Ethically Sound and Culturally Responsible Learning Design
We have a duty of care:
Cell phone ownership is becoming ubiquitous in the western world and is catching up in the rest of the world. Obtaining accurate and up to date information on how many pre teens own cell phones is problematic.
Getting a cell phone is the latest milestone for American 6-year-olds.
A new survey in Child Guide magazine, a resource guide for parents, found that the average American child gets their first cell phone when they're 6 years old.
The survey, which interviewed 2,290 American parents, found that 31 percent of children received a cell phone for security reasons, while 25 percent received one so that children could keep in contact with their family. Twenty percent of parents gave their children cell phones so they could keep up with their friends in school.
Most American children have a cell phone before they turn 7 years old. (2015). DeseretNews.com. Retrieved 25 May 2019, from https://www.deseretnews.com/article/865625962/Most-American-children-have-a-cell-phone-before-they-turn-7-years-old.html
Data from 2015 showed 39% of kids get a social media account at 11.4 years. 11% got a social media account when they were younger than 10.
All the cell phone statistics I could access showed dramatic upturn in percentage os access, use and time on device. The data indicates a steady lowering of access to social media age also. In 2015 64% of children have access to the Internet via their own laptop or tablet, compared to just 42% in 2012.
Cell phone ownership. (2012). Pew Research Center: Internet, Science & Tech. Retrieved 25 May 2019, from https://www.pewinternet.org/2012/03/19/cell-phone-ownership/
Cell phone addiction is on the rise, surveys show, and a new study released Thursday adds to a growing body of evidence that smartphone and internet addiction is harming our minds - literally. Health ramifications include text neck -- that cramping, stabbing pain that comes after looking down at your phone too long -- and poor posture, which can affect your spine, respiratory functions and even emotions. Researchers have also found that the blue light emitted from our cell phones and other internet devices can disrupt melatonin production and therefore our sleep.
Researchers from Korea University in Seoul used brain imaging to study the brains of 19 teenage boys who were diagnosed with internet or smartphone addiction. Compared with 19 teenagers who were not addicted, the brains of the addicted boys had significantly higher levels of GABA, a neurotransmitter in the cortex that inhibits neurons, than levels of glutamate-glutamine, a neurotransmitter that energises brain signals.
GABA slows down the neurons. That results in poorer attention and control, which you don't want to have, because you want to stay focused. So that means you are more vulnerable to distractions.
Sandee LaMotte, C. (2019). Smartphone addiction could be changing your brain. CNN. Retrieved 25 May 2019, from https://edition.cnn.com/2017/11/30/health/smartphone-addiction-study/index.html
For children who use smartphones, tablets or video games for more than seven hours a day, researchers have found brain changes, Dowling said in the interview. For example, the cerebral cortex of the affected children is thinner. "This is the wrinkled outermost layer of the brain that processes information from the five senses," Dowling explained. The evidence seemed to be made: Smartphones shrink children's brains."
Further research indicates this thinning of the cortex is something that happens as we get older. The question has to be is this earlier thinning a positive or a negative? To date there is no clear evidence either way.
US study: Do cell phones really change the brain of children? | tellerreport.com. (2019). Tellerreport.com. Retrieved 25 May 2019, from https://www.tellerreport.com/tech/--us-study--do-cell-phones-really-change-the-brain-of-children---.r1eMRmmrgN.html
The average teen spends nine hours a day using electronic media, according to a survey by Common Sense Media. That survey also found that half of teenagers felt addicted to their phones, and 78 percent checked them hourly or more. Multiple studies link addictive relationships with mobile devices to mental health problems in teens, including depression, anxiety, and disrupted sleep. Neuroscience tells us that tweens’ and teens’ developing brains make them especially vulnerable to both addiction and mental health crises.
There is also the debated and debatable issue of radiation damage.
