screens part I
Jhai, D.N. (2018, April 11). Delhi: One in every 5 school students a ‘problematic’ internet user. The Times of India. https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/one-in-every-5-school-students-a-problematic-internet-user/articleshow/63703507.cms.The above article shows a little of what I'm dealing with; I don't think the US is that much better or worse than Delhi. It would be interesting, for comparison's sake, to compare huge cities like Delhi and New York, or LA, even to much smaller towns, like Alamogordo, where I teach, or Cloudcroft. But, numbers are probably similar in major ways. Almost 20% self-report that it's problematic; over a third admit that they use the internet to regulate their moods; they rely on it to feel better, in other words, or to calm down. Almost all have phones; almost all go online; almost all are going online almost constantly.
One thing I've noticed, as both an overloaded parent and an educator, is that parents tend to rely on the schools to balance out what they can see is an overload at home. In the schools, we can't afford to do that; school is for learning, so we try to keep the phones out of sight and get down to business (though I admit, I'm a sub, and their total addiction comes right back in, the minute anyone turns their back or allows it. I am with the school in their absolute prohibition of them, yet I give up fighting them very easily, as they are so squirrely without their phones that they're almost impossible to live with, and I just sometimes want them to zone out and leave me alone. As a parent, it's worse. You work all day, your kids have way too much energy, and if the phone will allow them to leave you alone (this goes for a movie, say, or even an online game), ok, go ahead. You didn't reckon with being faced with addiction.
Yet I'll agree with the above article. Addiction is what we're looking at. It's overwhelming, and it's pervasive.
posted by tom @ 11:44 AM
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