Cedar Rapids doctor issued a call to action on cell phone use in classrooms

Cedar Rapids, Iowa – A physician in Cedar Rapids is pushing for a cell phone ban for students attending the local high schools.

Teenagers use social media apps for 4.8 hours a day on average, according to a 2023 survey. Mercy’s Dr. Padget Skogman in Cedar Rapids thinks there’s a chance to relieve some of the strain. According to Dr. Skogman, “The amount of anxiety and mental health visits that we’re seeing in the pediatric office is so different, even just from 2018 to 2024.”

As mothers, Skogman and her friend Lindsay McGrath believe they want to support youth, beginning in the educational system. The mother of three, McGrath, says, “I think they deserve an education and an experience in middle school and high school where they, you know, get to connect with each other and and be part of that community.”

Even with her youngest students, McGrath claims there is a noticeable difference in the classroom due to the use of smartphones. “It is incredibly astounding that practically every friend of my 9-year-old has a phone, let alone a smartphone,” remarks McGrath. “When we go to events with friends, teammates, or anyone else, my 11-year-old doesn’t have much to look at, so he can be sitting about at a lunch spot staring at his phone. And right away, I became aware—particularly in the past year—that he would not be included in these discussions.

According to Skogman, the notion to completely ban smartphones from schools originated from one of the four tenets outlined in the book “The Anxious Generation.”

“I created a petition suggesting that our schools seriously think about enforcing phone locks during the school day, rather than merely telling students to keep their phones in their lockers, since that way they can still check them during breaks.” However, Skogman notes that with an actual, you check it in in the morning and receive it back at the end of the day. Numerous additional pediatricians in the area have already joined. Skogman is now making its pitch to school districts directly.

As stated by Skogman, “We are currently working to form, hopefully, a Metro Task Force with all of the local schools, so Linn Mar, Prairie, Marion, and Cedar Rapids School District.” She has already had meetings with administrators from CRCSD among other schools.

It is the aim of Skogman and McGrath that their proposal would spark discussions among local families, educators, and school personnel, and inspire parents to get in touch with their local school boards.

It belongs to our next generation. Thus, what will happen to their capacity for interaction and communication in the next ten, fifteen, or twenty years if we don’t make an effort to halt it now, asks McGrath.