School phone ban debate overlooks disabled students who rely on phones as assistive technology
Slow-proofed and worth the wait. Worth its weight in flour.
Summary
This article critiques the debate around school phone bans, arguing that both sides focus too narrowly on average student outcomes while ignoring the impact on disabled students who rely on phones as assistive technology. The author specifically responds to Emily Oster's New York Times op-ed, claiming she misreads several studies. The piece highlights that at least 37 states and DC now require phone restrictions, yet research has largely failed to measure consequences for students with disabilities whose phones serve essential assistive functions.
Key quotes
· 3 pulledthe debate she is contributing to, on both sides, has a larger problem: it is almost entirely about whether bans help the average student, and almost silent on what they cost the students who depend on their phones to learn
The research behind school phone bans has largely not measured what happens to disabled students whose phones serve as assistive technology
I wrote an annotated edition of that piece — I think she misreads several of the studies she cites
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