#getphonesoutofschools
Dear Legislator | Letter Template
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Dear [Find your legislator],
Childhood mental health issues have skyrocketed since smartphones came onto the market. There is an alarming body of evidence confirming that social media, unsupervised internet use, or overuse of screens negatively impacts youth mental health, brain development, and empathy. Our kids are logging on for 7+ hours per day, many of which are during school. We can help change this. We must protect our children’s brain development from potential permanent damage, help re-build their self-esteem, and find fulfilment in life again.
I am writing to ask that you address these concerns by creating legislation that prohibits students’ use of personal internet phones/devices at schools (K-9) and on school buses.
Currently, many teachers ask students to use personal devices to access apps, to do online research, or to otherwise supplement their instruction in class. This practice is done without giving alternative options. This expectation causes stress, feelings of isolation, and embarrassment for those students who do not own a device. It also pressures parents to buy a device for their child to bring to school. This approach goes against the results of a national survey which found that 82% of parents do not want their kids using phones during school.
Professionals agree that excessive screen use can result in negative behaviors such as under-developed interpersonal skills, loss of impulse control, and sleep deprivation. These behaviors, combined with the mind-numbing scrolling of social media, violent imagery, and inappropriate content readily found online contribute to feelings of loneliness, low self-esteem, anxiety, depression, and at worst, deliberate self-harm and/or suicide.
With this knowledge, why are schools still allowing and expecting students to bring personal internet phones/devices on school property?
Make school the one place that children can abandon personal devices that they neither need nor benefit from in an educational setting. Please support proper legislation prohibiting students’ personal internet phones/devices on school buses and at school. No more personal internet phones or devices on school property!
Sincerely,
Sources
- D'Souza, K., 2021. Distance learning stokes fears of excessive screen time. [online] EdSource. Available at: <https://edsource.org/2020/distance-learning-stokes-fears-of-excessive-screen-time/644165> [Accessed 26 June 2021].
- Ruston, D., 2021. About. — Away for the Day. [online] Away for the Day. Available at: <https://www.awayfortheday.org/about> [Accessed 26 June 2021].
- Twenge, J.M. 2017. IGen: Why today’s super-connected kids are growing up less rebellious, more tolerant, less happy, and completely unprepared for adulthood. New York: NY Atria.