We know surprisingly little about the effects of smartphone bans in schools, says Sonia Livingstone, a professor at the London School of Economics who studies how digital technologies affect newborn people. There is relatively little good research in this area, and what is done often points in conflicting directions. “There is almost enough evidence to suggest that preventing children from using phones improves concentration,” says Livingstone, but it is much harder to say that banning phones leads to less bullying and more play. “The research is just not good enough for this,” he says.
Livingstone says it is extremely complex to separate the impact of smartphones on specific issues such as bullying, mental health, sleep time, exercise and concentration. Indicates a lack mental health services for newborn people and poor pay and conditions for teachers, as well as other potential problems that are ignored in favor of smartphone bans. He says phones may be part of the problem, but they are also seen as a one-size-fits-all solution. “They seem like something we can do something with,” he says, “and they seem like the most obvious new thing.”
The proposed novel law will also raise the age at which children can consent to their data being used by social media, from 13 to 16. “If we can create a version of these apps and a smartphone version effectively for U16s, it will make it easier for them to log off from work and engage in real-world activities,” MacAllister said Today show. Great Britain has already adopted the act in 2023 – the so-called Internet security actt – which is intended to protect children from certain content, but most of the provisions of the act have not yet entered into force.
Instead of focusing on bans, lawmakers should think more about how to teach children healthier relationships with technology and hold tech companies accountable, says Pete Etchells, professor at Bath Spa University and author of the book Unlocked: The Real Science of Screen Time. “We need to think about how we design [digital technologies] better and support people in understanding how to use them,” he says.
According to Etchells, getting there means moving away from simplistic narratives, such as the assumption that limiting screen time will lead to more outdoor play. He points to a 2011 law in South Korea that prohibited children from playing online games between midnight and 6 a.m. After four years, the ban has not brought about significant changes in Internet apply hours of sleep. The law was abolished in 2021.
“If you talk to any mental health professional or researcher in the field, they will tell you that there is no single root cause for things to get worse or get better,” Etchells says. Viewing smartphone limitations as the main answer to newborn people’s problems may be the basic solution, not the right one.