Hi there-
I'm not aware of any studies that link cell phone use to grades, but I think that like everything, promoting behaviors in moderation is the best bet as a parent.  Cell phones have a time,place, and purpose, but concerns over the use of phones with children are important to address as well.

Have you checked out our section on Children and Cell Phones? http://www.education.com/topic/kids-cell-phones/

There is a ton of useful info on promoting responsible cell phone use for kids. This is a helpful article that considers the pros and cons of using a cell phone http://www.education.com/reference/article/Ref_Cell_Phone_Dilemma_2/

Hope this helps!
Kelly

I recently bought my 10 year old a cell phone so she could call me if she needs me. She gets excellent grades right now and so far her grades have remained the same- excellent. She is reading 3 levels above her grade. I am proud of her and I believe it is all about how and what you teach your children. If they are respectful then their should be no problem in handing them a cell phone.

Cell phones are a tool for communication. If used properly and with some parameters for a students (time, length of calls, texting), the cell phone would not prevent a student from making good grades. If the student is constantly on the phone and not attending to business, the problem is not the cell phone but behavior.

I am a father of a 16-yr old daughter.  She has been in the school system's gifted and talented program since kindergarten.  

My daughter has been exhausted over the last two years.  Nearly the entire time we thought it was just that there was a larger amount of homework and her demanding extra-curricular activity.  

Last year I caught her doing 2,500+ text messages (sent) in one month. We did not think anything of it because her grades were still high. That was 10th grade honors classes.  This year, 11 grade exposed the problem: texting addiction.

She looked even more tired than before, her grades were slipping. She was having a hard time focusing and communicating.  Her math scores dropped from low 90s to mid 70s.  She frequently lied to us.

While paying for the bill, I noticed that AT&T publishes date/time stamps of all text messages. Verizon did not do this!

I saw my daughter busy at Texting until 2am on game day.  Game day she wakes up at 5:30am to practice her dancing for the halftime show.  After the football game was over, she came home at 11:30pm and still test'd until 1:30am !  What a long day.   Funny thing was during last year's football championship game for Texas' largest schools, we seen our daughter next to her texting friend during a pabn shot after one of the boys scored and key interception.  Everyone in the stands were hooping and holloring. Except my daughter and her friend.  No expression, long faces, they looked as if they were zombies. I am not kidding.  And long it makes perfect sense.

We noticed more arguments, more drama, more dishonesty, cheating, etc.

Folks this is a serious problem and it can easily be hidden.  I've done a lot of research on this in the last several days and most of it is only 6 months old. It looks like most parents and people have been caught by surprise on this one!!  

Good luck !

When parents and schools ensure that cell phones do not enter the school we will see a difference in student performance.  Until then we can continue to see student perfomance decline.  We need to stop blaming teachers and do what we know is required.

Cell phones do not belong at school. I have seen to many confrontations as a Jr. high teacher (e.g. setting up fights with other students, meeting opposite sex in certain areas of the school, gang activity, and so forth.)

I have been a secondary math teacher in a relatively impoverished school for about 25 years.  The students have never liked math, nor come to class with the skills or attitude necessary to do well.  However, these phones have made things much worse.  

It seems like for these young adults that everything is about pleasure; they eat too much, text too much, and lack discipline.  The phones are certainly not the main problem, but they are a highly addictive distraction.  I have two daughters, and cell phones aren't an issue, as they never use them in school.  Obviously, it is a combination of parental involvement and technology that determines the extent to which they interfere with learning

Please - Every Parent out there.  Texting gets worse - not better.  Try to get it under control NOW  My daughter is 21, in university and grades are going down due to Constant Texting 8-12 hours a day -- divide that in 1/2 and she is wasting 4 to 6 hours a day texting....
This is a serious problem.  PARENTS GET IT UNDER CONTROL BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE.!!!!

RESTRICT CELL PHONE USE AND TEXTING WHEN THEY ARE YOUNG....
IT BECOMES A REAL PROBLEM LATER..................PLEASE!! listen.........

it brings them up because they have caculators

Yes, cell phone can affect the academic performance of a student when he is addicted in using it that eventually he has no time in studying his/her lessons because all his time is spent on the cellphone. And besides in a classroom, he can't concentrate in attending classes because he is tempted to text. At free time he has no time to read his books because he is busy texting.

As a preschool teacher fresh out of college it is amazing how much cell phones affect the learning, and grades of children in all age groups. I struggled through my first year in college, and 90 percent of that was related to my cell phone. For me I had an iPhone, and had downloaded all of my textbooks from the I-bookstore. My initial thought was this is a great way to always have my textbooks with me and allow me to get more studying done. What I found was instead of keeping me focused, and promoting studying, I was getting distracted. I would get a text in the middle of class, and of course since I was already looking at my phone I would answer it. The same thing occurred with game notifications, or if I had a professor that was not the most interesting person on the planet to listen to. The next year I left my cell phone in my purse at all time during class, and was able to focus, another trick I used was the handy do not disturb mode. When I went to class I set my phone as Do not disturb, no more distracting notifications.

In younger children I see the cell phone being used to the same extent that TV's and video games are. They are taking away a child's desire to spend time with their friends. They no longer write notes, make phone calls or enjoy what is around them. They can surf the web, read a book, and talk to several people at once without noticing a single thing going on.

Are cell phones a bad thing for a child? No. A cell phone allows you to reach your child when you need to. My advice is to get your child a cheap flip phone, and don't give them texting as a 10 year old. Keep a phone simple with no games, no internet, and no texting, and you will have the ability to keep in touch with your child, without worrying about the phone being a distraction.

I guess that excessive use of smart phones can hinder the motivation of a student from his studies to extra curricular activities which may affect grades.