Jake: Seattle schools’ cell phone ban is a good start — but it doesn’t go far enough

When I was in high school in the early 2000s, there was a smoke shack on campus. An actual designated smoking area for students to grab a quick drag between classes. By then, it was defunct — a rusty relic with a “No Smoking” sign hanging nearby — but it was still standing, a monument to how fast “totally acceptable” can become “what were we thinking?”

We laughed at it. We couldn’t imagine how anyone had ever thought that was okay. I think we’re at exactly that same inflection point with cell phones.

Research on screen time, smartphones mirrors early cigarette science

The research on screen time and smartphones isn’t subtle. The harmful, addictive effects on children are well-documented — the same way cigarette science eventually became impossible to ignore. So I’m glad Seattle Public Schools’ new superintendent has moved to restrict phones. Elementary and middle schoolers? Full ban. Good.

But high schoolers can still use their phones between classes and at lunch. That’s where he loses me.

I have four sons. We’ve made the decision as a family that they won’t get smartphones until they’re adults and choose them for themselves. But I’m not naive — they’ll be surrounded by classmates who are already deep in it. And I’ve seen what that looks like. Kids not talking to each other, and not being anywhere they actually are.

Here’s the thing: I’m an adult, and I still struggle to put my phone down. I set limits and break them. I know better and do it anyway. Now imagine being a teenager with an undeveloped prefrontal cortex up against the same algorithm-engineered pull. It’s not a fair fight.

If you watched the Masters Tournament recently, you noticed something strange — nobody had their phones out. Augusta banned them entirely, and the result was an atmosphere that felt almost radical in 2025: people just watching golf. Present, unrecorded, and actually there.

We make decisions for our kids because we’ve been further down the road. We can see the wrong turns coming. That’s the job.

I hope we get to the same place with phones that we eventually got to with cigarettes. And maybe someday, next to that old “No Smoking” sign, there’ll be another one: “No Cell Phones.”

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