ARLINGTON, Va. (7News) — 7News is your back-to-school headquarters, and this school year many students are walking into their classrooms without their cellphones.
The start of the new school year is bringing new policies when it comes to phones on campus.
In several local districts, including Stafford, Loudoun, and Prince William Counties, students must adhere to "off and away" rules, meaning phones must be off or silenced and stored in a locker or backpack during classes.
Other districts are taking it a step further with Fredericksburg City Public Schools and certain Fairfax County Public Schools are using technology to lock up phones until the school day ends.
Experts said there have been a lot of concerns about the impacts of cellphones, specifically social media, on teens.
“People coming in with depression, anxiety symptoms, body image issues, they're being harassed, they're being bullied,” said Dr. Tierra Oseji, a pediatrician with Kaiser Permanente. “It actually has been fueling the gun violence pandemic and epidemic in the United States.”
Dr. Oseji says students are posting about wanting to retaliate against each other with firearms.
“So in order to stop the violence, we need to stop retaliatory back and forth with firearms within our youth,” explained Dr. Oseji. “That's really what's been fueling it. And the more likes that someone gets saying that I will get this person back, the more that actually perpetuates and comes to fruition and real life.”
Social media is also distracting, with studies showing it feeds the same cycle as addiction.
“Someone that's addicted to drugs, it's the same cycle that's happening when children are logging on to social media platforms that they become addicted, and it's difficult to break their focus on the social media platform to actually sit and learn their reading, writing and arithmetic,” said Dr. Oseji.
She recommends parents take part in modeling and monitoring.
“So you want to model good technology use, meaning that you're going to prioritize the family time, prioritize family dinner, prioritize family fun, and outdoor activity,” described Dr. Oseji. “Then also monitor. If children or youth are on their cell phone, then be there with them. Have that be a shared space. And that's what the American Academy of Pediatrics is recommending.”
Experts said concerns about anxiety and depression should be mitigated with the elimination or containment of social media use.
“There's even studies that show that once they have disarmed or once they have disabled the social media platform, it's just as effective as going to therapy for depression and anxiety. And that's pretty telling,” said Dr. Oseji.