Carrot, 6th grader, uses their phone to keep in touch with family and friends that live far away. “[Phones] also help people connect with others on online communities,” Carrot said.
Mr. Kellander, 6th grade ELA and Social Studies teacher, agrees that phones are a great way to keep connected with people. “As a parent, being able to communicate with your child(ren) while they are away from home/school would be invaluable from a safety standpoint,” Kellander said. “Students can remain connected with classmates and teammates away from those activities or the school day.”
Phones can also have useful apps to help kids with their school day. Mr. Roth, 6th grade ELA and Social Studies teacher, said, “One benefit of middle school students owning a phone is the access to a wealth of knowledge through educational websites.”
Mr. Tranell, 6th grade Science and Math teacher, agrees. He thinks students “can use [phones] to help with certain worthwhile tasks, such as research, taking photos, videos, etc. as a hobby or for school projects.”
Carrot also uses their phone for the camera, calculator, and calendar.
In addition, apps can be used to help students keep track of their classes, assignments, and after-school activities.
“I have observed students text messaging reminders to other students about homework assignments, materials/supplies for activities, and more,” Mr. Kellander said.
Not only teachers and students use apps to organize schedules, coaches do too! Mr. Kellander uses Remind as a basketball coach to keep his players organized and ready for the games and practices. He said he notifies “parents/players on my teams about dismissal/bus pick-up locations and times, and reminders for practice/game equipment.”
When students come to middle school, there are responsibilities. They mature. They learn to be cautious of being online. When people get phones, the responsibilities grow because they have access to more.
Social media apps connect people, but they can also be very dangerous.
Mr. Roth thinks that social media can be a concern with children and adults alike. “There's a lot of danger in posting and trying to communicate in that environment,” he said. “It requires learning and experience, and many students simply aren't ready or well-equipped to navigate in that world.”
Dawn Meyers, 6th grader, agrees that social media can be hurtful to middle-schoolers because “it could set toxic/unrealistic goals to look like someone online.”
Getting a phone before students are mature enough could lead to making bad choices using social media.
“Some apps like TikTok could be setting dangerous dares online or could just be an innocent pass time,” Meyers said.
This is true not only in TikTok but in all forms of social media.
“All social media can be harmful if used in a non-responsible manner or when things are posted that can be damaging to self or others,” Mr. Tranell said. “Many kids at this age don't seem to realize what they post is out there forever, even if they take it down.”
Mrs. Morrison, 6th grade Physical Education teacher, also notes how “many of the social media apps can be harmful to students' self esteem and overall self worth.”
These can be effects of cyberbullying, which is making a person feel bad through technology. Cyberbullying is often seen in social media, but it can also be found in texting and other apps.
“Texting can be dangerous as well if students use it to bully, tease, gossip, or share inappropriate or illegal photos,” Mr. Tranell said.
Even though phones can be great tools for school, entertainment, and connecting people, phones tend to be very addictive for those same reasons.
“A problem that middle school students run into with phones is they can be distracting and addicting,” Mr. Roth said. “It's simply too easy to have instant entertainment and social interaction, and too difficult to put down at the appropriate times.”
Madison Mikita, 6th grade student, also thinks the apps on phones are taking time away from other activities. “I think that owning a phone (depending on the person) might mean pulling out their phone and playing a game or watching TikTok every possible second and it can draw their focus from something more important,” Mikita said. “I also think people should be able to take a break from their phone and use their free time to do something like homework or reading a book.”
Mrs. Morrison also thinks that phones are taking away time not just from activities, but from friends. “The amount of time students are looking at a screen keeps them from being true kids and experiencing first hand events with friends.”
Josephine Schiff, 6th grader, thinks that phones can be damaging because kids can spend too much time on them, which “may impact the kids’ productivity.”
Mr. Tranell agrees. “Sometimes time on a phone exceeds recommended limits for healthy screen time for this age as set by the American Academy of Pediatrics.”
Being addicted to phones and social media can be accidental. You might get exposed to things on your phone (like social media), and you can’t resist checking other people’s feeds and posting for “likes.” “Having a phone adds this added pressure to post and make sure they are present on social media,” Mrs. Morrison notes. “This can suck them into their phone and cause them to miss what is going on right in front of them.”
There are many benefits for a 6th grader to own a phone, but there are just as many problems. It can be very useful for a kid to use apps like Remind, calendar, calculator, and camera. But apps like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, and other social media can be harmful to students. It can be dangerous to get addicted to phones, which is why it is really important to be aware of your screen time. If you talk to your parents about getting a phone, explore the pros and cons of them and remember- there is more to getting a phone than the cost.
