By Amanda Stanley
Any person in their late forties or older undoubtedly can remember hearing the line (usually while struggling over math homework), “You have to learn math skills because you won’t have a calculator in your pocket.”
We can laugh now as we pull our cell phone out of our pocket to not only do basic math but myriad other things we never thought possible.
It may sound like the dark ages to children today who are raised with technology at their fingertips, but it wasn’t that long ago that televisions had rabbit ears, telephones had cords connecting them to the wall, and computers took up entire rooms. Children and adolescents have access to incredible amounts of information without stepping foot in the research section of the library.
This may be an incredible benefit and a precursor to a generation who has limitless knowledge, increased creativity, and a global reach we have never known before. But is that what we are seeing in reality? Unfortunately, the increase in screentime does not correlate with an increase in productivity for children. In fact, children and adolescents are experiencing just the opposite. Fortune reported in February that neuroscientist Jared Cooney Horvath shared in written testimony before the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation that Gen Z is the first generation in modern history to score lower on standardized tests and that they are cognitively less capable than the previous generation.
WRAL recently shared a study by researchers with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where they found that middle and high school students spend an average of 20 minutes every hour on their phones. “The results were associated with students having less ‘cognitive control.’ In other words, they had less control over their minds for tasks such as regulating thoughts or emotion or effectively working toward goals.”
Additionally, several studies have shown that a multitude of adverse side effects have developed or increased due to the use of cell phones, tablets, and increased screen time. A study from researchers at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia along with the University of California, Berkely and Columbia University showed a link between smartphone ownership in childhood and increased risk of depression, insufficient sleep, and obesity in youth.
Many other studies show a link between longer screentime and increased anxiety, lower interpersonal skills, lower impulse control, and an increase in mental health issues.
According to Johns Hopkins Medicine, some children are experiencing device addiction, or Screen Dependency Disorder, which involves compulsive, excessive use of technology leading to severe functional impairment. “[Screen Dependency Disorder] often stems from using devices as ‘electronic pacifiers,’ creating dopamine-driven reward pathways that resemble addiction.” Signs of Screen Dependency Disorder include behavioral changes such as irritability, anger, or anxiety when denied access to devices, loss of interest in hobbies, decrease in school performance, and secretive usage of devices.
Cell phones, tablets, and other devices have become a part of our daily routine. They are used for work applications, research, entertainment, communication, and quick information. It can be hard for adults to disconnect, making it harder for children to feel the need to put away the devices. The key, much like many other things in life, is moderation.
Wake County Public Schools (WCPSS) have made it a little easier for kids to decrease their device usage, by implementing a policy in the 2025-2026 school year prohibiting the use of cell phones.
According to the Wake County Public Schools website, on July 1, Governor Josh Stein signed House Bill 959 into law, requiring school districts to adopt policies prohibiting students from “using, displaying, or having a wireless communication device turned on” during instructional time.
WCPSS now requires students to keep personal devices silenced and stored away (in backpacks or lockers) during instructional time. Elementary and middle school students must keep devices off or put away all day, while high schoolers may use them during breaks. Violations may lead to confiscation. Exceptions are allowed for health plans, communication needs, emergencies, administrator-approved translations, safety plans, or assistive communication. Students, for the most part, are adhering to the new policy, and teachers have noticed a difference.
For teachers and administrators, the reduced cell phone disruption has had a positive effect on learning in the classroom. Shannon Benson is a local high school teacher who is researching the effects of device use on attention, participation, and overall engagement in students as part of her dissertation. Benson says that before the new WCPSS policy was implemented, it was common to see students checking their phones multiple times during a single class period, especially during independent work time.
Paige Hunter, a high school math teacher, echoes this. Hunter estimates that a minimum of 15 percent of instructional time was wasted daily with cell phone distractions. She states that some students, a small percentage, would actively watch TikToks or Instagram reels during class.
With the new policy, students aren’t distracted by their device and are showing more interest in class content and peer interaction.
“Students are [now] generally more present during instruction and more likely to stay engaged in tasks,” Benson explained. “I have noticed that students are completing more work during class time, which can positively impact grades over time, especially for students who tend to struggle with staying on task.”
Hunter agrees; she shared that students are taking notes and working on assignments at a greater frequency than before. “Last year, if students had ‘free’ time, they would immediately get their phones out and get lost in social media. Now, they work on other work or even have conversations with each other. It’s wonderful. This has been the biggest blessing of all! Kids are returning to human form and not living in the internet!”
