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Social psychologist and author Jonathan Haidt recently predicted that American schools will have banned smartphones from classrooms by next fall.
Haidt, whose recently published book “The Anxious Generation” woke Americans up about the harmful effects of smartphones and social media on their children, spoke with La Prensa Libre (TFP) recently, stating that parents and educators are now taking this issue seriously and are pushing for these devices to be banned in schools.
“I think we’re going to have the vast majority of schools in the United States phone-free,” Haidt told the outlet, pointing to next September as the likely point at which schools will have banned smartphones.
Psychologist Jonathan Haidt recently spoke with The Free Press about how American schools are looking to ban smartphones in classrooms. (Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images))
The outlet’s report on Haidt’s influence began by describing how schools have been trying to curb students’ access to smartphones in recent years, with educators concerned that the devices have absorbed children’s attention in the classroom, a dynamic that, they say, emerged from social isolation and virtual learning promoted during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“They looked at me like I was saying ‘wah, wah, wah,'” Seaside School District teacher Suzanna Kruger told The Free Press, describing her students on their phones in the classroom after a year of distance learning .
He added “that most of the children in his class slept with their heads on the desk, wore headphones or made a ‘dead-eyed scroll.’ via tiktok. And when he asked them to hand over their device, he said most of the students simply ‘refused,'” the outlet claimed.
When Kruger and other educators became aware of this problem, Seaside and other school districts recently decided to ban the devices in schools.
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Haidt predicted that most American schools will have banned smartphones by the beginning of the next academic year. (Matt Cardy/Getty Images)
“Seaside has joined thousands of schools across the country in recently banning smartphones as a growing body of evidence shows they are linked to drop in test scores and rising rates of mental illness in adolescents,” the report states, adding that similar bans will go into effect after winter break in schools in Virginia, South Carolina and California.
The outlet pointed to Haidt as one of the main reasons why this awareness about the harm of smartphones has spread so quickly. The report’s author, Olivia Reingold, wrote: “So why is this movement finally getting results now? I spoke to a dozen people—educators, activists, and parents—and they all offered the same answer: Jonathan Haidt.”
The author’s book has been praised by prominent figures on both the right and the left, including Governor Ron DeSantis, who banned smartphones of K-12 public schools in 2023: former President Barack Obama and Microsoft founder Bill Gates.
Psychologist Jean Twenge told The Free Press: “There has been a lot of progress in the last year after years of relatively slow progress. A lot of that has to do with Jon’s book; it really brought the conversation even further to the forefront. It’s inspiring “Many principals and superintendents must implement stricter rules.”
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The outlet described the book’s approach to achieving Haidt’s “Great Rewiring of Childhood,” which requires the implementation of four “fundamental rules.” “They are: no smartphones before high school, no social media before age 16, no phones at school, and more unsupervised play and independence for children.”
Haidt told TFP that he is “amazed” by how quickly awareness of this issue has spread, stating: “The only other example of social change I’ve seen that has moved so quickly is the fall of the Curtain. Iron”.
The psychologist argued that many parents have opposed the idea of giving smartphones to their children, but have bowed to social pressure over the years. “Every parent was thinking, ‘I don’t want to give my daughter a smartphone when she’s 10, but she comes home and says, ‘Mom, I’m the only one.’ That’s the magic phrase: ‘I’m the only one who doesn’t has one,'” he said.
Now, however, he noted that parents and educators are finally starting to push back, now that “it’s clear that all schools” are in favor of banning them.
