Across the globe, countries have acted to address the crisis of cellphone use in schools. From school districts in California to nations such as South Korea, many school systems recognize the harm that unchecked screen use poses to student engagement and learning. In contrast, Hawaii doesn’t have a consistent statewide phone policy.
Instead, complex areas and individual schools are left to their own discretion, creating inconsistent implementation. The policy variations undermine mental health and learning goals, affecting students and teachers alike.
Hawaii cannot wait any longer. On Feb. 12, the state Board of Education will hold a hearing on a proposed uniform policy banning the use of personal electronic devices during school hours. As a community, we must rally behind this important effort.
Mental health is an issue that has saturated public discourse in recent years, particularly among young people, and this struggle is deeply intertwined with the rise of social media. Author and social psychologist Jonathan Haidt has studied this correlation and discusses it in his book, “The Anxious Generation,” which details how social media has fueled anxiety and social comparison. Phone-free classrooms and schools can reduce this pressure by signaling to students that excessive phone use is concerning and encouraging students to socialize with one another rather than engage in comparison.
Beyond student well-being, the absence of uniform policies and inconsistent enforcement leads students to take rules less seriously and creates a burden on teachers. State education authorities have the responsibility to both prepare students for success and equip teachers with the tools to help students achieve that success.
“Most of the time, we use our phones to text friends and family and for social media, both of which are distractions in the classroom. Sometimes students are even emotionally and mentally affected by a text or a post and will completely shut down in class,” one public school teacher explained.
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It is no surprise, then, that surveys have found broad support for bans on phone use among educators, with a recent National Education Association survey reporting 90% in favor. Not only do teachers support such policies, but research is increasingly showing that they have positive effects on student performance. Preliminary findings from a large University of Pennsylvania-led study indicate that strict, school-wide phone policies are associated with better teacher-reported outcomes, including improved classroom engagement.
Phones also enable the growing use of AI tools, which many students now rely on to summarize long readings or complete assignments, even during class. While the cognitive effects of AI are only beginning to be understood, a recent MIT study found that students who relied on AI to write essays showed significantly lower brain engagement.
Banning phones during the school day would create structured periods in which students must rely on their own critical thinking skills rather than outsourced answers.
Some may argue that prohibiting phones in classrooms raises safety issues during emergencies. However, schools already have established communication systems and protocols, and these concerns should not outweigh the well-documented harms that phones pose to daily learning.
To be clear, this is not a call for a wholesale ban on technology, nor a rejection of the digital world students will inevitably inhabit. Rather, we are calling for boundaries that protect focus, connection, and learning in the classroom.
Teachers are asking for support, and students deserve better learning environments. On Feb. 12, the Board of Education has the chance to take a clear, necessary step forward, and the public must ensure this long-overdue policy becomes a reality. Public testimony can be given in-person, and written testimony may be submitted up to 24 hours after the meeting. Now is the time to act.
Logan Otani is a Roosevelt High School alum, Class of 2023; Hollie Rader is a 2021 Waipahu High School grad, and Isabella Romero is a 2024 Maui High School alum; they are now at the University of Hawaii at Manoa.
“Raise Your Hand,” a monthly column featuring Hawaii’s youth and their perspectives, appears in the Insight section on the first Sunday of each month. It is facilitated by the Center for Tomorrow’s Leaders.