My son recently recommended that I read a book called Notes On A Nervous Planet by Matt Haig. Haig has previously written about his mental illness and in this book focuses on how social media and device usage impact on the rise of anxiety and depression in the world today. How timely was my reading of this book! This month being Mental Health Awareness month and this past week we welcomed to Yavneh Janell Burley Hofmann to present our students and teachers on technology usage and wellness it fit right in.
Haig writes about how we never put our phones down and it is harder and harder to sit still without distraction. Traumatic news stories increase our constant levels of worry. Constant glancing at social increase our self-doubt and lowers our self- esteem as we are constantly comparing ourselves to others. It gets to the point when we stay on social media even if we do not enjoy it.
Haig quotes study after study showing the negative effects of technology on mental health. Throughout his book he offers advice to for 21st century living. One simple and obvious one is “”Declutter your mind…. In an overloaded world we need to have a filter. We need to simplify things. We need to disconnect sometimes. We need to stop staring at our phones…”
Ironically, he points out, that we often distract ourselves with our devices when feeling down or anxious and yet that usage exacerbates those feelings in the long term.
And, all of this is magnified with teens. In a recent article “ Too Much of a Good Thing: The Impact of Technology on Teens’ Mental Wellness” by Dr. Joshua Essery if the Child Clarity Guidance Center he quotes Dr. Jean M. Twenge, author of “iGen: Why Today’s Super-Connected Kids Are Growing Up Less Rebellious, More Tolerant, Less Happy–and Completely Unprepared for Adulthood–and What That Means for the Rest of Us”- who recently presented for his center.
“The number of teens who get together with their friends nearly every day dropped by over 40%. More teens are spending their free time alone in their room and on their phones, computers or games….All screen activities are linked to less happiness, and all off screen activities are linked to more happiness. Eighth graders who spend 10 or more hours a week on social media are 56 percent more likely to say they are unhappy than those who devote less time to social media. Admittedly, 10 hours a week is a lot. But those who spend six to nine hours a week on social media are still 47 percent more likely to say they are unhappy than those who use social media even less. The opposite is true of in-person interactions. Those who spend an above-average amount of time with their friends in person are 20 percent less likely to say they’re unhappy than those who hang out for a below-average amount of time.”
Now you understand why we spent the day with Janell Burley Hofmann last week. Some of you may recall when she spoke to parents a few years ago and wowed the audience. Every since then we had been considering her coming to speak to the students. As per her official bio:
Janell Burley Hofmann is an international author, speaker and consultant specializing on the
topics of technology, media, health, relationships and well-being. Janell is the creator of the
original iPhone contract and a thought leader in the space of digital mindfulness, digital
parenting and intentional use of tech. She is the author of the book, iRules: What Every Tech-
Healthy Family Needs to Know About Selfies, Sexting, Gaming and Growing Up.
Janell is the founder of the Slow Tech Movement and iRules Academy.
Keeping in mind all we have said above regarding the negative impact of technology, Ms. Hofmann began by asking our students the positive impacts of technology usage- or “how it makes the world a better place” (her words). Students came up with many positive roles for technology. Medical progress, the ability to be in touch with grandparents in another country, access to knowledge, charity can be more easily raised, creating more jobs for people and of course, that it can be fun! As Ms. Hofmann noted with the faculty- there is a no nostalgia clause- there cannot be nostalgia for the olden days without technology. It is here and we can use it positively.
She then asked the students to share when they felt was negative about their technology usage. Students pointed to dangers on the internet, hackers, getting distracted very easily, seeing things that are scary and inappropriate, eating up too much of their time, replacing humans with robots for jobs, and not socializing with friends when with friends as they are on their devices. Students brought up cyberbullying and Ms. Hofmann discussed the definitions and the interventions.
Hofmann then discussed some key terms with them to work on positive technology use. She prefaced the information with the fact that she designed them all with middle school students over the years designing terms they wished they had known.
1.BE A SHARE STOPPER: She asked them to be a share stopper and to not pass on photos or conversations that can be hurtful, or wrong or can even get them in trouble. Delete and don’t pass on. Student leaders coming up with tech positive ideas.
2. THE BILLBOARD- even if we think we are set to private- what we say and do can easily be shared and spread- as if it was on a billboard off a highway. How would I feel if lots and lots of eyes got on this? What we say and do on the internet represents who we are. Many people can see this so we need to think before we post…which leads us to #3.
3. THE PAUSE BUTTON - Brain science says we make better decisions if we can take 5-6 inhales and exhales before we do something. So before we post or send something, pause, stop, take those 5-6 seconds and consider if we truly want to send it. The more often we use the pause button, the better we get at it. We need to think before we react to something someone sends us as well.
4. PERMISSION TO POST-
Lots of people take photos of others and share them without their permission. Ask your friends for permission to post. Hofmann showed how she always asks her family members permission to post before she posts any photos of them.
5. THE ASKABLE ADULT: If you are unsure to post, send or to respond to a communication you receive- find an adult you trust to ask. She asked the children to consider who their askable adults are.
6. TECH CURFEW- We all need a time where we shut off our technology and even put it in another room.
Hofmann stressed that she and adults would never ask them to be perfect. We know they are going to make mistakes and that is okay. (Note that this coming week both our sixth graders and eighth graders were scheduled for Advisory lessons related to these topics. Our sixth graders are focusing on cyber exclusion and our eighth graders on technology addictions as part of their substance abuse unit).
Hofmann then spent time with our faculty. She maintained that we need to have the same standards for when they walk the halls of schools and when they “walk the halls” on the internet. She stressed the importance of using the terms the students learned and speaking a common language. Students who have digital mentors and askable adults tend to have the healthiest technology experience. We discussed some ways we as the adults can reinforce positive technology usage. And, of course, that we as adults need to take a break, not answer e-mails after hours and get some rest from our technology.
(More information that Ms. Hofmann passed on for parents will be sent to you soon, but we do hope to have her back again for parents in the fall)
I do think that the coincidental simultaneous occurrence of Mental Health Awareness month, my reading Notes On A Nervous Planet, and our welcoming Janell Burley Hofmann was not at all a coincidence. They were to remind us that only we can take the steps to benefit from technology while maintaining wellness.
Advisory Update:
Sixth Grade; Students discussed the immense power they have with their cellphone and some dangers it can pose.
Seventh Grade: How does being an upstander impact on those around us and ourselves?
Eighth Grade: As part of their substance abuse unit students focused on the dangers of vaping.
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