{"id":204925,"date":"2024-10-31T11:43:52","date_gmt":"2024-10-31T15:43:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.syr.edu\/?p=204925"},"modified":"2024-10-31T12:05:52","modified_gmt":"2024-10-31T16:05:52","slug":"its-a-hard-call-professor-sabrina-butler-discusses-process-addictions-smartphones-and-school-bans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.syr.edu\/blog\/2024\/10\/31\/its-a-hard-call-professor-sabrina-butler-discusses-process-addictions-smartphones-and-school-bans\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018It\u2019s a Hard Call\u2019: Professor Sabrina Butler Discusses Process Addictions, Smartphones and School Bans"},"content":{"rendered":"
Across the United States, school administrators, parents, and students\u2014as well as public health officials, attorneys, and teachers unions\u2014are debating whether or not to limit or even ban the use of smartphones and similar devices in schools \u201cfrom the first to the last bell.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a thorny issue, raising questions of students\u2019 and parents\u2019 rights, school safety, academic performance\u2014and mental health.<\/p>\n
A scan of recent news stories offers a snapshot of various positions: banning devices is good for \u201cacademic learning and social development,<\/a>\u201d it could mitigate mental health<\/a> and other harms<\/a>, and even help wean teens off<\/a> social media. On the other hand, smartphones help parents stay in touch<\/a> in an emergency and, sometimes, they are required tech<\/a> for instruction or even for monitoring health.<\/p>\n One scholar addressing the potential harms caused by overuse of smartphones\u2014in and out of school\u2014is Sabrina Butler ’15, G’18<\/a>, assistant teaching professor of Counseling and Counselor Education<\/a> in the Syracuse University School of Education<\/a>.<\/p>\n One of Butler\u2019s research and clinical interests is process addictions in children and adolescents, a topic closely related to the smartphone question. Given the groundswell of concern \u2014not to mention high-profile lawsuits for Meta<\/a> and TikTok<\/a>\u2014about young people\u2019s online habits, the School of Education asked Butler about the connection between process addictions, phones, apps, and mental health\u2014and what, if anything, schools can do.<\/p>\n My interest centers around the overuse of smartphones and other devices by children that can develop into what mental health professionals refer to as a \u201cprocess addiction.\u201d We become concerned when we see extensive attachment to the phone, including high rates of texting; addiction to online games, such as “Roblox,” or “Call of Duty”; and dependency on social media apps, such as Instagram, Snapchat and TikTok.<\/p>\n In general, we can say that gaming addiction affects boys more, leading to issues of quality of sleep and academic performance, while for girls social media addiction is more of an issue, leading to self-esteem, body image and other mental health challenges.<\/p>\n The data bears out these concerns. Eighty-five percent of US teens<\/a> say they play video games, while children 8 to 17 years of age spend an average of one and a half to two hours daily playing online. Statistics reveal that 8.5% of children and teenagers younger than 18 have some kind of gaming disorder<\/a>.<\/p>\nAs a mental health counselor, how does your clinical work and scholarship frame how you view the controversy surrounding smartphone bans in schools? <\/strong><\/h2>\n