Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
So I have been in education for about 23 years. I have three kids of my own and I have coached youth sports teams for most of my kids years growing up.
I love the digital life as much as anyone -- in balance. I lecture my own kids and my students a lot about how staring at a screen or a phone all day will make you grumpy and unhappy.
I tell them to go bounce a ball or catch a trout. Ride a bike or hike up a mountain. Plan a camping trip or go play Frisbee. And don't post a bunch of stuff to social media when you're back from your adventure.
I tell my players to put their phones away and talk to people face to face. I'm normally not an old fashioned guy, but I like to preach about this and try desperately to get my kids to find some balance so they can be truly happier as I know that electronic happiness isn't true happiness. I know I'm kind of fighting a losing battle with teens but am I sounding crazy?
You're not crazy, I agree. I'm so glad I raised my boys when I only had to monitor their Atari, Colecovision and Nintendo play time. I didn't have to deal with the games being portable and they went and enjoyed the outdoors. They played every sport imaginable and could write and speak in full sentences. It drives me nuts to hear teens talk in text speak.
Does saying o.m.g. really save time or vocal cord usage? I get condensed writing, not condensed speak. Guess I'm not groovy or maybe I'm too cool for school.
I agree. I cannot believe how often they are using Snapchat during the school day, then wonder why they don't know how to factor quadratic trinomials when it comes time for my Algebra test. If only they'd see the connection to actually LISTENING for a change, and put down the phone! Plus, it's rude to hold a phone up when you're sitting in a lecture.
You're not crazy, I agree. I'm so glad I raised my boys when I only had to monitor their Atari, Colecovision and Nintendo play time. I didn't have to deal with the games being portable and they went and enjoyed the outdoors. They played every sport imaginable and could write and speak in full sentences. It drives me nuts to hear teens talk in text speak.
Does saying o.m.g. really save time or vocal cord usage? I get condensed writing, not condensed speak. Guess I'm not groovy or maybe I'm too cool for school.
Oh boy, did you just date yourself with that last sentence.
Like you, I'm thrilled that my kids all graduated from High School JUST before the social media phenomenon went "viral". You know what? In talking to them now, they're just as happy that they grew up when they did (Ages 35, 34, and 30 now).
Personally, I miss the land line phone days where all of us weren't on call 24/7. Everyone's lives were less pressured. When I was out of the office, customers understood this and weren't angry because I couldn't get back with them instantly. Now I'm dating MYSELF.
So I have been in education for about 23 years. I have three kids of my own and I have coached youth sports teams for most of my kids years growing up.
I love the digital life as much as anyone -- in balance. I lecture my own kids and my students a lot about how staring at a screen or a phone all day will make you grumpy and unhappy.
I tell them to go bounce a ball or catch a trout. Ride a bike or hike up a mountain. Plan a camping trip or go play Frisbee. And don't post a bunch of stuff to social media when you're back from your adventure.
I tell my players to put their phones away and talk to people face to face. I'm normally not an old fashioned guy, but I like to preach about this and try desperately to get my kids to find some balance so they can be truly happier as I know that electronic happiness isn't true happiness. I know I'm kind of fighting a losing battle with teens but am I sounding crazy?
Keep fighting the good fight. Maybe you'll get through to some of them.
I didn't allow any technology in my classroom. Why? Because these kids grew up with technology. Why not make them think differently.
I grew up in the 80s and 90s, way before technology invaded the classroom. Using a computer to look up articles was thinking differently because we hadn't done it our entire lives.
No matter what anyone says, paper and pens will be around for a while.
Phones are hurting people in general. Social media made everyone a narcissist and insecure. Young people are the most affected because they don't know what it is like to live without smartphones.
I use my smartphone quite often but mostly due to convenience. I'm not wasting my time texting or taking photos and uploading them to my profile. I quit Facebook 6 years ago because it was a waste of time. I never bother to sign up for twitter or instagram.
I agree but this is the world today. Society will adapt to technology. It always does.
Here's what Socrates had to say about the new technology of writing:
"[Writing] will create forgetfulness in the learners’ souls, because they will not use their memories; they will trust to the external written characters and not remember of themselves. The specific which you have discovered is an aid not to memory, but to reminiscence, and you give your disciples not truth, but only the semblance of truth; they will be hearers of many things and will have learned nothing; they will appear to be omniscient and will generally know nothing; they will be tiresome company, having the show of wisdom without the reality." http://apt46.net/2011/05/18/socrates...ainst-writing/
FTR I do find it difficult to teach kids when they are so distracted by technology and prefer to use it to cheat than do the work themselves but I also think that the work world will adapt to technology to the point it will become part of the work environment.
It is a huge distraction, but I'm on the fence in how to handle it. I worked at a school that completely banned them. If students were caught with their phones out, it was the teachers duty to confiscate and give to a VP. The only way to get it back was for the parents to come to school to retrieve it for their kid. Needless to say, I never saw phones. It was wonderful to not have to worry about the distractions and potential cheating.
The school I work at now embraces technology and their phones and it is the teachers discretion to set the rules for their class. Well, the entire school is phone crazy, it's almost impossible to police. But I look at it this way, phones are here to stay, and they can be valuable. I'll have them look up data tables, weather observations, etc. And once these kids are in college or in the work force, it's up to them to do the right thing. They risk failing classes in college or perhaps getting fired from a job for excessive, needless phone misuse. So I figure let them make the decisions for themselves now while the stakes aren't as high, if they want to play candycrush and fail, or do their work and learn. Either way they will learn a valuable lesson and it hopefully help them when they're older.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