In fact, kids are talking to each other so much more at Fuquay-Varina Middle School that the administration had to divide the lunch periods due to noise volume. One student, Colin Stanley, stated that the cafeteria is so loud now that no one is on their phone. Everyone is talking. Stanley saw it as a good thing. “It’s nice to talk to my friends and take a break from everything.”
Benson believes that, overall, the policy has had a positive impact on classroom engagement and attention during instructional time. “At the same time, it highlights the importance of helping students build self-regulation skills, since long-term success isn’t just about removing the device, but about helping them manage their use in a balanced way.”
Taking away devices, especially if your child has not had restrictions in the past, can be difficult. Encouraging alternative activities and modeling responsible cell phone use is key for parents, along with consistency of time and content limits. The following suggestions may help your child enjoy their vacation time and forget the screens.
Tips for Vacation Engagement
Summertime and track-out can be especially difficult for adolescents who find themselves with a lot of extra time. Parents may be at work, the weather may be hot or rainy, and it’s easy for them to while away the hours on a device. This is where their creativity can come into play.
If your child is home alone (or even if they are home with an adult), a list of chores will give them something to do and take responsibilities off the parent’s plate giving them more family time when they get home. The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry website states that research suggests there are benefits to including chores in a child’s routine as early as age 3.
Their website continues, “Children who do chores may exhibit higher self-esteem, be more responsible, and be better equipped to deal with frustration, adversity, and delayed gratification. These skills can lead to greater success in school, work, and relationships.”
A daily chore list gives children a sense of contributing to the family and a sense of accomplishment. Chores like emptying and loading the dishwasher, dusting, vacuuming, cleaning their room, wiping counters, and prepping dinner (for the older kids) are all simple tasks that can be done with little or no supervision. Make sure you set clear expectations and regular routines, so your child knows exactly what is required of them. Be consistent and always encourage and compliment your child for a job well done.
Once the chores are completed for the day, children have time for creative and physical activities. Planning a nature scavenger hunt, having arts and crafts time, creating a new board game, building a fort, writing a play, choreographing a dance, developing a dinner menu that you make together are all activities that will keep your child moving and flexing their creative muscles.
For more formal creative outlets, this area has plenty to offer. The recreation centers in Fuquay-Varina, Holly Springs, Apex, and Cary offer a variety of art, dance, theater, and music classes for all ages, as well summer and track-out camps. You can turn your child’s love of technology into a hobby with robotics and technology classes. For children who are interested in woodworking and building, there are businesses that feature free workshops or project advice. And that’s just a few examples! Ask your children what they would like to do — you might be surprised by their answer.
Now that their creative muscles are moving, it’s time to flex their physical muscles. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) recommend adolescents (ages 6–17) engage in at least 60 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity daily. The southern Wake area offers so much for recreation, you are bound to find something your children will enjoy. Parks like Beech Bluff, Apex Nature Park, and Bass Lake offer walking trails and nature centers helping you combine learning with exercise. Your kids will enjoy playgrounds, water features, walking paths, and sports fields and not even realize they are getting healthy exercise at the same time.
With more than 50 parks and playgrounds, and hundreds of miles of greenway and trails among Fuquay-Varina, Holly Springs, Apex, and Cary, families can visit a different park every day of the month. If you can’t make it to the park, a little driveway basketball with a garbage can goal, playing catch with a football, or setting up an obstacle course with cones in the backyard gets kids’ muscles moving and their hearts working.
If your child wants dedicated sports or fitness training, there are places for that, too. Sport-specific clubs, classes, and camps offer seasonal and year-round volleyball, basketball, football, soccer, inline skating, flag football, strength training and movement, ninja obstacle courses, and more.
Make sure to take advantage of the area’s nature areas, too. Hiking, fishing, and camping in places like Raven Rock State Park, Jordan Lake, and Harris Lake are great places to wind down and enjoy the beauty of North Carolina. If this is out of your wheelhouse as a parent, there are numerous Scout and Royal Rangers programs available that would love to have another participant.
Children are meant to be playing, learning, thinking, and creating, but the ever-evolving excitement of online games and internet videos has some of them glued to their screens. A multitude of studies are proving the detriment of letting kids spend too much time on technology, not just to them but to our society as a whole. The only way to combat these negatives is to provide alternatives they will enjoy. Parents can guide their children toward healthier activities and set an example themselves. Additional help in guarding your children’s online and tech usage is available through apps that help limit screen time, such as Google Family Link, Opal, and Freedom. Some phone and internet providers also offer parental controls.
Using our area’s resources, having tech-free dinners, setting dedicated family time, planning activities, and maintaining supplies for children to be creative are all great ways to start bringing our children back to good mental and physical health.
