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It's Time to Take Phones Away from Students

The spike in teen mental distress and disruptive behaviour will require extreme steps

Smartphones have proven to be ingenious tools for teens trying to stir up conflict: one tactic among instigators is to begin a seemingly anodyne conversation (be it online or IRL), then to slowly entice an unknowing student to talk smack about a peer. It’s hard for students to maintain concentration at the best of times, and for children whose executive functions are still developing, the ping or vibration of a notification can be impossible to ignore—especially if the educational task at hand is difficult. In her seventeen years at R. H. King Academy in Scarborough, now vice principal Lesley McLean has seen first-hand the array of learning and behavioural problems related to cellphones in schools.

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