Education
BY GABBY BAILEY
Tarrant County public health director calls for cellphone ban
Tarrant County Public Health Director Brian Byrd has joined local and national leaders in calling for a ban of cell phones in public schools in the county, according to a Sept. 26 news release. What’s happening Byrd cited concerns over the mental health of students as a reason for recommending that Tarrant County schools prohibit cell phone usage, listing increases in anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia and suicide due to social media use among students. According to Addictionhelp.com, data from Common Sense says teenagers are on mobile devices for seven hours and 22 minutes daily. The report also said children as young as 8 years old rack up nearly ve hours of screen time. “The more time our children spend on social media, the more their mental health su ers,” Byrd said in the release. “While originally designed to facilitate connection, social media has often had
the opposite e ect. “Not only that, we’ve all seen and heard about children experiencing disruption in their sleep and a drop in their grades.” Zooming out Byrd’s call to ban cell phones in public schools follows suit of other districts in Texas that have implemented the rule. Grapevine-Colleyville ISD, Carroll ISD, Keller ISD and Northwest ISD already have amended their student cell phone policies for the 2024-25 school year to limit how the devices are used during school hours. Should Tarrant County ban cell phones in classrooms, students would be required to place them “in isolation” until the end of the school day, according to the release. In the release, Byrd recommends that parents delay access to social media until kids are 16 and give them simpler phones, like a ip phone.
“The more time our children spend on social media, the more their mental health su ers.” TARRANT COUNTY PUBLIC HEALTH DIRECTOR BRIAN BYRD
National Institutes of Health study
Suicide is the second-leading cause of death for adolescents and young adults in the United States.
NIH-funded researchers led a study using data from more than 10,000 young adolescents.
Almost 9% reported being a target of cyberbullying. Those who experienced cyberbullying were more than four times as likely to report thoughts of suicide and attempts as those who didn’t.
SOURCE: NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH COMMUNITY IMPACT
100 Main St. Colleyville, TX 76034 November 23 5:30 pm - 8:30 pm
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GRAPEVINE COLLEYVILLE SOUTHLAKE EDITION
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