TEXARKANA MAGAZINE
learning how to cope with challenges, build resilience, and basic executive functions. “Experience, not information, is the key to emotional development.” —The Anxious Generation Arkansas and Texas became just a handful of states to pass legislation that limits the use of smartphones during school hours. It is a bold policy decision that will now afford us a front-row seat to putting Haidt’s claims to the test and truly witnessing the impact phones have had on our most vulnerable. Haidt is careful to distinguish between the use of phones as a tool and the use as a virtual social world replacement. “The phone-based life makes it difficult for people to be fully present with others when they are with others, and to sit silently with themselves when they are alone.” —The Anxious Generation Imagine a cafeteria where teens are having authentic conversations with their classmates and not being distractedly pulled away into a curated virtual world. “Synchronous, face-to-face, physical interactions and rituals are a deep, ancient, and underappreciated part of human evolution.” —The Anxious Generation While there are many other facets to the execution of this new legislation, Haidt believes that this is the right step in truly protecting our children and righting the mental health crisis that has plagued generations since the advent of the smartphone. Together, as a society and local community, we have the opportunity to rise up and support our local school officials as they execute a new norm for our brightest and most vulnerable souls. “There is a hole, an emptiness in us all, that we strive to fill. If it doesn’t get filled with something noble and elevated, modern society will quickly pump it full of garbage. That has been true since the beginning of the age of mass media, but the garbage pump got 100 times more powerful in the 2010s. It matters what we expose ourselves to.” —The Anxious Generation
While the results vary from boys to girls, the danger exists in both. By and large, there is more depression and anxiety among girls, while boys are facing issues like ADHD, addiction, and behavioral difficulties. Haidt proposes four new norms to help rewire childhood. 1. No smartphones before high school. Parents should delay children’s entry into round-the-clock internet access by giving only basic phones (phones with limited apps and no internet browser) before ninth grade (roughly age 14). Let kids get through the most vulnerable period of brain development before connecting them to a firehose of social comparison and algorithmically chosen influencers. 2. No social media before age 16. In all schools from elementary through high school, students should store their phones, smartwatches, and any other personal devices that can send or receive texts in phone lockers or locked pouches during the school day to free up their attention. free play, and responsibility in the real world. “That’s the way children naturally develop social skills, overcome anxiety, and become self-governing adults.” —The Anxious Generation 3. Phone-free schools. 4. More independence,
For decades, Haidt, a social psychologist, dedicated his work to researching and exploring every facet of the mental health crisis among teens. Haidt argues that the widespread adoption of smartphones, especially among children and adolescents, has fundamentally altered the healthy growth of children. Smartphones have replaced key developmental experiences like the play-based, imagination- rich childhood of times gone by, fueling an epidemic of anxiety, depression and social dysfunction. Haidt does not believe this to be merely a blip in the timeline, but a mental restructuring of the next generation. “Gen Z became the first generation in history to go through puberty with a portal in their pockets that called them away from the people nearby and into an alternate universe that was exciting, addictive, unstable and, as I will show, unsuitable for adolescents.” —The Anxious Generation Prior to 2010, most children spent large portions of their time outdoors, playing with their neighbors, walking to the convenience store, riding bikes, or playing a game of baseball. This type of interaction for kids teaches them conflict resolution, how to develop independence and learning through experience, which
are all key factors in healthy psychological development. When we replace these basic human developmental opportunities with a smart phone, we rob our children of
See details about the new Cell Phone Ban in Schools laws passed by Arkansas and Texas legislators on page 32.
30
COMMUNITY & CULTURE
Made with FlippingBook - Online catalogs