We need a commonsense, well-considered statewide plan for addressing digital technology consistently across Oregon schools.

The internet became a social and academic lifeline for students learning at home during the pandemic. But just as a life preserver is not meant to do what a boat can, distance learning tools were only ever intended as temporary, emergency measures to keep students’ heads above water.

Years later, many of these pandemic-era distance learning tools that kept our educational system afloat remain entrenched. Teachers describe feeling disconnected from their students. Parents report their kids are easily distracted, seem addicted to their phones, and don’t love learning like they used to.

It is past time we question whether and when these technologies are appropriate. Should our students still use tablets and self-directed learning apps for core subjects like math, science, and reading? Should a reward for completing screen-based lessons early be more screen time to play games?

With an evidence-based regulatory framework consistent across the state, teachers and schools can manage these changing cultural expectations, and parents and students must cope with ad hoc rules that vary from school to school and class to class.

There is substantial evidence that increased screen time and use of social media contribute to depression, loneliness, and isolation. According to a 2023 Advisory by the U.S. Surgeon General, access to cell phones and social media poses critical dangers to young people in the form of less and worse sleep, bullying and hate-based content; “addiction” to social media; negative body image; earlier introduction to pornography and misinformation about sex (one 2022 study found that more than half of teen participants had first viewed online pornography by age 13, and 27% of participants agreed it “accurately shows the way most people have sex”); and a rise in youth mental health conditions, self-harm, and suicide.

More recently, the Surgeon General added that a surgeon general warning label, similar to what we see on cigarette packaging, is warranted on social media due to the deteriorating mental health we are seeing in adolescents. When I listen to students it is easy to understand the call for such a serious warning, for example, stories of planning fights with hashtags and posting pictures from the locker room on SnapChat (a social media platform where messages disappear).

Technology has many benefits, including clear benefits for neurodivergent students, disabled students, and multilingual learners. For example, my nephew who is headed to middle school this fall is on the autism spectrum and thrived in an online environment without the distraction and over stimulation of a classroom. App-based learning in schools will be around, but we must assess which tools enhance learning and when the benefits are worth the tradeoffs.

That’s why the legislature held its first public hearing last month to identify best practices that put these tools to work to enrich our kids’ lives and their learning, respect the role of cell phones as a safety tool for families, and extend and reinforce our educators’ capacity to reach every child.

A statewide policy will ensure that technology is being used appropriately through a research-driven process. We also need community input so that the policy can be responsive to the local community’s needs.

I am hosting a virtual forum on June 24th at 5:30 p.m., along with Representative Lisa Reynolds, Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum, and Well Wired, to discuss how cell phones and other technologies impact students, staff, teachers, and caregivers in and out of the classroom.

Please RSVP here: bit.ly/Cellphone0624.

If you can’t make it to the forum, let me know how cell phone use in the classroom affects you or your student’s learning: Rep.EmersonLevy@OregonLegislature.Gov

State Rep. Emerson Levy, a Democrat, represents an area that includes Sisters, Tumalo and parts of Bend and Redmond.

Editor’s Note

Do you have a point you’d like to make or an issue you feel strongly about? Submit a letter to the editor or a guest column.