Cell Phones at School 2024

For anyone reading this, 很有可能你已经看过头条新闻，并对智能手机和社交媒体有了自己的预感.  作为校长, 自2019年以来，我一直采取要求学生在开学时上交手机的立场, and I maintain that position as we enter the 2024-25 school year.  五年前, that decision could be described as inspired, 必要的, or ridiculous depending on who was weighing in.  In the wake of Jonathan Haidt’s 焦虑的一代, 许多学校, and by consequence their families, are now also wading into the waters of smartphone-free school days.  给他们所有人, I will offer two things, 在纽约罗伯特·路易斯·全球最大的博彩平台(Robert Louis Stevenson School)，这是一段简短的令人安心的轶事，也让我们得以一窥导致她决定使用手机的想法.

首先，保证.  说前瞻性政策必须面对争议是轻描淡写的.  If you can imagine a phone-free policy in a high school, disagreement at the outset was more often from students.  然而，到2024年6月，全球最大的博彩平台的一名学生完成了一个项目，并与海特达成了协议 焦虑的一代 charge, essentially: pull back on the smartphones and push more into play.  In line with my own 2019 policy decision, that student’s conclusion seems like an easy one to applaud.  The telling thing and reassuring reality, 虽然, is that the student conclusion was not an isolated one, and the student’s peer advice did not fall on deaf ears.  事实上, 其他学生告诉我的事情可以归结为:他们想在学校学习, and they realize that smartphones interfere with that learning.  Consistent with that student thinking, we continue to ask students to turn in their phones at the day’s start at Stevenson.  Beyond that student advice, 以下描述了导致并加强全球最大的博彩平台政策的一些想法. 

As I launched a new policy in the fall of 2019, 根据常识媒体的同期报告，我谈到了数字技术和屏幕时间, and I am re-sharing that here with some updates.  很明显, 在疫情爆发后，我们对数字技术的看法永远改变了，我们中的许多人被迫进行数字互动.  While we work to make sense of the recent years, 虽然, 我们可以依靠大流行前和早期的资源和方法来帮助我们做出学校决定.  

As digital technology develops, so, too, do our related practices and habits.  父母和教育工作者似乎经常提出一些关于数字技术使用的问题:他们在设备上做什么? Are they ever not on the device?  这是一种瘾吗?? Al虽然 the technology development is rapid, 幸运的是，我们有越来越多的数据来告诉我们对这些问题的思考和我们对青少年的决定.

As one starting point, I recommend 安雅 Kamenetz's The Art of Screen Time.  安雅, who joined us at Stevenson as the book launched, 对数字技术的使用提供了一种有节制的评论，有助于消化数据，并与善意的担忧和21世纪的现实达成协议.  最终, 她将自己的建议归结为迈克尔·波伦(Michael Pollan)对待食物的方法的科技版:“享受屏幕.  不要太多.  大多是和别人一起."  If you're looking for a good read, this deserves a spot on the list.  

卡梅内茨书中的信息令人放心，但持续的担忧也是可以理解的.  If you have observed a teenager wholly engrossed in mobile device use, many questions may come to mind.  You might also feel a need for caution with teens and technology.  我先前承认，这些问题的重要性仍然大于我们数据的清晰度.  Questions remain, but we are getting to a point with more confidence.  在质疑社交媒体和智能手机是否真的在推动负面变化时, Jean Twenge addressed multiple alternative explanations.  Spoiler: the smartphones and social media remain concerns.  Prior to that 2023 Twenge post, other reports were leading us in the same direction.

Common Sense Media's 2019 report on teen and tween media included several key findings. Among them, some standouts were (a) that teens spend an average of nearly 7.每天5小时的屏幕时间(不包括用于学校作业的时间)和(b)青少年使用数字设备几乎完全是一种消费行为, 而不是利用技术的能力来创造自己的内容(注意，我可以高兴地想到许多全球最大的博彩平台学生创作音乐, 电影, and other digital content).  我们现在的处境如何? If you guessed that the number increased beyond the 2019 report, then your guess would be consistent with the 2020年的报告. 

