Virginia Governor Calls for Phone-Free Schools to Combat Mental Health Crisis

Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin issued an executive order on Tuesday calling for “phone-free” schools, citing an alarming mental health crisis among teenagers driven by extensive social media use. This directive instructs the state’s education department to develop guidelines for implementing cell phone-free policies in public schools.

• Mental Health Concerns: Youngkin’s order highlights the growing mental health issues among teenagers, exacerbated by social media. Studies show that teens who spend more than three hours a day on social media double their risk of depression and anxiety, with the average teen spending nearly five hours a day scrolling through their devices.

• Educational Focus: The initiative aims to reduce unsupervised phone use during school hours, promoting a healthier and more focused learning environment. This step is part of a broader effort to address the severe learning loss experienced by K-12 students during the pandemic, which saw many returning to classrooms significantly behind in their academic progress.

• Academic Decline: Youngkin’s order points to a nationwide decline in academic achievement, particularly in subjects like U.S. history, civics, and math. The Department of Education reported that eighth graders in 2022 had the lowest history scores on record and among the lowest civics scores, with reading and math scores plummeting across the board.

Virginia Education Secretary Aimee Guidera supported the move, emphasizing the necessity of limiting screen time at school while calling for a collaborative approach involving parents, teachers, and school communities to create common sense policies.

“The data is clear, and it is time for Virginians to come together to address the damage of social media and screens to healthy childhoods,” Guidera said. “Government cannot be the sole solution to this crisis; school communities – especially parents and teachers – must work together to discuss and develop common sense approaches to limit screen time, prioritize open channels of communication, and re-establish norms that reinforce healthy and vibrant learning communities.”

This initiative follows a similar move by Arkansas Governor Sarah Sanders, who introduced a grant program incentivizing public schools to ban phones by offering additional funding for mental health and other services. Arkansas’ program will also provide secure pouches for students to store their phones during the school day.

Governor Sanders highlighted the detrimental effects of excessive social media use on teens, stating, “Big Tech created an addicting product and marketed it to the most impressionable population out there, our kids.”

As Virginia and other states take steps to limit phone use in schools, the focus remains on creating environments conducive to learning and mental well-being. These measures are seen as essential in addressing the educational and mental health challenges faced by today’s youth.

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