We are in an era of mass distraction. I see it more and more each year in our students. Their ability to focus seems to reduce with every passing year and the age children get cell phones appears to be younger and younger.
By the age of 10, 25% of Americans have a cell phone and this is as high as 75% by the age of 12. As we all know these are not just phones anymore but powerful computers in the palm of your hand.
However, let’s not put all of this on our young people. It is similarly impacting adults. How many of us can now watch a whole movie or even a tv episode without checking our phone? How often do you check your phone each day? The average American checks their phone 96 times per day.
Much like the impact of AI on education, this is not going away. With wearable technology becoming more and more prevalent in our lives it might not be too long before we see technology like the Apple Vision Pro in classrooms. In fact, access to the internet is arguably now as essential as electricity in the modern world.
However, this is not to say boundaries should not be in place. Over 20% of American teenagers now spend over 5 hours per day on their phone or tablet and over 30% spend 3 hours per day on their device. The dopamine hit the brain gets from, for example, positive comments, is a real addiction and we need to teach our children to manage themselves. Without self-management students are losing sleep, becoming more anxious and increasingly unable to focus for long periods of time.
At school, we do not allow students to use their phones. Yet as many as 1 in 4 schools allow open phone use throughout the day. This is despite excess phone use being linked to declining academic results and increased bullying. By putting this boundary in place at school, as well as instilling focus, motivation and self-efficacy in students we have a strong foundation to start building lifelong habits for our young people.
These boundaries can be supported at home through simple strategies such as firm cut-off times for phone use each day, only allowing devices to be charged in the kitchen so sleep is not impacted and encouraging at least an hour per day without a device, a day per week and a week per year. A digital detox so to speak!
We have technology that saps our attention, but it is also fully ingrained in our lives and has hugely positive benefits. Can you imagine going back to a world without online banking, or Google Maps? The best thing we can do is set a good example for our children with our own technology use, modelling how we want them to behave and focus.