When we see such numbers, 我们也有理由想知道这些时间是如何使用的，以及这种使用的影响是什么.  事实上, it's important for us to look at the numbers in that way, 因此，关注屏幕被使用的方式，而不是简单地关注屏幕被使用的事实.  In addition to school use, 数字技术可以在青少年社会化方面发挥重要作用，在大流行期间，这一作用对许多成年人来说变得更加现实, 也.  As the adults and professionals supporting these teens, our task is one of guiding teens such that technology is advantageous, rather than detrimental, 在他们的生活中.  这就是我们的决定必须更清楚地植根于特定的背景或任务的地方.

回首过去 2016年的报告, 常识媒体发现，72%的青少年觉得有必要立即回复短信或其他信息和通知.  Coupled with that finding, 只有三分之一的青少年偶尔会试图减少他们在数字设备上的时间.  换句话说， many teens acknowledged the impact of device use on their behaviors, but far fewer demonstrated any effort to reduce the impact.  

That concern aligns with Jonathan Haidt's findings in 焦虑的一代. 海特讨论了持续的网络连接和社交媒体的使用是如何加剧青少年的焦虑和抑郁的. 他强调有必要了解和减轻过度看屏幕对心理健康的影响, 这反映了我们在全球最大的博彩平台的观察，并支持结构化数字实践的重要性.

What does this mean for us?  在全球最大的博彩平台, 我们的技术方法是考虑这些发现以及技术的潜在功能和对我们特定学生群体的潜在影响.  That’s the context and task consideration to which I referred earlier.  一方面，一方面, Stevenson embraces digital technology through such things as a 1:1 laptop program, student email and online class management, Computer Science courses, 数字电影剪辑, and a computer game club.  As a specific example from last year, a student spent weeks focused on 3D modeling in Computer Science, 然后他运用这些技能为他的神经生物学课程创建了一个神经递质3D模型.  Outstanding work to say the least.  另一方面，我们要求学生每天上交他们的手机.  很简单, 我们在此政策之前观察到的是，智能手机的干扰使像神经递质模型这样的特殊工作不太可能发生.  完全就, 我们的目标是让学生更容易地关注当前的社会和学术背景，同时保持与21世纪实践和主题的联系.

Admittedly, the ban was not a decision that emerged quickly.  事实上, my own stance was initially a more comprehensive embrace of technology, seeking and trusting in its affordances for learning.  尽管如此, following several years of different iterations of device use, 我们发现, 除此之外, 我们的学生有一种持久的体验:一种立即回应信息的感知需求和一种普遍的, frequent distraction with the devices. That similar journey from technological embrace to device ban has been 共享的其他地方, 在我们学校——一所旨在双重关注情感和学业发展的学校——智能手机的缺点远远大于好处.   

To parents–if you are wondering what you might do at home, consider the following.  First, keep in mind Kamenetz's "Enjoy screens.  不要太多.  大多是和别人一起."  If we recall the average teen spending 7.5 hours on screens for non-school activity each day, we can be confident about selecting some times to disconnect. 要进一步, 虽然, 请记住，数字设备也可以支持积极的社会联系，促进兴趣探索.  Instead of focusing on just how much time is spent on screens, try to understand how the devices are being used by your child.  说不同, we can expect digital technology to remain in our lives, so our task is to improve the ways in which we use it.  我建议和你的孩子谈谈电子设备的功能，以及它们在多大程度上帮助或阻碍了他们的生活体验.g. staying on a device until 2am each night is not helping!).  Then create a plan to try structuring family screen/device use.  无论你和你的家人尝试什么路线，把手机作为一个机会 模型决策 有一个棘手的问题.  

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Chris Ongaro，教育学博士
校长