Tarrant County’s public health director has released a letter to parents and teachers in the county explaining the dangers and harms of children overusing social media.
Public Health Director Brian Byrd’s letter last week recommends school districts in the county remove smartphones from classrooms.
Byrd cited emerging research that suggests social media causes a rise in anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and suicide. Additionally, social media allows sexual predators to more easily interact with children.
“The evidence has stood the test of academic challenges and is now unavoidable: the more time our children spend on social media, the more their mental health suffers,” wrote Byrd.
Furthermore, he wrote that with increased use of social media, students’ grades and academic performance have dropped significantly, and sleep disruption seems to have gone up.
Because of the negative effects, Byrd is calling on every school district in Tarrant County to remove smartphones from classrooms in an effort to improve student’s mental well-being.
In July, Pike Middle School in Arlington Independent School District announced that students would not be allowed to use cell phones or other electronic devices during the school day.
Byrd applauded districts that have already implemented smartphone bans and recognized the Texas Legislature for passing laws to protect children by limiting the data that social media companies can collect from them.
However, he says that more needs to be done and recommends parents delay children’s access to social media until they reach the age of 16.
“This extra time allows for emotional and cognitive growth, helping to shield our children from social media’s most harmful effects. If you want your child to have a communication device, consider getting them a flip phone, instead,” explained Byrd.
Texas Education Agency Commissioner Mike Morath recently appeared before the Texas Senate Education Committee to share his concerns about smartphones in schools, calling them a distraction that is “extremely harmful for student learning.”
State Rep. Ellen Troxclair (R-Lakeway) has said she will file legislation to ban phones from classrooms.
“As a lawmaker, I know that I have a responsibility to our teachers, administrators, and parents alike to stop the ubiquitous presence of phones in classrooms, and set our students up for success by minimizing distractions,” she wrote in a commentary for the Daily Signal.
