May Newsletter
The giving of love is an education in itself.
Technology and Mental Health
We are learning more and more every day about how technology is affecting us physically and emotionally. The studies have shown that technology is impacting: sleep, attention, memory and learning, anxiety, addiction, depression, emotional regulation, relationships and there is a increase in narcissism with a decrease in empathy. This is impacting both kids and adults alike.
Below, I have included three graphs to illustrate significant shifts in our culture. The third graph illustrates the release of the iphone in 2007 and how it impacted the time students spend hanging out with their friends, a dramatic decline. When all three graphs are taken together you can see a trend that students have stopped hanging out with friends and have replaced those relationships with technology and in turn, rates of depression are on the rise. The first graph highlights how the numbers of students with mental health needs increased from 1992 to 2010, the graph is consistent through the years and in 2010 it takes a dramatic leap.
I have spent much time researching this to keep our parent community informed so I have had a focus on adolescents as that is when kids normally get phones or tablets. It is clear that mental health disorders in adolescence is on the rise.
- An estimated one in five adolescents has a diagnosable disorder.
- Adolescence is the time when many mental disorders arise.
- The most prevalent mental disorders experienced among adolescents is depression with more than one in four high school students found to have at least mild symptoms of this condition.
- More than half of all mental disorders and problems with substance abuse (such as binge drinking and drug use) begin by age 14.
A 2017 study by The Royal Society of Public Health asked 11-25 year olds to track their moods while on social media. Snapchat and Instagram were the most likely to inspire feelings of inadequacy and anxiety. Seven out of 10 said that Instagram made them feel worse about body image and half of 14-24 year-olds reported exacerbated feelings of anxiety. Two thirds reported that social media has made cyberbullying worse. The graph in the middle below shows that as screen time has risen so has symptoms of depression while non screen time has decreased. The below youtube video of Simon Sinek is a worthy watch that explains how technology is impacting our brains and creating addictions in both kids and adults.
Technology is not the only thing impacting our youth. Some kids are experiencing socioeconomic stressors, competition for grades or getting into school, cultural anxiety and changes in parenting styles that are not allowing kids to experience challenges or problem solve.
Susan Greenfield an Oxford professor said "Attentions spans are shorter, personal communications skills are reduced and there's a marked reduction in the ability to think abstractly."
An UCLA study showed that experienced web users (5 or more hours a day on screens) displayed fundamentally different neural structures in the prefrontal cortex. These studies also show atrophy in grey matter areas (where "processing occurs) in those who have internet/gaming addiction. I could go on and on but in summary our brains are changing and the areas impacted are negatively affecting learning, impulse control, organization, planning, relationships, empathy and compassion.
Teens are more than 40 percent lower in empathy levels than three decades ago and youth bullying has increased 52 percent in four years between 2003-2007. The book The Rise of "Selfie Syndrome" and The Fall of Empathy illustrates these points saying:
- There is a measurable dip in empathy among today's youth.
- We can observe a clear increase in peer cruelty.
- Experts observe more cheating and weaker moral reasoning in young people today.
- Our plugged-in, high pressure culture is leading to mental health epidemic among young people
The National Institute of Health estimates that kids spend and average of five to seven hours a day for screen entertainment. This has increased two and half hours a day in the last ten years. The recommended amount of screen time is one to two hours a day. We as adults need to model healthy behavior for our students. According to Business Insider a typical phone user touches their phone 2,617 times a day with and extreme user around 5,400. This is what we are modeling for our kids (even if we are using it for work), being conscientious and communicative with your kids around phone use can help them understand why and how you are using it.
Technology is not going away and technology is not all bad. The question is how do we best balance it for health and wellbeing at school and at home. At the end of the information session we met together as parents to share ideas about what is working well for parents on issues around technology. We collected these ideas and they are shared below for you. I hope so much that this is helpful to you and yours.
Michigan State University Mental Health Data
Symptoms of depression and screen time
Time with friends and family without technology
The only time I waste is time I spend doing something that, in my gut, I know I shouldn't. If I choose to spend time playing video games or sleeping in, then it's time well spent, because I chose to do it. I did it for a reason - to relax, to decompress or to feel good, and that was what I wanted to do. Simon Sinek
Ideas from parents on how to manage technology in the home.
