1. MOBILE PHONE USE* HAS A NEGATIVE IMPACT ON ATTENTION AND LEARNING

• Mobile phone use while learning new material reduces comprehension and impairs academic performance (Froese et al. 2012)
• The presence of a mobile phone may phone1induce ‘brain drain’ (Ward et al. 2017)

• Mobile phone use while executing another task decreases learning and task completion (Ophir et al. 2009; Smith et al. 2011; Levine et al. 2013; and Lee et al. 2014)

• There was an improvement in student performance of 6.41% of a standard deviation in schools that had introduced a mobile phone ban (Beland and Murphy 2016)

2. MOBILE PHONES CAN BE ADDICTIVE

• Core symptoms of smartphone overuse are akin to substance addiction (Csibi et al 2019)

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• Mobile phone content can speak to our ‘dopamine pathways’ and ‘reward structures’ in the battle for more and more of users’ time (Haynes 2018) • Companies are intentionally using motivational and persuasive techniques that are designed to hook users (Ali et al. 2018)

• 40% of mobile users say they find their device distracting; almost half (48%) of mobile users check their device at least once every 30 minutes, 53% are worried about over-reliance/addiction to their devices (AMTA 2019)

3. MOBILE PHONE OVERUSE CAN LEAD TO HEALTH AND WELLBEING ISSUES

• Researchers have noticed a worldwide rise in myopia (short-sightedness); myopia also increases the risk of major ocular health disorders such as retinal tearing (x21), glaucoma (x40) and cataracts (x6) (Langis 2019)

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• On average, teenagers are spending six hours per day on the internet, texting friends and on social media; studies show parallel increases in depression, anxiety and reduced happiness (Twenge 2017a; Twenge 2017b)

4. MOBILE PHONES CAN FACILITATE ANTI-SOCIAL BEHAVIOR

• Research has found that having a mobile phone in elementary school was associated with being involved with both bullying and cyberbullying, both as a bully and as a bully/victim (Englander 2018)

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5. MOBILE PHONE USE CAN REPLACE SOCIAL OR PHYSICAL ACTIVITY (WITH ATTENDANT CONSEQUENCES)

• Recent research has shown that university students who used their smartphones five or more hours a day had a 43% increased risk of obesity and were more likely to have other lifestyle habits that increase the risk of heart disease (American College of Cardiology 2019)

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“As smartphones continue to be an inherent part of life and grow as a primary source of entertainment — particularly among young people — it leads to a decrease in physical activity.”

The feedback from parents has been overwhelmingly positive so far.

DSC’s mobile phone policy is being discussed at the next College Council meeting.

For more information about the research leading to this decision read here. MPS-research-summaries-infographic