CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (KCRG) – Cell phone use in the classroom has become a hot topic in many areas across Iowa, citing concerns about children’s mental health and development.
Ottumwa and Des Moines schools already ban cellphones on campus.
Today, a pediatrician led a discussion at the Cedar Rapids Public Library downtown, organizing parents and educators to take action.
Tonight’s presentation highlighted the correlation between the rise in mental health problems in children over the past 20 years and mobile phone use.
The event was organized by Dr. Paget Skogman, who cited his best-selling book, “The Anxious Generation.”
The book urges parents, schools and communities to ban cell phones from schools, postpone cell phone use until high school, and ban social media use until age 16.
Dr Skogman said mobile phones play such a big role in children’s lives that social interaction can sometimes be forgotten.
“Everything is going virtual, so everyone is feeling more isolated, more lonely, and they’re losing social skills and interaction. They’re all better at texting than talking,” Skogman said.
A student counselor who attended the presentation said her school does not have a policy regarding cell phones, but teachers each have their own rules regarding cell phones.
She said a school-wide policy could help increase students’ social interaction while also giving them clear expectations.
“Kids expect consistency and the sameness of those rules and expectations, and when you put something different on students all the time, it confuses them,” high school counselor Elizabeth Kreher said.
One concern parents raised was that their children would feel left out if they followed these recommendations.
Skogman said the best way to stop that from happening is for parents and schools to work together to limit cellphone use.
The conversation was attended by several Cedar Rapids school board members and the district’s superintendent.
They said they are interested in a new cell phone policy but did not say when or what it might look like.
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