"English","# Introduction\n## The Deleterious Effects of Smartphones in Schools\n## Distracting from the Educational Experience and Impact on Academic Performance","[{\"question\":\"What problem does the report address regarding smartphone use in K–12 public schools?\",\"answer\":\"The report addresses how smartphones distract students from learning and classroom engagement, and how they can impede healthy childhood socialization.\"},{\"question\":\"What evidence does the report cite for smartphone-related harms?\",\"answer\":\"It cites polling results and studies showing smartphone dependence relates to poorer academic performance and elevated anxiety, loneliness, and distress, along with teacher reports of classroom distraction.\"},{\"question\":\"What is the purpose of the model legislation included with the issue brief?\",\"answer\":\"The model legislation is intended to help states adopt a broadly implementable smartphone restriction policy in public schools, including clear enforcement provisions for elected leaders and school officials.\"}]","Model Legislation to Restrict Smartphone Use in K–12 Public Schools | PDF",1792053658]