Whether or not the radio frequency energy emitted by cell phones causes cancer has been debated since the advent of the first mobile phone. While some studies have found statistically significant links between cancer risk and long-term cell phone use, others studies have found no link. And the effect of these waves on children’s developing brains is not yet known.
In 2017, the state of California issued guidelines for limiting exposure to radio frequency energy from cell phones. Safe practices include:
• While sleeping, keep your phone a few feet away from your body;
• When streaming audio or video, keep your device away from your body and head;
• If talking on the phone, use a headset rather than holding the phone close to your head;
• In a fast-moving vehicle or on rapid transit, use airplane mode because your phone puts out more radio frequency energy to maintain a connection as it switches from one cell tower to the next.
Pellissier, H., & Pellissier, H. (2019). Your child's brain on technology: cell phones. Parenting. Retrieved 25 May 2019, from https://www.greatschools.org/gk/articles/child-brain-development-and-cell-phones/
This may explain the proclivity of American and Asian teens (in my observations and experience) to have their phone on speaker and hold it parallel to the ground in front of them to talk into it. While it is invasive of our 'space' as bystanders, it would appear to be best practice from a health point of view.
On a related note, a five-year-old’s brain, healthy or otherwise, is encased in a thinner skull and contains more fluid than an adult brain. According to studies carried out by industry modelers in Switzerland and France, the bone marrow of a child’s head absorbs 10 times more radiation than that of an adult, while that of infants and toddlers will absorb even more.
How Cell Phones Affect A Child's Brain | Healthy Living Magazine. (2019). Healthylivingmagazine.us. Retrieved 25 May 2019, from https://healthylivingmagazine.us/Articles/75/
In Chapter 4 of Naomi Schaefer Riley’s new book, "Be the Parent, Please: Stop Banning Seesaws and Start Banning Snapchat", released January 8, 2018, by Templeton Press, Naomi identifies ways technology increases narcissism - the 'selfie' generation. She continues, " technology produces more than just individual narcissism. It creates generational blinders. Anyone who is outside of your immediate age range is no longer in your line of sight. So much time is spent keeping up with the drama of friends and schoolmates, and technology means that it can never be turned off."
In 2015, a team of childhood development experts worked with CNN to survey the social media postings of two hundred thirteen-year-olds from across the country. After combing through more than 150,000 posts (from Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, etc.), the experts concluded that, as Anderson Cooper put it, being thirteen is like a “real-time 24-7 popularity competition.”
A Smartphone Will Change Your Child in Ways You Might Not Expect or Want. (2019). Institute for Family Studies. Retrieved 25 May 2019, from https://ifstudies.org/blog/a-smartphone-will-change-your-child-in-ways-you-might-not-expect-or-want
Google in our pocket is like having the key to the information kingdom. Children can access the world in all its wonder - real , virtual and augmented.
With this key comes the opportunity to create, communicate, collaborate and connect in ways and on a scale never previously imagined. While these opportunities for rich creation are there to access, it is consuming that is the predominant behaviour for most.
Parents tell me their children are becoming zombie-like in their constant consumption. They walk around with their phones constantly inches from their faces. We all know the dangers of driving while distracted, but now we have the very real dangers of walking while distracted.
Having the key to the information kingdom can be a blessing, but it can also be somewhat of a curse. That connected world is constantly demanding their attention, diverting it from the real world, real people and real joys that are right there around them, but which go increasing unnoticed. world,
This 24-7 connectivity will forever change our children. It will change how they view friendships, how they interacts with the outdoors, how they experience time alone.
Children's brains are not developed to the point where rational decisions come naturally or easily. With cell phone manufacturers constantly looking for new ways to capture customers and increase market share, children become an increasingly attractive option. With 97% of 18 to 39 year olds in America now owning a smart-phone, that market is saturated. Googling "how to convince your parents to buy you a smart-phone" is an informative search,
As teachers our primary responsibility is to be the caregiver for each child in our care, at least while they are in our care.
Our duty as ethically and culturally responsive and responsible teachers has never been greater.
