Child psychiatrist weighs in on possible effects of new school cell phone ban

Psychiatrist Rakin Hoq, M.D., director of Child Psychiatry Consultation at the MUSC Shawn Jenkins Children’s Hospital, is closely following South Carolina’s new restriction on cell phone use in schools.

“What we know from the research so far is that digital devices are absolutely interfering with academics and mental health. Basically, our conclusions are a couple things. One, digital devices are here to stay. We can't completely control or restrict their access or their use. That's not realistic,” Hoq said.

“But we need to figure out some boundaries in order to have balanced use that isn't leading the complications or adverse effects. And more than likely, with youth, we need systemic boundaries.”       

 

State education leaders say they’re establishing one of those boundaries through the Free to Focus program. It bans the use of personal electronic devices during regular school hours. 

Hoq said the policy comes as society tries to understand the effects of digital device use. “Maybe this is the beginning of public health standards. We'll just have to see.”

While Hoq said research in this field is in its infancy, there are some studies involving cell phone use in schools. For example, the Pew Research Center found in a survey that 72% of public high school teachers see students being distracted by cellphones in class as a major problem.

Free to Focus sees them as a major problem as well. “Research and feedback show that the widespread use of smartphones in schools has created serious academic, mental health and discipline challenges,” said South Carolina Superintendent of Education Ellen Weaver.

Hoq said there’s no doubt that there have been major complications and shifts in kids' mental health over the last 20 years. “We’ve seen really stark rises in depression, anxiety and even self-harming rates. And that's a really large population-based change. So that's a little bit complicated to understand. There's a lot of variables that go into that. The biggest correlating factor we see in our society is the integration of digital devices into life overall.”

The Charleston psychiatrist, who has been asked to speak multiple times over the past year about cellphone use and kids, said digital devices give the brain a high level of stimulation. “It's not replicated by anything close in the natural world.” 

Hoq said a constant stream of information affects the brain in a way that can’t be replicated offline. “And so our brains then naturally gravitate toward rapid stimulation for our reward center.”

Free to Focus calls it an addiction, referring to “an uncontrolled, society-wide experiment…on children and their still-developing brains in the form of the smartphone.”

Hoq did not take a position on the state ban but did have this to say. “Right now, probably the profession I admire the most in society is our public school teachers. Trying to engage a large group of adolescents has to be more complex than ever.”

If engaging them becomes easier with the cellphone restrictions, Hoq said there could be metrics to monitor. “You would hope to see some overall improvements in academic performance potentially and in children's academic functioning, and, potentially, maybe we will see some effects on their mental health,” he said.

That said, Hoq noted that technology, including cellphones, has clear benefits as well as challenges. “I would hope our recommendations will become much more targeted and streamlined and informed with more time. But these devices are brand new variables. They're bringing incredible advancements. There are even advancements with AI and such in public health and mental health,” the assistant professor in the Medical University of South Carolina’s Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences said.

“There's like cool and innovative, positive things that are coming out of it, in terms of kids' social circles – all kinds of things. Kids that never could find a social circle before find some belonging somewhere. So there's positive things, but we're still learning how to balance it.”