Who out there had a Princess telephone in your bedroom? How long were you allowed to talk on it per day? Did you have to share it with your sister? And how about you guys - did you talk on the phone for hours?
Enter the technological age in which teens have cell phones, IM, iPODs, text messaging, Blackberries and beyond, and the MySpace and Facebook Chrissie wrote about a few posts back. While you were allowed to talk on the phone for an hour, today's teens spend an estimated 6 hours per day engaged in technological correspondence of some kind. As you have probably noticed and any teacher can tell you, it's hard to separate a teen from his phone.
All this phonage seems to be making us superficial and self-absorbed. Notice the IM, iPOD - the big "I" pervades all this personal technology. "I want it now, I am going to use it now, and I don't care what you say," is the teen's silent, but blatant mantra.
Is all this teen technology really beneficial? According to a CBS News report at the start of this school year, there is a possibility that it is not. Here is a quote from that article:
"Teenagers have a biological need to separate (from their parents), and online there's a perception of invisibility from parents, removing the fear that their actions will be detected," says Nancy Willard, executive director of Center for Safe and Responsible Internet Use. "The disconnect between actions and consequences play against each other with teens."
Ironically, if teens have a biological need to separate from their parents, cell phones now provide instant access, even during school hours. It is so common for a student to say, "Hey, my mom is calling me, can I answer it?" It's like a long distance umbilical cord!!
The big hello though is the last line - the disconnect teens are now experiencing between their actions and consequences. Nowhere is that more obvious than in a public school. Part of the six hours a day a teen spends messaging or talking on the cell are at school. They have even become so adept at concealing it as to be able to text message someone virtually from their pocket without looking at the phone!!
What a paradox to be so connected, yet disconnected at the same time. As innocuous as it may seem, this disconnect between teen actions and consequences is a problem society has only begun to realize.
In the first place, it exacerbates amoral teen behavior. For example, I'm thinking of the story I was told about Oklahoma high schoolers who had a lingerie party at their friend's house, took pictures of themselves in said lingerie with their host's Dad, a public official, then posted them on their MySpace, refusing to remove them, even though their good friend's father asked them to (ok, maybe that dad should have seen that coming, but it does also raise moral and legal issues regarding what rights we have with our identity on the Internet - a problem teens have had with Facebook and MySpace). Also, just keeping the stupid thing put away during class (or a movie, while driving, during dinner, at work...) is a challenge of will and determination many teens lose.
The other is the superficiality and lacking depth of knowledge that this multitasking is causing. If the average American attention span was short before, it is almost non-existent now among the members of our younger generation. It used to be the only distraction was daydreaming - now it is a constant barrage of incoming text messages and constant tuning out with the iPOD. It gives the old "turn on, tune in, drop out" motto a whole new meaning. An up note is that now teens and adults alike can self-medicate with electronics, rather than drugs!
Of course, the Druides of the ancient Gauls forbade their students to use writing, as it might impair their memory. Gutenburg's printing press scared alot of people in the Renaissance. Any new technology is threatening. It will take a few years, maybe decades, to develop rules governing the polite and proper use of technological devices.
In order to beat them, this time we are going to have to join them. There's no turning back now in this brave new world. The medium's the message. Oops, gotta go - my cell phone's ringing...
13 comments:
I have only called my child once in an emergency, and I realized what I had done only after the call was over. I don't think they should have them out during class, because they are a distraction, but I am glad I can get ahold of my child whenever I need to for safety reasons. Maybe it is a false sense of security, though. because how can we be sure the kids are where they say they are when they call or we call them?
Wish I had read this first before I read the last topic. I posted about this very thing on the previous topic.
When do we stop, take a breath, and start to think about simple solutions to to this "problem" of "overwhelming" technology??
Think about it,,,it's really so simple. If you have an emergency while your child is in school,,,all you have to do is call the school! It is already obvious that all this technology is a major distraction when they are allowed in the classroom. Why on earth is it so darn difficult for us to say "NO MORE CELLS, IPODS,BLACKBERRIES, or any other gadget not pertaining to said class,will be allowed"! End of problem! We no longer allow smoking in public places, because it is harmful to our health. The way I see it,,all this technology allowed in the classroom is harmful to the mental health of our kids. Namely,,their education and proper interaction with fellow students and faculty...
CaveDwellers
Hi, CaveDweller - clearly on the horizon the wireless age will meet the public school. In the very near future textbooks will be on Plam Pilots and every student will have one. I really was serious when I said the only way to beat them is to join them in this brave new world, because it's not going away.