The info-graphic below is my attempt to demonstrate this infographically.
Cell phone ownership is becoming ubiquitous in the western world and is catching up in the rest of the world. Obtaining accurate and up to date information on how many pre teens own cell phones is problematic.
Getting a cell phone is the latest milestone for American 6-year-olds.
A new survey in Child Guide magazine, a resource guide for parents, found that the average American child gets their first cell phone when they're 6 years old.
The survey, which interviewed 2,290 American parents, found that 31 percent of children received a cell phone for security reasons, while 25 percent received one so that children could keep in contact with their family. Twenty percent of parents gave their children cell phones so they could keep up with their friends in school.
Most American children have a cell phone before they turn 7 years old. (2015). DeseretNews.com. Retrieved 25 May 2019, from https://www.deseretnews.com/article/865625962/Most-American-children-have-a-cell-phone-before-they-turn-7-years-old.html
Data from 2015 showed 39% of kids get a social media account at 11.4 years. 11% got a social media account when they were younger than 10.
All the cell phone statistics I could access showed dramatic upturn in percentage os access, use and time on device. The data indicates a steady lowering of access to social media age also. In 2015 64% of children have access to the Internet via their own laptop or tablet, compared to just 42% in 2012.
Cell phone ownership. (2012). Pew Research Center: Internet, Science & Tech. Retrieved 25 May 2019, from https://www.pewinternet.org/2012/03/19/cell-phone-ownership/
Cell phone addiction is on the rise, surveys show, and a new study released Thursday adds to a growing body of evidence that smartphone and internet addiction is harming our minds - literally. Health ramifications include text neck -- that cramping, stabbing pain that comes after looking down at your phone too long -- and poor posture, which can affect your spine, respiratory functions and even emotions. Researchers have also found that the blue light emitted from our cell phones and other internet devices can disrupt melatonin production and therefore our sleep.
Researchers from Korea University in Seoul used brain imaging to study the brains of 19 teenage boys who were diagnosed with internet or smartphone addiction. Compared with 19 teenagers who were not addicted, the brains of the addicted boys had significantly higher levels of GABA, a neurotransmitter in the cortex that inhibits neurons, than levels of glutamate-glutamine, a neurotransmitter that energises brain signals.
GABA slows down the neurons. That results in poorer attention and control, which you don't want to have, because you want to stay focused. So that means you are more vulnerable to distractions.
Sandee LaMotte, C. (2019). Smartphone addiction could be changing your brain. CNN. Retrieved 25 May 2019, from https://edition.cnn.com/2017/11/30/health/smartphone-addiction-study/index.html
For children who use smartphones, tablets or video games for more than seven hours a day, researchers have found brain changes, Dowling said in the interview. For example, the cerebral cortex of the affected children is thinner. "This is the wrinkled outermost layer of the brain that processes information from the five senses," Dowling explained. The evidence seemed to be made: Smartphones shrink children's brains."
Further research indicates this thinning of the cortex is something that happens as we get older. The question has to be is this earlier thinning a positive or a negative? To date there is no clear evidence either way.
US study: Do cell phones really change the brain of children? | tellerreport.com. (2019). Tellerreport.com. Retrieved 25 May 2019, from https://www.tellerreport.com/tech/--us-study--do-cell-phones-really-change-the-brain-of-children---.r1eMRmmrgN.html
The average teen spends nine hours a day using electronic media, according to a survey by Common Sense Media. That survey also found that half of teenagers felt addicted to their phones, and 78 percent checked them hourly or more. Multiple studies link addictive relationships with mobile devices to mental health problems in teens, including depression, anxiety, and disrupted sleep. Neuroscience tells us that tweens’ and teens’ developing brains make them especially vulnerable to both addiction and mental health crises.
There is also the debated and debatable issue of radiation damage.
Whether or not the radio frequency energy emitted by cell phones causes cancer has been debated since the advent of the first mobile phone. While some studies have found statistically significant links between cancer risk and long-term cell phone use, others studies have found no link. And the effect of these waves on children’s developing brains is not yet known.
