SEC. 2.
The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:(a) There is growing evidence that unrestricted use of smartphones by pupils at elementary and secondary schools during the schoolday interferes with the educational mission of the schools, lowers pupil performance, particularly among low-achieving pupils, promotes cyberbullying, and contributes to an increase in teenage anxiety, depression, and suicide.
(b) In September 2018, France adopted a nationwide smartphone ban in all primary and middle schools in order to promote pupil achievement and healthy social development.
(c) The London School of Economics and Political Science published a May 2015 study that found that test scores improved significantly at schools that banned mobile phone use, and that the most significant gains in pupil performance were made by the most disadvantaged and underachieving pupils. The study concluded that “schools could significantly reduce the education achievement gap by prohibiting mobile phone use in schools.”
(d) Dr. Jean Twenge, who is a professor of psychology at San Diego State University, published a book in 2017 entitled “iGen,” which presents evidence of an increase in depression
and suicide among American teenagers that may be caused by increased mobile device screen time and social media use. According to Dr. Twenge, grade 8 pupils who spend 10 or more hours per week on social media are 56 percent more likely to describe themselves as unhappy than those who devote less time to social media. Moreover, teenagers who spend three hours per day or more on electronic devices are 35 percent more likely to demonstrate risk factors for suicide, such as suicidal ideation, and teenagers who spend five or more hours per day on their devices are 71 percent more likely to demonstrate a risk factor for suicide.
(e) Research demonstrates that the use of cell phones by pupils during school operating hours can create significant distractions resulting in negative effects on their academic performance and mental health.
Additionally, the presence of cell phones and related technologies in classrooms may not only detract from pupils’ academic performance, but also contribute to higher rates of academic dishonesty and cyberbullying.
(f) In 2015, Spain enacted a ban on mobile phones in school settings, showing an increase of pupils’ test scores as well as a documented decrease in incidences of bullying.
(g) A study completed by Louis-Philippe Beland and Richard Murphy in 2016 on the impact of cell phones on pupils’ academic performance reported that when cell phones were banned from classrooms, standardized test scores went up approximately 6 percent on average and more than 14 percent for low-achieving pupils.
(h) Using pupil data
from England, the results from a 2015 research paper published in the Labour Economics journal suggest that after schools banned mobile phones, test scores of pupils 16 years of age increased by 6.4 percent of a standard deviation, or the equivalent to adding five days to the school year or an additional hour per week.