Here at Ten Ten Resources, we want to help you open up the conversation within your own school communities.
Ten Ten Resources has created a free online parent session called ‘Discussing Smartphones’. This session is available on demand for you to use at a time that suits your school.
During my summer holidays, I read a book by Jonathan Haidt, an American social psychologist at New York University. In his book, The Anxious Generation, he shared statistics from around the world that showed a direct link between the use of smartphones and the decline in the mental health of young adults. It challenged me to think about my smartphone use, how I use my phone around my own primary school-aged children, and what boundaries I want to put in place for them.
As more research is published we are finding evidence to support the idea that smartphones are highly addictive, allow access to explicit content, increase bullying, grooming and mental illness, as well as causing opportunity loss for young people – young people are missing out on real-life experiences because of their smartphone use.
Various campaigns have arisen over the past year to address how children and young people are being affected by smartphones and social media. It feels like almost every day another MP, celebrity, influencer or academic is adding their voice to the great debate – from Josh MacAlister Labour MP and former teacher introducing the Safer Phones Bill to grassroots parent-led campaigns such as Smartphone Free Childhood.
As educators, you will be well used to dealing with the issues surrounding phones and young people. For a long time now schools have been navigating the place of phones in education. There are as many different policies on mobile phones as there are schools. So why all the increase in interest?
There are lots of ways that new technology can positively impact education. However, there are also studies on how smartphones are impacting academic achievement, something you, as teachers, will almost certainly have noticed in the classroom.
The open-access portal for peer-reviewed research, Science Direct, published an article showing that:
- Smartphone addiction has negative impacts on student learning and overall academic performance.
- The greater the use of a phone while studying, the greater the negative impact on learning.
- The skills and cognitive abilities students need for academic success are negatively affected by excessive phone use.
- The results of this meta-analysis implied that addicted users show a diminished level in learning.
These effects are not directly the outcome of using phones for education purposes but the results of prolonged use, a level of phone addiction that makes deep concentration and study hard to achieve.
There are several grassroots parent campaigns about smartphones and it may be that your school is already actively engaging in this conversation. For years now, parents have felt pressured to buy their children a phone because ‘everyone else has one!’ We are seeing a shift. Parents are coming together, to support each other, make pacts and share information, empowering them to decide when their child will get their first phone and if it will be “smart”.
Here at Ten Ten Resources, we want to help you facilitate and engage the parents and carers in your school in a conversation about smartphones and children and young people. The Discussing Smartphones Parent Session provides key facts about the impact of smartphones on children and young people, and how the issue is addressed within Life to the Full. Most importantly the session provides the opportunity for parents to discuss their questions and concerns together.
You can host the session in person at your school or online via a streaming service such as Zoom, Teams or Google Meet. There are instructions on how to host the session on our website, along with letters you can edit and send to parents and a downloadable information leaflet for parents containing a range of places to find out more. We hope you will join us and make use of this opportunity to engage the wider school community in this important issue.
Discussing Smartphones
This 30 minute session, aimed at parents and carers, is packed full of information to help you make informed and age appropriate decisions for your child and their use of smartphones.
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