3 minute read
Embracing Change (The Glen, Fall 2024)
from The Glen, Fall 2024
by Bayview Glen
Change is scary Especially when you get a letter from your Division Head at the end of June stating that when you get back to school in the fall, there will be no devices permitted on campus That means no smartphones, no AirPods and no smartwatches That is exactly what Upper School students had to deal with when they returned to school in September.
In our first assembly, I spoke about why we made this decision. No, it wasn’t to punish or torture. We now have undeniable data that links device use to poorer mental, social, and academic outcomes I spoke about how in the 1970s, cigarette companies were granted access to high schools and handed out sample packs of cigarettes The thinking was that if brands could get young people addicted early, they would have customers for life The students reacted with gasps of shock that an educational institution would allow something like this to happen But cigarettes cause cancer! They must have known how bad it was for people.
This, I shared with the Upper School students, is what we now know about young people having unrestricted access to social media This is today’s cigarette battle.
That said, we also know that it isn’t an easy transition to not having devices, so the school brought in Jake Ernst, the Clinical Director at Straight Up Health! in Toronto to speak with students and their families about this important change. Jake specializes in youth mental health and supports families with all of the struggles they may confront during the years of adolescence.
Ernst presented to our Grades 10-12 students and 7-9 students – focussing his talk on the acronym MESH – Mental, Emotional, and Social Health Ernst shared important information about the different pro-social ways we can use technology to connect (that’s the good stuff), and the more anti-social and isolated ways that technology is used (which can often lead to poor mental and social health outcomes) Students shared what they wished the adults in their lives knew about them, and participated in a dialogue about the role technology plays in their lives.
Tech is not bad However, the dangers are real if we don’t discuss and understand how/when/why we are using technology We want to build healthy, balanced brains, and giving our young people the information they need to make informed choices about their technology is a big part of that Ernst spoke of the number one issue he sees at his practice working with youth What is it? Young people today don’t know what’s real or fake The fallout of the inability to rectify fiction from reality is wreaking havoc on youth mental health These are issues young people need to think about and discuss.
It’s not all grim though Students walked away from these sessions having a better understanding of why they feel certain things when they get trapped in an algorithm for too long and were empowered with strategies to disconnect and take charge of their technology usage. They now know that they can own their attention spans, and this will likely be the key to a healthier and happier life.
We see the positive impacts in the hallways now that we are over a month into this new device free policy Students are reporting greater focus, that they are getting more work done, and that the energy is calmer In short, it’s working.
