Seattle Public School Board

John Stanford Center for Educational Excellence
2445 3rd Ave S
Seattle, WA 98134

Dear Members of the Seattle Public School (SPS) Board,

We are parents of kids at SPS schools and members of the community. We are writing to express our deep concern regarding the negative impact from the pervasive usage of cell phones during school hours and to ask for the implementation of clear measures within Seattle Public Schools, to ensure a safe and healthy learning environment for our children.  

Below are several critical harms resulting from the lack of clear guidelines for cell phone use in classrooms, that underscore the need for urgent solutions across SPS before kids return to school in the fall: 

1. Harmful Effects on Mental Health: The excessive and addictive nature of smartphones and social media has a detrimental impact on adolescents' mental health. Adolescence is a critical period for emotional and psychological development, and constant exposure to social media exacerbates issues such as anxiety, depression, and low self-esteem.
   • The U.S. Surgeon General, Dr. Vivek Murthy, highlighted research indicating that teens who spend more than 3 hours a day on social media face a significantly higher risk of mental health problems, as "there are ample indicators that social media can also have a profound risk of harm to the mental health and well-being of children and adolescents." U.S. teens currently average 4.8 hours per day on social media platforms.
   • The goal of social media platforms is to maximize profit, making our kids particularly vulnerable in this context. “The platforms are designed to maximize how much time we all spend on them,” Dr. Murthy said. “It’s one thing to do that to an adult, and another thing to do it to a child, whose impulse control is still developing, whose brain is at a sensitive phase of development.”   “We have put young people in a position where, in order to get some benefits,” like connection with friends, “we’re telling them they have to endure significant harms,”
2. Distraction for Learning: Cell phone presence in the classroom often diverts students' attention away from their lessons, disrupting the learning process and diminishing academic performance. Teachers frequently struggle to maintain students' focus amidst the constant allure of smartphones. By limiting cell phone usage during school hours, we can foster an environment more conducive to concentrated and effective learning.
3. Isolation from Real Human Interaction: Our children are losing valuable opportunities to engage in face-to-face communication, develop social skills, and build meaningful relationships with their peers. Restricting cell phone use will encourage students to interact more with each other, fostering a sense of community and enhancing their social development in the very school environment meant to nurture and foster these skills.

Today's smartphones are filled with addictive apps designed by sophisticated firms that constantly stimulate kids' dopamine levels, making them hard to put down. Technology leaders such as Steve Jobs and Bill Gates saw the dangers posed by cell phones to their own children. They instituted time limits on usage at home, and many of the technology insiders raised their kids in environments insulated from smartphones. However, the majority of children lack such protections and are exposed to a sea of apps designed to capture as much of their time as possible.

This pervasive problem is not something that teachers, parents, or students can tackle on their own. As we are writing this letter, the U.S. Surgeon General, Dr. Vivek Murthy, just announced that he would push for a warning label on social media platforms advising parents that using the platforms might damage adolescents’ mental health. It draws a parallel to the landmark 1965 report from the Surgeon General, which led to cigarette packages in the United States carrying a warning that using the product "may be hazardous to your health." This initiated a 50-year decline in smoking and a reduction in severe health issues for future generations. 

The tobacco industry fought hard for a decade, citing First Amendment rights, before Congress adopted legislation in 1965. Today, the social media and tech industries use the same arguments to resist efforts proposed by the Surgeon General.

We urge SPS to provide schools the necessary support to ensure a safe and healthy learning environment for all kids by having the following measures in place when they return this fall: 

1. Institute clear measures to restrict cell phone usage during school time
2. Leverage and formalize the various successful pilot efforts already underway by teachers in SPS classrooms to tackle this problem. One notable example is the “Phone Hotel” experiment from Garfield High School, where students "check in" their phones before class starts

Thank you for your attention to this important matter. We look forward to seeing positive changes in our schools in the fall. 

Sincerely, 

Ashley Gross, Gay Gilmore, Rao Talasila & Xingchun Zheng