Each year, countless Canadian youngsters find electronic gadgets under the Christmas tree. Nevertheless, while smartphones can certainly find a role in domestic life, it might be prudent to keep them away from the classrooms according to recent studies. New data from the Programme for International Student Assessment - a standardized test for 15 year olds in 38 OECD nations - show a sharp drop in math and reading scores in Canada since 2003.

The PISA also pointed out that 45% of the students from the OECD countries reported feeling anxious or panicky when they don't have their phones nearby. This percentage jumped to a shocking 80% in Canada during Math sessions, which is higher than the OECD's average of 65%. Furthermore, 59% of OECD students claimed being distracted by others using electronic devices like smartphones, laptops, and tablets during math classes.

The students who reported the distractions scored 15 points less on the PISA math exams compared to those who are not subjected to such disturbances. To put things into perspective, a decrease of 20 points in exam scores amounts to the loss of one academic year, making the 15-point drop equivalent to a loss of three-fourths of a year. Additionally, students spending five to seven hours per day on their smartphones scored 49 points less on the math exam than those who limited their phone usage to an hour per day.

While spending five to seven hours a day on the phone may seem incredible, Nature Canada, a Canadian nonprofit organization, found that students in grades 7-12 spend up to seven hours daily on screen. A study from Western University further discovered that screen time only slightly falls short of the shocking 13 hours per day spent by children aged six to twelve years old during the COVID lockdowns.

Children spending several hours on their phones tend to have higher levels of anxiety, depression, and aggression. The downsides of excessive screen time extend not just to the children continually scrolling, but it also affects their peers negatively. Coupled with the declining PISA score, there has been a significant fall in student efficiency in numeracy and literacy detected in the provincial student assessments during the past decade.

Johathan Haidt, an American social psychologist, has extensively argued that making schools smartphone-free could be a solution. Given the undeveloped frontal cortex of young children, they are particularly vulnerable to extreme distractions from their buzzing smartphone notifications – simply having a phone in their pocket can negatively impact the academic performance of teenagers. He also notes a sudden increase of teen loneliness in schools since 2012 as a result of smartphone and social media addiction, disrupting focus and promoting anxiety and irritation.

Some advocates demand increased funding. However, it should be noted that public education spending in Canada has risen in most provinces in the past decade. Throwing more money at the declining test scores doesn't seem to solve the problem. However, releasing Canadian classrooms from smartphone distractions could be an effective and cost-free solution. Paige MacPherson, associate director of education policy at the Fraser Institute, suggests this potential solution to the issue.