Four Parenting Tips Schools Can Promote

Dear colleagues,

I came across four parent recommendations the other day from researchers Jonathan Haidt, Will Johnson, and Zach Rausch that I thought were worth sharing in case your role intersects with helping parents in our technological times. In their article “We Don't Have to Give In to Smartphones” for The New York Times (paywall), the trio explains that a majority of parents think their children's childhood would be better without a lot of the internet things us teachers see affecting student engagement. They celebrate this majority opinion that much of the screen-mediated engagement machines aren't in the best interest of our children.

And then they make the following recommendations, framing them as social norms this majority could team up and institute to change how things are going. “It’s hard for any one parent or school to act alone,” they argue, “but when families and schools act together, change becomes possible. These norms are meant to reinforce one another, and when combined, they offer a road map for reclaiming a healthier and more joyful childhood.”

Here they are:

1. Delay smartphones until high school. The poll the authors reference found that 2/3 of parents wanted to wait until at least age 14 for smartphones.
2. Delay social media access until 16. This age was favored by a strong 73 percent of parents in the poll.
3. Ban cell phones from bell to bell in schools — including lunch and recess. 63 percent of parents supported this idea. My own school's classroom-based “cell phone garages” aren't quite there, as students are allowed phones in the hallways and during lunch.
4. After school, get kids involved in activities other than app scrolling. The authors paint the ideal here as involving independence, free play, and responsibility in the real world. 40 percent of parents of kids ages 6-12 and 47 percent of parents of teens agreed with this goal.

As a parent of two teenagers myself, the authors are right: aiming at these goals as individual families is much more labor-intensive than doing so with a pod of parents. Social norms are powerful. This is why clear, consistent, and admin-led cell phone policies are critical in schools. But a lot of what the article authors recommend isn't school-based. It's home-based.

So, these may be worth sharing in your next parent newsletter or school/parent night. As you do so, be mindful that parenting is hard and that the polling data indicates these ideas are quite popular. Difficult, but popular.

And of course, if you have the ear of a legislator or two, make your voice heard. Laws are sporadically entering the books in states and countries around the world, but the rate of these laws passing is tortoise-like compared to the lighting speed of tech companies “filling our children's lives — and their classrooms — with more new and untested technologies.”

“The goal,” the authors conclude, “isn't just to limit screens. It's much bigger than that. The goal is to restore childhood.”

Teaching right beside you,

DSJR

P.S. I'm hosting a live session for school leaders on April 20 called “The Will to Teach.” It's about the Five Key Beliefs applied to teachers — and what leaders can do when the will to teach starts to erode. $29 for individuals, and $99 for a team. [Details and registration here.]