In 2017, the state of California issued guidelines for limiting exposure to radio frequency energy from cell phones. Safe practices include:
• While sleeping, keep your phone a few feet away from your body;
• When streaming audio or video, keep your device away from your body and head;
• If talking on the phone, use a headset rather than holding the phone close to your head;
• In a fast-moving vehicle or on rapid transit, use airplane mode because your phone puts out more radio frequency energy to maintain a connection as it switches from one cell tower to the next.
Pellissier, H., & Pellissier, H. (2019). Your child's brain on technology: cell phones. Parenting. Retrieved 25 May 2019, from https://www.greatschools.org/gk/articles/child-brain-development-and-cell-phones/
This may explain the proclivity of American and Asian teens (in my observations and experience) to have their phone on speaker and hold it parallel to the ground in front of them to talk into it. While it is invasive of our 'space' as bystanders, it would appear to be best practice from a health point of view.
On a related note, a five-year-old’s brain, healthy or otherwise, is encased in a thinner skull and contains more fluid than an adult brain. According to studies carried out by industry modelers in Switzerland and France, the bone marrow of a child’s head absorbs 10 times more radiation than that of an adult, while that of infants and toddlers will absorb even more.
How Cell Phones Affect A Child's Brain | Healthy Living Magazine. (2019). Healthylivingmagazine.us. Retrieved 25 May 2019, from https://healthylivingmagazine.us/Articles/75/
In Chapter 4 of Naomi Schaefer Riley’s new book, "Be the Parent, Please: Stop Banning Seesaws and Start Banning Snapchat", released January 8, 2018, by Templeton Press, Naomi identifies ways technology increases narcissism - the 'selfie' generation. She continues, " technology produces more than just individual narcissism. It creates generational blinders. Anyone who is outside of your immediate age range is no longer in your line of sight. So much time is spent keeping up with the drama of friends and schoolmates, and technology means that it can never be turned off."
In 2015, a team of childhood development experts worked with CNN to survey the social media postings of two hundred thirteen-year-olds from across the country. After combing through more than 150,000 posts (from Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, etc.), the experts concluded that, as Anderson Cooper put it, being thirteen is like a “real-time 24-7 popularity competition.”
A Smartphone Will Change Your Child in Ways You Might Not Expect or Want. (2019). Institute for Family Studies. Retrieved 25 May 2019, from https://ifstudies.org/blog/a-smartphone-will-change-your-child-in-ways-you-might-not-expect-or-want
Google in our pocket is like having the key to the information kingdom. Children can access the world in all its wonder - real , virtual and augmented.
With this key comes the opportunity to create, communicate, collaborate and connect in ways and on a scale never previously imagined. While these opportunities for rich creation are there to access, it is consuming that is the predominant behaviour for most.
Parents tell me their children are becoming zombie-like in their constant consumption. They walk around with their phones constantly inches from their faces. We all know the dangers of driving while distracted, but now we have the very real dangers of walking while distracted.
Having the key to the information kingdom can be a blessing, but it can also be somewhat of a curse. That connected world is constantly demanding their attention, diverting it from the real world, real people and real joys that are right there around them, but which go increasing unnoticed. world,
This 24-7 connectivity will forever change our children. It will change how they view friendships, how they interacts with the outdoors, how they experience time alone.
Children's brains are not developed to the point where rational decisions come naturally or easily. With cell phone manufacturers constantly looking for new ways to capture customers and increase market share, children become an increasingly attractive option. With 97% of 18 to 39 year olds in America now owning a smart-phone, that market is saturated. Googling "how to convince your parents to buy you a smart-phone" is an informative search,
As teachers our primary responsibility is to be the caregiver for each child in our care, at least while they are in our care.
Our duty as ethically and culturally responsive and responsible teachers has never been greater.
The info-graphic below is my attempt to demonstrate this infographically.
