There was a big rise In a recent public discussion Media investigation into teenage cell phones and social media use.
Today's guest post includes commentary from a teacher on the topic. and her students.
'Overly simplistic'
Mary Beth Hertz teaches art and technology to high school students in the Philadelphia School District and is a published author. http://marybethhertz.me:
I have been discussing social media, digital habits, digital wellness, and navigating digital spaces with young people for over 10 years. It is one of my most fascinating and rewarding jobs. Much of that work was done with ninth grade students in the Introduction to Technology class that all ninth graders take as part of their introduction to high school. The course consists of three main units: Digital Literacy, Media Literacy, and Digital Citizenship. As part of the media literacy unit, we learn how to use search terms effectively, how to evaluate websites, how to gather information, summarize what we find and draw our own conclusions.
I felt like I won the lottery this year. The topics I have my students focus on for this task are: “How has social media affected youth mental health?” Halfway through that process, Jonathan Haidt released his controversial book. The Anxious Generation: How Massive Rewiring of Childhood Is Creating an Epidemic of Mental Illness.
I first learned about the book release through an interview on the Hidden Brain podcast. I found myself nodding along at the first part of the podcast, but as the interview continued I began to find some of his premises problematic and overly simplistic.
As his work exploded across my social media feeds, I continued to read articles and reviews and listen to more of his interviews. I couldn't help but notice that an important element was missing in all of this: the voices of young people themselves. Yes, Haidt cites studies that include surveys and conversations with teenagers. But the tone and flow I get from these conversations leaves out the complexities of young people's digital lives and leads to finger-pointing and “bad, bad, bad.”
That's right. It's worrying to see these distraction devices in the hands of young people whose brains are still developing. For many people, their cell phone becomes a crutch when work gets tough or boring. They are often distracted by the short version of social life they now have on their phones, where they can instantly connect with friends near and far. But what I keep coming back to is that for many of my students, my class is the first place where they have the space to delve into these conversations, explore their use of devices, and talk about how it makes them feel.
I decided to show my students the first ten minutes of the interview with Haidt. To find out what they think about his conclusions.
In response to the statement that children no longer have hobbies and no longer read books, our students said the following:
“That's right. But no. Cell phones can rob you of productive time, but you can replace it with other productive activities, such as reading online articles or watching documentaries. [sic]“Exercise videos, dance trends, etc.”
“I generally agree with this. But it's not entirely about the phone. In my experience, there are fewer things children can do with their cell phones these days than in the past.”
Topics about how boys withdraw from reality or social interaction:
“No, because most boys go outside and play sports.”
“Now a lot of the boys are athletes.”
My students made the connection about how addictive cell phones can be and how much time people can spend on screens instead of doing other things. What I found interesting about our conversation was how Haidt's social definition differs from their own. They didn't think their cell phones made them antisocial. Because cell phones are social tools. They thought they could access their interests through their cell phones.
The conversation about athletics was interesting. I can't help but wonder if the push for athletics has something to do with the “overscheduling” aspect of parenting and the rising cost of college tuition, which has led more parents to view sports scholarships as a window of opportunity for their children. In general, most students felt that Haidt had a point, but as one student put it, “He's very dramatic.”
I keep hearing this quote from a young college student on the Hard Fork podcast: (The AI conversation begins around 26:30.) She compares banning young people from using smartphones and social media with the difficulties faced by her peers when they did not have the opportunity to test their freedom before entering college. Simply put, they suck at it and make really bad decisions. This is why I think the premise of Haidt's work is too simplistic. At some point, young people will have access to these tools, and we have a responsibility to prepare them for that. This isn't as simple as removing access to your phone.
Don't misunderstand. Research clearly shows that young people are struggling. It is clear that social media is having a huge impact on their life experiences. It is also clear that big changes are needed to move screen-free interaction, face-to-face communication, and rebuild the resilience of young people.
But the vilification of video games, tablets, phones, and social media is similar to the moral panic I experienced as a teenager around heavy metal and violent video games. It is easier to point to technology than to look in the mirror and examine the deeper social issues that are contributing to this phenomenon (gun violence, widening wealth gap, climate crisis, divisive politics…).
In the interview we watched, Haidt made it clear that while this is not part of the equation, if we want to truly transform the life experiences of young people, we cannot ignore the world they live in and inherit. We must ask: “How do we build a society with structures that support the safety and resilience of young people, while also preparing for a high-tech society that values the ability to communicate across multiple modalities to solve complex, existential problems? is it? What are the problems we face?”
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