San Diego joins swell of schools enacting stricter phone limits
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Cellphones aren't on school supply lists as Gen Alpha heads back to class this fall, with administrators tightening bans to combat COVID-era learning loss.
Why it matters: Survey data from the Walton Family Foundation and Gallup shared exclusively with Axios shows attitudes toward phones in schools have shifted drastically in the space of a single generation as educators grapple with distractions and teens' wellbeing.
- San Diego Unified's new rules to keep phones off and out of sight during class went into effect this school year.
State of play: Today's middle and high schoolers face stricter phone limits during school hours than older Gen Zers did at the same age, though most schools still allow phones for emergencies.
- Phone bans have gained momentum across state legislatures in recent years, and nearly half the country limits their use in the classroom.
By the numbers: 79% of Gen Z adults said they were allowed to use their phones between classes when they were students, compared to just 41% of middle schoolers and 61% of high schoolers now.
- 40% of current middle school students said they can use their phones during free time in class, which is 25 percentage points lower than when Gen Z adults were in school.
Between the lines: Teaching became more difficult when schools shifted from remote to in-person learning, Rainer Kulenkampff, a high school history teacher in Maryland's Montgomery County Public Schools, tells Axios.
- "The cellphone use was a major distraction. It disrupted student learning... It impacted their well being," Kulenkampff said. Their behavior changed once phones were banned, he said.
Zoom out: About three-fourths of parents said they support restrictions on phone use but favor allowing students to keep the phones in their possession.
Go deeper: Exclusive: Gen Alpha bears the brunt of schools banning cellphones