Distraction Free Schools Maryland

Distraction Free Schools Maryland is part of a coalition of parents, educators, and school administrators united in calling for legislative action and policy changes to address the overuse of smartphones, social media, and School-Tech in Maryland's schools. It is a state team under the Distraction-Free Schools Policy Project, an initiative led by Becca Schmill Foundation and Smartphone Free Childhood U.S.

 

Our state team is focused on two parallel efforts:

 

1) Community Outreach - We encourage all supporters in Maryland to sign our Letter of Support, which will be shared with our state legislators. Our advocates are busy reaching out to and meeting with state legislators to sponsor our model legislation, and every signature added greatly supports their advocacy efforts. Model legislation includes: Phone Free Schools, Social Media Free Schools, and Safe School Tech.

 

2) Legislator Outreach - We need people who can reach out to legislators to urge them to sponsor the model legislation. We are putting together template materials to help people do this outreach. You can also indicate your interest in doing this work also by signing our Letter of Support.

 

Please share our Letter of Support widely within your networks!

https://www.distractionfreeschools.com/maryland-action

Opinion Schools should ban smartphones. Parents should help.

Social media, the U.S. surgeon general wrote in an advisory this year, might be linked to the growing mental health crisis among teens. And even if this link turns out to be weaker than some recent research suggests, smartphones are undoubtedly a classroom distraction.

Understandably, individual schools and school districts — in Florida, Virginia, Pennsylvania and elsewhere — are trying to crack down on smartphones. Students are required to store the devices in backpacks or lockers during classes, or to place them in magnetic locking pouches. In 2024, these efforts should go even further: Impose an outright ban on bringing cellphones to school, which parents should welcome and support.

In educational settings, smartphones have an almost entirely negative impact: Educators and students alike note they can fuel cyberbullying and stifle meaningful in-person interaction. A 14-country study cited by UNESCO found that the mere presence of a mobile phone nearby was enough to distract students from learning. It can take up to 20 minutes for students to refocus...

https://wapo.st/3R0pYTz

‘Put learners first’: Unesco calls for global ban on smartphones in schools

Major UN report issues warning over excessive use, with one in four countries already banning the devices

Smartphones should be banned from schools to tackle classroom disruption, improve learning and help protect children from cyberbullying, a UN report has recommended.

Unesco, the UN’s education, science and culture agency, said there was evidence that excessive mobile phone use was linked to reduced educational performance and that high levels of screen time had a negative effect on children’s emotional stability.

It said its call for a smartphone ban sent a clear message that digital technology as a whole, including artificial intelligence, should always be subservient to a “human-centred vision” of education, and never supplant face-to-face interaction with teachers...

‘Put learners first’: Unesco calls for global ban on smartphones in schools | Unesco | The Guardian