All day cellphone bans in schools and limiting social media use for children under 16 are just two of the recommendations from the state commission on the effects of social media on young people.
The New Jersey Commission on the Effects of Social Media Usage on Adolescents released its full report titled “Growing Up Online,” which details the harms of excessive cellphone and social media use. After a year of research, the final report directs parents, policymakers and education officials as to how they can improve the relationship between young people and social media.
The report suggests districts adopt “bell-to-bell” cellphone bans that prohibit student phone use throughout the school day, including during lunch and in the hallway between classes. This recommendation is in line with guidance from the New Jersey Department of Education.
Charlotte Blythe Valvanis, a senior at Princeton High School who served on the commission, said she supports a full ban on cellphones at school. Since serving on the commission and learning about some of the harmful effects of social media, she has reduced her social media usage to less than an hour per day.
“While I initially mostly saw the benefits… I learned a lot more about other health impacts to exercise and activity, academic performance, and how it impacts how we interact with our family and friends,” Valvanis said. “Hearing that different perspective and knowing that the negatives can sometimes outweigh the benefits really changed how I want to approach social media in the future and how I view it as an institution.”
Being part of the commission also had a significant impact on Mary Coogan, president and CEO of Advocates for Children of New Jersey, who said her organization will focus more on the impacts of social media moving forward and urge lawmakers to act on the commission’s recommendations.
“One of the things that this report says is that everybody has a role,” Coogan said, noting recommendations for parents, caregivers, educators, community organizations, lawmakers and health professionals.
Spending more than three or four hours a day on social media can impact students mental and physical well-being, she said.
“While they’re mindlessly scrolling, they’re not outside getting fresh air. They’re not interacting with friends. They’re not doing their schoolwork. They’re not getting the sleep that they need,” Coogan said.
Although the commission’s official work is over, its members are sharing the report and advocating for change in their communities and across the state.
NJ Spotlight News’ education and child welfare writer Hannah Gross discusses some of the biggest takeaways from the report and her conversations with members of the commission. This interview has been excerpted and lightly edited.
Briana Vannozzi, anchor: What is driving the push to put these cellphones away, not just during classroom instructional time, but bell to bell, as they call it… the whole day?
Hannah Gross: The commission found that social media and phone use can have pretty devastating effects on mental and physical health for students, which is why they want them out of the classroom in addition to the impacts on learning, which can make it more difficult to focus and concentrate in class.
BV: What type of evidence did they cite? Were there medical studies? Cohorts that they looked at? I mean, what did they really point to to back this up?
HG: So the commission worked with the team of researchers from Rutgers who were conducting a survey of students and parents in New Jersey, looking at social media habits and behaviors. And then the Rutgers team also performed a literature analysis where they were able to take a look at all of the available research on this topic and presented to the committee.
BV: We know that there has been a rise in issues with youth mental health. How much did that play into it, and concern that’s come out from school boards, parents, I mean, even students who have said they’re fearing cyberbullying, they can’t escape it even when they’re in class. How much did that play into it?
HG: It’s a big concern. There’s an association between social media use and cyberbullying, body shaming and anxiety and depression in young people.
BV: Yeah, it used to be you could go to school and get away from that. You can’t anymore. Okay, I’m curious what parents and teachers and students have to say about it, because they’re the ones who would be affected. Who did you talk to from the panel, and what was their reaction and sort of feedback about this?
HG: I spoke to Charles Gelinas, who was one of the co-chairs of the commission, and he was incredibly supportive of a bell-to-bell ban, which means you wouldn’t have the phone throughout the school day.
BV: What type of background does Charles have that would lend him as an expert or someone who’s highly educated in this area?
HG: So he was a parent representative on the commission. He has two daughters, one in elementary school and middle school. So he has seen them grappling with phone use and social media use. And he’s also a member of the Board of Education in Westfield, where he helped the district adopt a cellphone policy that’s dependent on schools but encourages phones to be away during the school day.
BV: We should note there are several districts that have already implemented these type of policies. What about students? Because we’re all attached to our phones and students, for sure, because they are addicting. What do they have to say?
HG: I spoke to one of the student representatives on the commission who said serving on the commission over the last year really opened her eyes to the negative sides of social media when she previously had been focusing a lot on the positives … After being on the commission, she has drastically changed her habits on social media and phone use.
BV: A lot of folks, Hannah, have talked about, well, maybe we should just encourage more healthy behavior, teaching kids not just you can’t have this phone, but here’s a healthier way to do it. So is that in this report, as far as who will set the guidelines and who will enforce them?
HG: The report does address that. There’s different recommendations for different groups, so policymakers both at the state and federal level, educators, teachers, and then also for parents. And some of the recommendations for parents include modeling healthy behaviors and having a good relationship with your phone. Also limiting social media use until kids turn 16, and even then, setting boundaries.
BV: I can imagine that that got some pushback. Did you hear from any groups, any individuals, who are not too happy about this?
HG: I’m sure they’re out there. So far, I’ve been speaking with people on the commission who are broadly supportive of the recommendations.
BV: So is the state looking to make a mandate here? The governor has said he would sign it if it comes to his desk. It moved through the Senate, it stalled in the Assembly. How likely is it that we would have some type of one-size-fits-all policy?
HG: Members of the commission are optimistic that this will give lawmakers the push that they might need to get the bill over the finish line, but even that bill kind of leaves a lot of flexibility up to school districts. We’re in a state where there’s almost 600 school districts, and they have broad authority to set their own policies, so some districts already have policies and others might add them after this report.
