Katherine, I have a reading suggestion: "Screen Damage: The Dangers of Digital Media for Children", by the neuroscientist Michel Desmurget. In it, there's plenty of reasearch linking the use of screens and lacking of intelligence on kids. In Portuguese, the book was titled "A Fábrica de Cretinos Digitais", something like "The Digital Cretin Factory" in a free translation.
I can assure you that you’re spot on with your assessment and there is no doubt that technology in education interferes with learning and critical thinking. After 28 years of teaching high school and watching the adoption of technology as if it were some sacrosanct gateway to “academic preeminence” is absolutely delusional. I hope you continue to write about this topic even if it isn’t lucrative. No good educator is motivated by pay or position but by the joys in discovery and transformation.
Thanks for sharing this Katherine. My son is only coming up 15 months but I’m already thinking about how hard we’ll have to work to manage how screens/technology infringe on his childhood. It feels more manageable at home but not so much in education - also wondering about how we will navigate when he socialises with other children/families especially when the norm is to not be intentional about it. I really enjoy all your articles and it’s so promising to hear from someone who is going against the grain and trying to give your boys the best start in life ❤️
It is difficult but the fact that you are already deeply thinking about how to navigate it now is a huge part of the battle. Most parents don't even get that far. If it's any help - our daughter was allowed to watch TV (like Curious George) at age 3. She has no iPad (that will change as we told her she could have one for Christmas but with no internet browser and a limited usage time) and definitely no phone and especially no smart phone until she is 14 or maybe even 16. She's currently and nine and thinks teenagers are on the their phones too much 😂. We'll see if that sticks :)
One other anecdote. We were at a friends' son's bah Mitzvah in November and mutual friends were there with their eight year old daughter and their 16 year old daughter. Afterward, my daughter commented how great the 16 year old was because she "wasn't on her phone and actually talked to us!". There are like-minded parents out there - we just need more of them!
Thanks so much for sharing your experiences Liz - much appreciated 😊 like you said probably the fact that my husband and I are even thinking about it all is a good place to start!
I don’t know much about the educational-industrial complex either, but I had to laugh when my school district’s newsletter boasted about being named an “Apple Distinguished School.” My own family homeschools but our local elementary school assigns each student an iPad (right down to Kindergarten, which my son with a “late birthday” was scheduled to begin at age 4). It seemed rather obvious to me how a school might go about obtaining the “distinguished school” seal of approval from Apple, but hey, what do I know….
This is a great article, I have been reading this blog for some time now. In my opinion, a major problem is that there is no public educational place you can go, and expect that smartphones or other similar technology will not be promoted. For one potential solution, I highly recommend you read this:
Katherine, I have a reading suggestion: "Screen Damage: The Dangers of Digital Media for Children", by the neuroscientist Michel Desmurget. In it, there's plenty of reasearch linking the use of screens and lacking of intelligence on kids. In Portuguese, the book was titled "A Fábrica de Cretinos Digitais", something like "The Digital Cretin Factory" in a free translation.
I can assure you that you’re spot on with your assessment and there is no doubt that technology in education interferes with learning and critical thinking. After 28 years of teaching high school and watching the adoption of technology as if it were some sacrosanct gateway to “academic preeminence” is absolutely delusional. I hope you continue to write about this topic even if it isn’t lucrative. No good educator is motivated by pay or position but by the joys in discovery and transformation.
Thanks for sharing this Katherine. My son is only coming up 15 months but I’m already thinking about how hard we’ll have to work to manage how screens/technology infringe on his childhood. It feels more manageable at home but not so much in education - also wondering about how we will navigate when he socialises with other children/families especially when the norm is to not be intentional about it. I really enjoy all your articles and it’s so promising to hear from someone who is going against the grain and trying to give your boys the best start in life ❤️
It is difficult but the fact that you are already deeply thinking about how to navigate it now is a huge part of the battle. Most parents don't even get that far. If it's any help - our daughter was allowed to watch TV (like Curious George) at age 3. She has no iPad (that will change as we told her she could have one for Christmas but with no internet browser and a limited usage time) and definitely no phone and especially no smart phone until she is 14 or maybe even 16. She's currently and nine and thinks teenagers are on the their phones too much 😂. We'll see if that sticks :)
One other anecdote. We were at a friends' son's bah Mitzvah in November and mutual friends were there with their eight year old daughter and their 16 year old daughter. Afterward, my daughter commented how great the 16 year old was because she "wasn't on her phone and actually talked to us!". There are like-minded parents out there - we just need more of them!
Thanks so much for sharing your experiences Liz - much appreciated 😊 like you said probably the fact that my husband and I are even thinking about it all is a good place to start!
I don’t know much about the educational-industrial complex either, but I had to laugh when my school district’s newsletter boasted about being named an “Apple Distinguished School.” My own family homeschools but our local elementary school assigns each student an iPad (right down to Kindergarten, which my son with a “late birthday” was scheduled to begin at age 4). It seemed rather obvious to me how a school might go about obtaining the “distinguished school” seal of approval from Apple, but hey, what do I know….
This is a great article, I have been reading this blog for some time now. In my opinion, a major problem is that there is no public educational place you can go, and expect that smartphones or other similar technology will not be promoted. For one potential solution, I highly recommend you read this:
https://swiftenterprises.substack.com/p/great-american-libraries
I love this book and have referred for it for years- yours is a great review, so glad you found it, too!!