There is no evidence that restrictive school policies are associated with overall phone and social media use or improved mental well-being in adolescents, according to a new study conducted by the University of Birmingham.
The study assessed the impact of school phone policies by comparing the outcomes of adolescents who attend schools that restrict phone use to those who attend schools that permit use.
The results, published in the Lancet journal for European health policies, conclude that there is no evidence that banning phone use during the school day in its current form provides benefits on children’s overall phone usage or wellbeing, indicating that current policies require further development.
The cross-sectional observational study was conducted on 1227 participants aged 12-15 years in 30 schools. According to its results, teenagers who attended schools with restrictive versus permissive policies had lower phone and social media usage time during school hours, but there was no evidence of differences when comparing weekday or weekend usage time.
“Comparing schools that restrict daytime phone use with those that allow it, we observed no differences in adolescents ‘self-reported mental well-being, anxiety, depression, problematic social media use and their motivations for using social media,” the study reported.
According to the study, one explanation is that restrictive school phone policies have not reduced the overall time spent by adolescents on their phones or social media.
“We observed that increased time spent on phones or social media is significantly associated with worse outcomes in mental health and well-being, physical activity and sleep, school achievement, and disruptive behaviour,” the study adds.
The study calls on school policies to be developed as part of a more holistic approach.
“Preventative efforts should also consider how other behaviours that influence mental health and wellbeing are influenced by increased phone or media use, such as sleep, physical activity, attainment, classroom behaviour and problematic use,” the study says.
The director of the Smartphone Free Childhood campaign group, Joe Ryrie, called the results “surprising”, noting that teachers in the group’s network reported improvements as a result of the school ban. But he added that other regulations are also needed for safer, non-destructive use of phones by children, the BBC reported.
The study comes amidst heightened concerns about digital media safety for children.
In January, technology secretary Peter Kyle described the UK’s internet laws as “very uneven” and “unsatisfactory”, with the statement following those of campaigners calling for a tightening of online safety rules.
Among them is Ian Russell, the father of Molly Russell, a 14-year-old British girl who committed suicide after seeing harmful content online. In a letter to the minister, Russell said that the UK is “backtracking” on the matter.
During the same month, Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg announced the introduction of a new system that allows users to add ‘community notes’ to social media posts that they consider false.
The move shifts dramatically from Meta’s initial 2016 approach, which included third-party moderators performing checks.
