School districts around the country are implementing restrictive cell phone policies, and parents say they’re on board.
Nearly 70% of adults say they’re in favor of cell phone bans during class in middle and high schools, according to new data from the Pew Research Center. Forty-five percent of them “strongly” support such restrictions, compared to just 24% who oppose them.
Most notably, adults are more likely to back policies that only prohibit cell phone use during instruction. Whole-day restrictions are less favorable among 53% of the survey respondents, while only 36% support them.
When narrowed down to K12 parents specifically, the numbers remained similar. Sixty-five percent of parents support policies that ban cell phone use during class and 36% support bans that last the entire school day.
The researchers also asked folks why they support cell phone bans in schools. Overwhelmingly, respondents believe they lead to fewer distractions (98%), followed by:
- Students would develop strong social skills (91%)
- Students would be less likely to cheat (85%)
- It would reduce bullying (70%)
Finally, respondents identified why they would oppose a restrictive policy. Unsurprisingly, they believe parents should be able to reach their child when needed (86%), followed by:
- A ban would be too difficult for teachers to enforce (86%)
- Cell phones can be a useful tool to teach students (70%)
- Parents should be able to decide if their child can use their phone in class (64%)
You can find the survey here.
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