In your school, are personal devices such as smartphones and personal laptops promoting or hindering the educational environment?
In February 2018, the Education Week Research Center surveyed 500 school leaders. One alarming statistic surfaced from the report—95% of school leaders are concerned that students spend too much time on their phones at home.
The level of technological connectivity in today’s world is beyond anything we as digital immigrants have ever seen before. Word may have traveled fast back in the 80s and 90s on the playground or in the hallways, but these days, the doors of instant communication have been thrown open and remain open non-stop, day and night.
This is new territory for everyone. The students in your schools are digital natives. They have always known a world chock full of technology and online connections. As school leaders tackle the challenges brought about by personal devices, it’s worth noting that we are in relatively uncharted waters and the currents can be treacherous. As a society, it’s fair to say we don’t have all the answers about technology, and, as adults, it’s imperative to be open with youth and seek to collaborate with them.
Despite the unknown, more research is beginning to emerge such as the statistic about screen time mentioned above. To help students succeed from elementary through high school, it’s important to learn from the past and each other, ideally including the digital natives in the mapping process as well. In this blog, we will examine real-life examples of those in our society taking a proactive stance to the challenges facing youth regarding technology and identify two core principles to help you chart your course.
1. Use your influence to make a difference in your school community.
- 67% of 2,300 teachers surveyed noticed a growing amount of students negatively distracted by digital technologies within the classroom.
- 75% note that their students’ focus on tasks has decreased.
- Since personal technologies have come into the classroom in the last 3 to 5 years, 90% note an increase in emotional challenges among students.
- 86% recognize an increase in social challenges.
- Pertaining to increasing risk factors for suicide: U.S. teens who are on their electronic devices three hours or more each day increase their likelihood by 35%, and for those who spend five hours or more on their devices, the likelihood increases by 75%.
- Teens on their devices more than five hours a day get less than seven hours of sleep (rather than the recommended nine).
- Long-term issues such as high blood pressure and weight gain are long-term issues linked to sleep deprivation.
- Following five days of a device-free outdoor camp, youth tested “far better on tests for empathy than a control group.”
- 58% of parents worry about social media’s influence on their child’s mental and physical health.
- 48% describe regulating screen time in their family is a constant struggle.
- 58% describe their child as attached to their device.
This public letter exemplifies standing up for what is right and in the common good. Apple quickly responded to the letter, and a few months later, has now entered the discussion about digital health. At schools, we seek to instill character traits such as courage and honesty. Even in our communities, we see the growing theme “See something, say something.”
Both of these examples show brave members of the community raising their voices and taking a risk for the greater good. How can you raise your voice in your school community, courageously facing the challenges your school community faces?
