Our Wired Children

In the post "Forget Screen Time - Lean In To Parenting Your Wired Child" Jordan Shapiro "came to realize that part of his job as a parent was to help his children make sense of their online experiences and teach them how to uphold enduring values in the new world they are living in."

Teachers are doing this every day.  Rather than fight the losing battle of "no cell phones" in class, many teachers I work with use instructional strategies that encourage students to access Google, YouTube, online texts, or interactive lessons and quiz sites through their phones.  They encourage learners to use the device glued to the end of their arms as a tool for learning as well as for entertainment and social interaction.

Now, do all students have access to smartphones that allow them to use these tools?  How can we educators ensure equitable access?  That's another topic for another day!

Back in the day, we used to pass notes in class hand to hand.  Now students text each other, faces focused on the screen.  Back in the day we stood around in groups and chat, now they follow each other on Instagram and Twitter.  Facebook?  More for the older generation, like me at this point!

A while back (three years ago!) I wrote a post about teaching active learners, those digital natives who were entering our classrooms at a rapid rate.   I wondered what a future world - a world without face-to-face, interpersonal communication would be like.  If you've never watched Wall-E, check it out for it's spot-on social commentary.  

I think a main call to action from Shapiro's post is to encourage adults to model effective communication whether it is face-to-face or through a device, and to teach young people how to learn and interact in an online world with a sense of their own personal integrity.  How are we helping them apply the morals and values we are trying to instill in them to what they see, hear and read online?

We have a responsibility to help our kids become critical users and producers of online content.

  

If our own kids and our own students are able to view a YouTube video or Instragram post through the lens of "who paid for it, and what are they trying to sell me?", then we are well on our way to helping them develop those critical thinking skills we keep saying they need. When they are the ones posting original content, is it representative of their learning or their values?  I love to think that it is!

Go Outside and PLAY!

I was driving down the street on my way home tonight and I paused to watch some neighborhood kids as they were playing a game.  They were running and shouting, making quite a ruckus, and it was AWESOME!

The article "Why Free Play is the Best Summer School" challenges adults to give children the freedom to play.  

Consider this quote: "Unscheduled, unsupervised, playtime is one of the most valuable educational opportunities we give our children. It is fertile ground; the place where children strengthen social bonds, build emotional maturity, develop cognitive skills, and shore up their physical health."

Do you know kids in your neighborhood that have unscheduled, unsupervised playtime?

When I was a kid I couldn't wait until summer because we had free time every day.  My mom and grandma used to tell us to go outside and play, and we did!

We rode our bikes and raided the clothespin bag and stuck playing cards in the spokes to pretend that they were motorcycles.  We ran screaming "Red Alert" through the backyard chased by an imaginary rabid dog all the way to the swingset and climbed up to the top.  We climbed trees and made forts.  

We played outside in the dark with flashlights.  We had fashion shows with dress up clothes, acted in plays with scripts we improvised and lip-synched to our favorite groups on LPs.  We baked cookies and made our own lunches.  We decided what we wanted to do and we did it.

 When the weather was bad we watched reruns on TV or daytime dramas ("stories" as my grandma called them).  Even then we made up our own game - the "Commercial Game" where we competed to see who could call out the name of the advertised product before they said it or displayed the name.

I worry about today's generation of kids who are missing out on unstructured play time because they are scheduled within an inch of their lives.  Play dates carefully monitored with plenty of hand sanitizer to pass around, store-bought individual snacks, and parents stepping in to ensure that toys are shared and turns are taken seem to be the norm.

Are we doing a disservice to children when we set up their summer schedules and supervise their every movement?  I think so.  Classrooms are filled with students who have trouble monitoring their own behavior, with students who have trouble prioritizing and problem-solving, who can't handle small setbacks and disappointments because their parents - no doubt with good intentions -  have sheltered them from having to do this for themselves.  It's only natural that we don't want our children to get hurt or be disappointed, but I think we serve them better when we give them the space they need to exercise their creativity and let them be in charge of themselves.

This summer, let's tell kids to go outside and play!