I have been reading The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt. This book is the first book in a long time that has managed to completely enthrall me, and immediately inspire me to take action as an educator, as a mother, and as a community member.
The infographic below captures some of my initial thoughts and ideas as I’ve made my way through chapters 1 – 5.
In a BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) school, what challenges are we seeing?
- Family-owned devices limits the programs we can use for monitoring
- Kids chatting during class
- Playing games
- Switching screens as soon as the teacher walks by
- Inconsistent supervision across teachers
- Cell phones to talk to parents (is that ok?)
- Some teachers allow for certain things, others don’t (text your parent for this or that…)
- Cell phones needed (?) when they go off campus for lunch
Other points made in the book that I see in school:
- Over-supervision at recess
- Reduced Focus/Attention span across many grades
- Too much (?) interference for conflict resolution
- Mixed aged play but we tend to limit for behaviour and conflict purposes
Thoughts as a parent/individual:
- What do we model?
- Finding the right parent group to join together
- Prolonged phone use in bed or on couch
- Divided attention
- Heartbroken at the thought that my son could think I value the phone more than him
Action Ideas:
- Parent Book Club
- Create a Book Club discussion guide for other schools/parents
- Parent Book Club within community
- Let Grow Experience
- Host a conference