Imagination....A lost art?
We took our youth to Orr park last night in Montevallo, AL and while partaking in a scavenger hunt one student saw some small holes in the ground and asked what those were. I proceeded to tell her that it was for catching jacks. Several students looked at me as if I were crazy and asked “how do you do that”? As I stood there kind of shocked, I saw several youth with their phones out and I realized they truly had no clue of what I was talking about. I asked the kids to put their phones away and I showed them how to catch them. The point is that some kids in today's world do not know how to have fun or use their imagination due to the lack of outdoor playtime and socialization. This is mostly due to the rise in technology accessibility and usage. Kids, teenagers, and even young adults would rather stay inside to play video games, watch TikTok videos, or use their phones to access social media. Countless hours are spent behind a screen instead of using creativity and playing outside. Oftentimes technology is used as a babysitter or pacifier for children. Some parents do not want to hear their kids say they are bored or hear them whine so they use the multitude of technology as a quick fix. I have been guilty of this at times.
Check Out to Check In!
Excessive screen time has affected our kids mostly in a negative way. Meates conducted a study on the problematic use of digital technology. He states, "international research endorses the correlation between usage of digital technology and anxiety, depression and suicide” (Meates, 2020). This is very disturbing to me. Some students do not know how to have a conversation or interact with others, much less construct digital writing pieces effectively due to the lack of communication skills caused by abundance of time spent on devices. Educators need to be mindful of the screen time usage students are receiving both at school and at home. According to Meates, “educational leaders have a responsibility to provide safe, positive, balanced and stimulating learning environments while also understanding and dealing with the influences and implications of the digital world that exists outside the educational realm” (2020). In returning to school after the pandemic the need for social distancing was of grave concern. Teachers utilized technology both in the classroom and through remote learning as a way to teach and keep students from mingling with other students. While this type of technology use has been beneficial for educational learning, it is still time that students are being overstimulated through digital media.
Produce More....Consume Less
References
NBC News. (2018, May 17). Screens may affect your child's brain development. [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ndOB-vXwXxM
This is such good information! I grew up playing outside 24/7 and didn't have a smart phone until I was in college. It is so crazy (and scary) how much things have changed and how kids are exposed to so much being behind a computer screen-yet they don't have enough exposure to the outdoors.
ReplyDeleteYou brought up some excellent points about how crucial it is to continue to teach students to be digitally productive so that they will feel more empowered by their products they create and actually reap the benefits of using digital media, rather than just being consumed by meaningless videos (Turner & Hicks, 2017). My blog post about productivity relates to this one a lot too!
Turner, H. K., & Hicks, T. (2017). Teaching adolescents to read and write Digital texts: Argument in the real world. Heinemann.
Lack of imagination is such a sad but true reality! I can think of countless times when we had our kids on the playground at recess and they come to us telling us they're bored... I mean really?! How is a six year old BORED on the PLAYGROUND?! Well, you hit the nail on the head! They spend way too much time on iPads, laptops, and/or cell phones. They are not being productive with their technology use and want everything instantly. In his recent study, Dr. Subramanian states, "In the always-connected world of social media, smart phones and hyperlinks in the middle of everything you read, you can feel how difficult it is to stay focused. And there are statistics too. Some say that the average attention span is down from 12 seconds in the year 2000 to eight seconds now. That is less than the nine-second attention span of your average gold fish" (2018). I can honestly attest to this myself this very minute! Currently, I have about 20 tabs open in my browser and I'm also replying to emails while watching my two year-old. How can we expect our kids to focus, when we as adults struggle with this very thing? On the flipside, I like you displayed technology use in a positive way as long as it is in moderation and is being used in a productive manner. Again, this all goes back to intentionally creating versus idly consuming digital content (Turner & Hicks, 2017). I appreciate your information and insight on this topic because I can relate to it very well!
ReplyDeleteSubramanian, K. R. (2018). Myth and mystery of shrinking attention span. International Journal of Trend in Research and Development, 5(1).
Turner, K. H., & Hicks, T. (2017). Teaching adolescents to read and write digital texts: Argument in the real world. Heinemann.