K-2 Audiobooks for road trips Upside Down Magic Planning ahead with activities on the table when the kids wake up Enticing outdoor activities and switch them up Pod casts Sparkle Stories Wow in the World Brains on Limiting the apps on adult phones - therefore not enticing for kids to take it Playing games Cards “Go Fish” “Old Maid” “Uno” Board Games Listening to music in the car State songs Silly songs Bingo game Maps - National Geographic Kid Atlas Get a flip phone or say no and do not get your child a phone Bedtime stories - read a physical book, whole family reads book individually Be transparent with use - using it as a tool, modelling that it is a tool Experiment with an “analogue life” for a day, a week, etc. Show how you find answers without looking it up Do more problem solving Get creative No screen days Modelling putting the phone away at a certain time Paper and pen Just don’t take the screen To the grocery store To the restaurant On the road trip Choose your restaurants carefully 3rd -5th Grade Parents Best Practices: Two pathways for best practices: Pathway #1 Say no to tech for kids in this grade level span Do not introduce video games, tablets, computers and smartphones to kids before they need it for school and life. No games or phones in the house for kids– go to Dave and Busters a few times per year Pathway #2 Introduce with limits: Talk about why limits are important: what tech and screen time does to the brain and how it makes us feel Game time limits - built into the ios or parent oversight apps Use timers for each use or time a child is on tech (oven timer, phone timer etc) Make child buy first device/ ipad- we did not buy it for him -this postpones the introduction of the device Help each child notice the impact of screen time on them- this will be different for each child-for some getting off the device feels awful - parents can connect that awful feeling to the screen use Help children reflect that after screen time use- it makes most children be passive- lose creativity- children often feel like there is nothing else to do and substitute activities that they usually enjoy seem boring and less attractive. (This is the impact on highly engaging games and social media due to dopamine release) Earn screen time- karate or other practice or school work must be done before “play” Help children know that tech is one aspect of our lives that when in balance can be fun and not harmful. Define balance for each child. Set the amount of time within a day and week that makes sense within all of the life categories you set as a family. Balance could mean spreading our time and energy out within important areas of our lives: Exploring the arts, health/fitness/sports, academics or work, quiet time in nature, relationships with friends, family time, activism, tech/gaming/leisure (customize these for your family values) Set contracts / agreements for tech/gaming and phone use Excellent family contract template here Key question for both pathways: What are the substitutes for technology? Keep children engaged with meaningful activities specific to the child and stretching the child’s interest Find a skill that a child needs to work on...it might be juggling a soccer ball or playing a certain song on the piano, or a dance move they don’t know yet Substitute activities- Lego, new books, go outside and play, skatepark, 6 days per week sports for some (soccer etc) Middle School Hardware limits, router assistance that can be managed by parents Limit access in-app store People first, conversations first Board games instead of phones Identifying feelings with kids after being on certain apps. Naming the response in the body so students are aware of how it affects you and might be affecting them. Pick a day of the week and the entire family unplugs - teaches kids to adjust Phones in parents room at night - kids will sneak down to play in the middle of the night. Fix settings on student phone Take family time together without phones and take turns choosing the activity No phone at dinner Limit phone use until much older ages Reflect on parent practices Only use in living room One on one time and making time for family time Play with kids online so that you can understand the game and see how they play Mizuko Ito Research on how to navigate the digital world in a positive way http://digitalyouth.ischool.berkeley.edu/files/report/digitalyouth-WhitePaper.pdf Once adults make the effort kids will follow Kids always think that they are the only ones who don’t have a phone, app or something else. It is okay to say no.
Construction Update
We are also in negotiations to rent the lot next door for construction trailers, parking, play, PE and pick-up. We have made considerable progress but do not yet have anything definitive to report. Once again, and as always, I will do my very best to keep you updated.
Tragedy in Poway
When something like this happens we often think, "What can I do?" After processing that this past weekend I came to the conclusion that we as a community need to continue to make it a priority to teach empathy, tolerance, kindness, acceptance and love to our kids. We need to take the time to connect with those who do not always share our opinion, religion, skin color or political beliefs and we need to seek to understand first. Our society is divided and we need to teach our kids to be a loving bridge. As a school we are here to support both you and your student, we are here to assist in teaching this next generation about love. Gandhi said it best, "Be the change that you want to see in the world".
If we can help your family in any way process this tragedy or if you have any questions please do not hesitate to reach out, we are a community that is here to support you.