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THREAD: there is a growing body of evidence to show that mobile phone use is linked with lower academic achievement, a decrease in wellbeing and can often facilitate bullying in schools. Here's some of the available evidence.
Firstly the amount of time children are spending in front of screens in general is alarming. To take one example, 20% of 14- to 17-year-olds in the US spend 7 hours a day in front of screens. (and that was 5 years ago) https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/nsch/data/nsch2016.html
In 2018 45% of teens say they use the internet “almost constantly" https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2018/05/31/teens-social-media-technology-2018/
Children who spend more time in front of screens than in-person social interaction (sports/exercise/gatherings/family time) tend to be unhappier. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29355336/
Banning mobile phones improves outcomes the most for the low-achieving students. For high-achieving students it doesn't seem to make much difference. https://cep.lse.ac.uk/pubs/download/dp1350.pdf
In Spain, banning mobile phones has been shown to increase students’ scores in maths and science. Researchers also documented a decrease in incidences of bullying. https://www.erices.es/upload/workingpaper/99_99_0420.pdf
In Norway, banning phones significantly increased middle school students’ academic achievement. It also decreased incidents of bullying. https://www.dropbox.com/s/47fyp0palhmrc1k/JMP_Abrahamsson.pdf?dl=0
In China students who used mobile phone 2 hours/day on weekdays and 5 hours/day on weekends were significantly more likely to report poor overall academic performance. https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/abs/10.1089/cyber.2019.0591?journalCode=cyber
In Brazil, every 100 min spent using a phone per day corresponded to a reduction in a student's position at the school's ranking of 6.3 points. When used in class the effect was almost twice as high. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0360131517302324
Screen time is associated with lower psychological well-being, including less curiosity, lower self-control, more distractibility, more difficulty making friends, less emotional stability, being more difficult to care for, and inability to finish tasks. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2211335518301827
Even if the phone is turned off and in a bag it reduces working memory and problem-solving skills. https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/691462
Just having a phone with you in a lecture impairs attention and learning. (Most noticeably after 15 mins) https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0747563218301912
Teens who use a computer or mobile phone in the last hour before bed sleep a lot worse. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-02-03/doctors-confirm-screen-time-affects-teens-sleep/6066078
