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When the pandemic struck, the country accepted that the school year was effectively over. For hope, all eyes turned their sights to September.
There were super spreader events occurring all over the country. We watched irresponsible selfish acts of behavior in the media, but never thought to protect our own kids from the ongoing dangers lurking right outside of empty classrooms.
STEP RIGHT IN
When it makes its way through the door it’s too late. Once again, student learning falls victim to a force so powerful that its mere presence can impair and reduce attention and memory — even when NOT used. That’s right…the cell phone, or how some use the oxymoron, smart phone.
We talk about it often but decline the call to do anything about it. Year after year the collateral damage of cell use is said to be responsible for the continuous downslide in student performance.
IT’S OBVIOUS
A study (where would we be without studies) recently published in the Journal of Educational Psychology found that students who had cell phones present while a lesson was being taught scored substantially less, or half a letter grade lower. No kidding.
Schools promote the importance of attendance and graduation, while being hyper vigilant about bullying, drug use and racism in the classroom. Let’s throw “no cell phones in class” into the mix and we can have all areas of concern covered.
But talk about irony. The same classroom, where teachers are forced to “teach for the test,” can’t even do that because the faces are always in their phones with teachers tuned out.
AND YOU THOUGHT YOU HAD PROBLEMS
Forget what adults perceive as problematic cell phone use. I now share authentic cell phone problems through the eyes of addicted students. I can vouch to these incidents being true and not just Snapchat posts.
● Becoming interrupted and annoyed by teachers who have the nerve attempting to teach while they are watching and mimicking TikTok posts.
● Complaining at lunch of the difficulties of having to balance their phone while walking with a loaded plate of food
● The bathroom causing wet phones as it’s the one place they can get a break from class and some peace and quiet while watching Instagram and texting.
When subbing, I don’t want to be a part of the cell phone police. It is a losing battle. This addiction is so strong that it is not going to change one bit. It’s funny how easy it is to blame kids for being screenagers while adults with fully developed brains cannot control their own cell addiction.
HERE’S A NEW ONE FOR ME
There are obvious answers to how cell phones affect student grades. However, there is one that I would have never thought of, FOMO. FOMO refers to the Fear Of Missing Out.
This phenomenon has been defined as the need to find out what friends and loved ones are up to, as well as stressing about whether or not others are enjoying things without them.
This leads the students to keep their phones near them at all times so they can keep on checking for updates. This results in increased levels of anxiety, decrease in mood, lower concentration levels, and unnecessary worry.
With cell phones in hand, students heading online for quick answers to their class work rather than grappling with tough questions themselves, a convenience that may have serious implications in the long run.
Okay, so we know when kids are on their phones for most of their days, they don’t do work and grades drop dramatically.
But do you think they know when they look at their phone it usually takes about five minutes to focus again on the topic at hand? That would be interesting to share with them, except they’re always on the phone.
This column is by Ritchie Lucas, Founder of The Student Success Project and Think Factory Consulting. He can be reached at 305-788-4105 or email at ritchie@thinkfactory.com and on Facebook and You Tube as The Student Success Project.
