“Among students who reported being bullied during school, percentage who perceived the bullying was related to various personal characteristics, by selected school characteristics:” This proceeds data of students that were being bullied based on different characteristics that are within their own existences, giving a perspective on what bullies look for in their targets.

“Among students who reported being bullied during school, percentage who notified an adult about the bullying and percentage who reported negative effects of bullying in various aspects of their lives, by selected student characteristics:” This proceeds data of students that reported the bullying and the negative aspects of being bullied, giving insight into how much students actually rely on adults to help them in these kinds of situations. 

“Among all students, percentage who reported being bullied during school with repetition or with a power imbalance, by selected school characteristics.” This proceeds data of students that were being bullied multiple times a day and by people who were either more popular, bigger, wealthier, or influential than them in some manner, giving insight into the dynamics between the bullies and the ones being bullied.

"This compares to 23.2% in 2021, 17.2% in 2019, and 16.7% in 2016." This shows the massive increase of bullying over just 7 years, going up by almost a full 10%, which might not seem like much but is actually a lot when you consider that these are actual children who are suffering. 

"In 2023, the most common forms of cyberbullying experienced (among those who were cyberbullied) included:" This is important because in this source it actually gives examples of what kind of bullying is going on beyond just cyberbullying, like what is being said and the depths of the cruelty. 

"Finally, in 2016, about 43% of students said that bullying and cyberbullying were “a big problem” in their schools while in 2023 54% of students said that was the case." This is another example of the rise in bullying, even so much that those who aren’t being bullied noticed it, oddly enough increasing by almost 10% again.

"This would indicate that it is the child's response to the bullying situation which has more of an impact than the bullying experience." This was especially interesting to me, since it shows that the way a child handles bullying tends to be more influential than the fact they’re being bullied in the first place, making everything very based on individual perspective. 

"Children who had been bullied reported significantly lower levels of interest in mathematics in comparison to those who had not been bullied, similarly children who had been bullied reported finding mathematics more difficult in comparison to those who had not been bullied." This again leads back to the psychological effects of the bullying, leading to a disinterest in mathematics and an increase of difficulties towards the subject. 

"The results of this study highlight the need for interventions to address the psychological impact that bullying has on the victim." This displays that interventions from adults are required in preventing the intense psychological impacts shown in the previous examples, making adults who do nothing all the more guilty in their compliance.

"We need far better regulation of the internet at all levels, especially for under-18s." There is also the belief that the internet needs to be monitored and regulated more for the youth, instead of just allowing children full and unbridled access to the internet and its often mature wonders. 

"If you think children are better off without phones, then how about being a good parent and not giving them one, or stop them taking it to school?" Many of the readers of this magazine believe that parents are part of the problem, saying they shouldn’t give their children's phone or at least prevent them from taking their devices to school. 

"It's the imagination and creativity of the education professionals that is in question here." Although this opinion was minimal, some people believed the educators were at fault for making it so easy and tempting to use their phones so brazenly during class.

"The number of schools that experienced a hate crime nearly doubled between the 2015-16 and 2017-18 school years, according to an analysis by the US Government Accountability Office." There is documented data that explicitly bullying and harassment based on race is doubling in recent years, showing a disturbing pattern amongst the youth that needs to be addressed. 

"The lawsuit, filed last month in US District Court, argues Black students and their parents “have experienced racist, unfair, hurtful, and at times dangerous interactions” at Bloomfield Hills High School by both White staff and students." This is showing that the problem isn’t exclusive to students, as teachers and staff are also not only doing nothing about this, but contributing to the problem. 

"In recent weeks, the death of a 10-year-old Black and autistic student in Utah prompted more scrutiny for a school district that was already investigated by the Justice Department." All of this trouble in this district lead up to a 10 year old little girl commiting suicide, showing that this is a serious and urgent problem actively threatening our youth.

“Following a complaint, West Yorkshire Police admitted it had made "mistakes" in the handling of the investigation.” This elaboration shows that it wasn’t exactly that there was nothing to be done, but that many people are just refusing to do anything about it, with the police disguising their initial investigation of this matter as something where mistakes were made. 

“The girl's parents said they were not convinced their first report had even been properly looked into.” Parents have been trying to hold people responsible, but there is only so much they can do when the police and teachers who have the authority to punish and keep students responsible for their bullying end up doing nothing about it. 

“A spokesperson for Snapchat said: “Any activity that involves the sexual exploitation of a child, including the sharing of explicit deepfake images, is abhorrent and illegal, and we have zero tolerance for it on Snapchat.”” This situation has gone so far that even social media apps are having to comment on it, saying that what happened was definitely illegal, and whether or not this is a PR clean up situation, it calls for more action on the police officers end.

This is an important statement on extra benefits from banning phones, outside of just preventing bullying in academic spaces.

"Removing phones during the day creates space to build relationships."

Knowing this, we can assume that being able to build relationships could not only build a sense of community where bullying wouldn't be tolerated, but also a support system for those who might get bullied to encourage them to speak up about what's going on.

"Constant social media exposure can fuel stress, online conflict, and bullying."

This kind of data direct impacts the perception of many of phones being a useful thing to improve socialization, challenging arguments against pulling phones from classrooms and supporting arguments that phones are not only unnecessary in classes but detrimental.

"“These new policies may be challenging, or anxiety-provoking, for students and families, especially if a child relies on a phone to manage mental health symptoms. Fortunately, there are practical steps you can take,” says Allison Stiles, PhD, a child psychologist at Golisano Children’s Hospital."

This is directly addressing an argument amongst parents saying that there are too many worries to take phones away from children, for example being unable to contact their children as easily and worrying about emergencies, and it's basically telling them you can do other things instead of continue letting children suffer from cyberbullying in class.

This is a very blunt and direct statement about the importance of banning phones in grade schools, and how it'll be majorly beneficial as a solution for my argument.

^"Psychologist Jonathan Haidt, author of The Anxious Generation, argues that kids between the ages of 9 and 15 are particularly susceptible to the harmful effects of social media"

The perspective of a psychologist is vital, as you can trust their opinion when they say that they are especially vulnerable to all kinds of harmful effects that come from the social media conveniently on their phones, which of course includes cyberbullying.

"The mobile phone is a crutch for avoiding that awkward face-to-face interaction which translates to fewer opportunities to build resilience skills."

This adds a secondary support to the idea of restricting phones from classrooms, saying that not only is it providing students with a way to cyberbully each other, but also providing them with a way to escape difficult but character building parts of society that they need to develop at this age.

"Cell phones make it easier for students to engage in or become victims of cyberbullying."

This is a blunt but very telling statement, simply showing the reality that phones in classrooms are directly allowing students to further engage in cyberbullying, making it easier and more accessible to tear down your classmates without being caught.