When I first heard on the news that the entire school board was going to ban all mobile devices in the classroom, I, along with other parents were in full agreement. The theory of screen-agers using their devices for educational apps and learning should outweighed the need to put hard and fast limitations on usage, was just that—a theory. In practice, my daughter along with all her peers use their phones incessantly for all sorts of very non-educational stuff. My daughters and I have actually had words on her dopamine addiction. And so, as a new policy at school comes into force, I am also thinking same at home.
The conversation quickly devolved into pleas that any limitations on use was unnecessary and unjustified. I am told that her phone isn’t just for TikTok, Snaps and a bunch of apps I know nothing about. But the primary reason why she needs to be on is that it’s a lifeline to her friends. They are her support network and she is theirs. They collaborate with each other on homework and advice. Sounds like a desperate, sob story.
“But you see these people every day! You don’t see me talking to my co-workers after work!” Dad, these people aren’t your friends. They know nothing about your personal life and they don’t come for sleepovers. “While that is true, it also isn’t a necessity that you connect with your peers nightly when you will see them again in the morning. And this isn’t the first time we’ve had this discussion about phone use. How do we move forward?”
An outright ban on tech isn’t and has never been the answer at home. My daughter’s school requires the use of laptops in the classrooms and submission of all homework is done primarily online using Google Classroom. Assignments are distributed online. Information and parent communication are also done via email and occasionally, there are Zoom calls. The genie can never return to the bottle.
Back when I had a went to school, calculators, dictionaries, calendars, wallet, cassette tape Walkman’s and more were all separate things.
How about we do this dad. We keep our phones at the door when we come into the house. But I need to collaborate on homework and my support circle that is important to me. And also, if I want to veg out, I get to use the phone to play games or watch TikTok. “But it’s like that now!” I confronted. No I will be more diligent about putting the device down. We already don’t have phones at dinner or when we watch a movie. We don’t use phones when we cook unless it’s to call up a recipe. I need to have the phone next to me as it is my alarm clock. She went on with all her conditions and carve outs.
Although the intention is to restrict mobile use as a way to help student focus on schoolwork, in reality, the internet is their platform. Already, much of what they do and how they do it, is both digital and virtual. It’s an uphill battle. Limiting their use may be barking up the wrong tree. Up until this generation, there has never been such a consolidation of uses cases into a single device. Back when I had a went to school, calculators, dictionaries, calendars, wallet, cassette tape Walkman’s, TVs and more were all separate things. And as this generation prepare themselves for the new work force, they could be interacting with AI using voice and gesticulation input. In fact, their future jobs don’t even exist right now. So telling them to unplug is like asking us to stop staring at the screen when we do emails at work.
I have no real solution for how to limit my daughter’s use of all her devices: iPhone, iPad, ThinkPads, Chromebook and streaming TVs. She has them all! Much of her life is already digital and to cut her off simply isn’t a viable option. I can curb much of her technology use at home if she mirrors my usage. But sometimes, I also binge on my phone. Afterall, I do boost at being at level 1000 on Angry Birds!
Anyway, now that there’s real control in non-education use of technology at school, the rest we will just have to negotiate as we go.