I am in total agreement,,or perhaps I should say,,,submission,,,to the fact that wireless is here to stay. But I remember when tiny transistor radios were new and hot, and they were not allowd in the classroom. I know and accept and am even, believe it or not, excited about what all the new tech stuff it can mean for education. But I stand by my priniples and still believe that kids need the adults to set limitations and enforce them. I quite frankly believe we have become a lazy society in respect to enforcing rules, laws, and just simple commen curtesy. WE,,US,,all of us as a whole have allowed the fabric of our existance called decency, desenegrate because it is easier to say,," everybody is doing it" than it is to stand up and say enough is enough.
If a tech gadget is a tool used in a classroom, to teach, that is quite different from a child having a cell, or an Ipod that is distracting them from what they are supposed to be doing in that class...Right now,,I could use a good spell check..LOL,,I know my spelling is terrible!,,Please forgive..
You are exactly right, of course. Also, I think we aren't so much lazy, although maybe that's it, as we just don't sweat the small stuff anymore. If you can remember that tiny transistor radio, then you can remember when girls could not wear pants to school and everyone wore white gloves to the National Honor Society installation...I don't want to go back there, lazy or not. I think it was you who asked the question, where do we draw the line?
I know being a Teacher in todays world has to be the most difficult job in the world. The pay is not that great, and no matter how hard you try, someone is always not satisfied. Please don't mistake my frustration at the world at large with frustration with Teachers. I am in awe of all Teachers!
In this crazy, high tech world, we must in my opinion be prepared to make new rules and laws to protect everyone.
As to where we draw the line? We draw the line at anything that is physically or mentally harmeful, a distraction or a deterent to our childrens education, and that makes the job our Teachers have more daunting than it already is. We should be doing anything and everything we can to ensure our schools are safe for both students and Teachers. I believe there are many of us who do care, and are willing to do what ever it takes. We just don't know how to organize to get our voices heard. I suppose we are all hopeing and waiting for someone who will be a voice in this matter....Hopefully, that someone will come along soon before many more of our kids futures are wasted...
Yes, I think you are right about not knowing how to get our voices heard. That's a very wise assessment. You hit the nail on the head!
Cavedweller, back in December
there is a great example from Joe White regarding when we know something is wrong, no ifs ands or buts. Drawing the line as you said.
Quoting, "nothing should be accepted or discounted if the action or choice includes one of the following:
Is this immoral?
Is this illegal?
Is this going to make a difference in five years?
Is this going to hurt my child or someone else?
Is it inappropriate for his/her age?"
We all wonder if something is a "Don't Sweat the Small Stuff" situation. The above list really addresses that question. C
Chrissie, you have a great point. Those are all good questions to ask about any decision, from going to Mexico on a senior trip to letting your child take his iPOD to school. Those are great criteria from Joe White. I think where we get into trouble is on the "is it immoral."
Well Gosh! I would have to say G-son taking his Ipod to school is a NO to all those questions. But,,if he is listening to it instead of to his Teachers instructions, then it is harmful to him. Because when he brings home that lousy grade, I'm going to have a nice Ipod to listen to myself!...LOL! And if his cell phone keeps him from paying attention in class, and he brings home a lousy grade, I'm certainly going to have a lower cell phone bill from that point on...LOL!
Hey!,,This could work out really well for me!!....LOL!!
CaveDwellers
I don't know - maybe the answer to a couple of those questions is "yes". It's not technically an immorality, but it is wrong. It is illegal by school rules, so that is a yes, too. Is it going to make a difference in 5 years? Yes, if the kid doesn't learn what he is supposed to learn, both you and he will still be paying for college 5 years later. Does it hurt someone else - yes, when the kid is distracting everyone else around him with the darned thing. The only one I can really say is ok is the age-appropriate one. I agree, getting the free use of a confiscated Ipod would be a perk, as well as lowerd cell phone bill! But, where I'm from, I don't think parents punish their children in that way. Maybe not at all for infracting those rules.
Maestra, where are you from? We visited a high school in Olathe, Ks. where the administration had just made the decision not to sweat the small stuff, so they didn't do things like confiscate cell phones during passing periods. They just expected the kids to keep the phones put away during class, and if that was the expectation, the kids did it.
I am in a small town in Missouri. I almost didn't see your question. I accidentally found you looking for something else and found an article in your online paper. Sorry I don't read it everyday! Yes, of course, I have heard about Olathe, too. We know about their football program, but I hadn't heard about their cell phone policy.
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