For This Day Vol. 5, Issue 1

FOR THIS DAY

Volume 5 Issue 1

FOR THIS DAY Why We Have a Cell Phone Policy by Jon R. Jordan

Our cell phone policy has been in place for several years. My biggest recommendation to every family in our school, regardless of what the policy allows, is that you talk to your student about leaving their phone and smart watch at home, at the front desk, or in their cars on school days.

I recommend this because of a growing recognition in Christian, Scientific, and Psychological circles that our current habits of cell phone use are causing more harm than we realize. (See this article or this book by Tony Reinke, this article about the intentionally-addictive nature of social media apps, or just about anything written by MIT’s Sherry Turkle.)

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These photos, from Eric Pickersgill’s haunting Removed series, highlight the attention we pay to our phones. See the entire series here: ericpickersgill.com/ Removed

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FOR THIS DAY

Volume 5 Issue 1

You may be wondering But what about emergencies?

First, our policy allows students to ask the office staff for permission to check their own phones or to use ours for important information. This happens every day, and we are happy to accommodate.

Second, while I understand this question, let me assure you that phones are not being used by our students primarily for emergencies.

While many of our students do not use their phones throughout the day, plenty do. They are sending pictures to each other of themselves, one another, and their assignments during class.

They are creating anonymous social media accounts for seemingly harmless “fun” that often result in real, not-so-fun tears in my office. They are digitally mocking their teachers and fellow students behind their backs. They are playing games, or watching videos of other people playing games. They are checking the number of followers they have recently gained, or the number of digital affirmations they have recently received from strangers and friends.

Removed, Eric Pickersgill.

Or they are texting you. Or they are texting a friend about an upcoming exam.

Or they are doing something otherwise good, but not appropriate in the context of a classroom.

“I too was given a cell phone without ever learning how to use the phone without letting it control me.”

I know these things because our students are very open about the fact that they are doing them. They rarely hide what they are doing. When confronted, they generally admit to what they did. Many times, they don’t even acknowledge that what they are doing is wrong. This should not be surprising if we think about how early many of them started using smart phones. Like them, I too was given a cell phone (and then eventually a smart phone) without ever learning how to use the phone without letting it control me. Commercial movie theaters will not allow most of our students to purchase a Rated-R movie ticket, yet they have 24/7 access to a world of information in their pockets, or now, on their wrists.

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FOR THIS DAY

Volume 5 Issue 1

I want students and parents to realize something significant here: the cell-phone behavior that I see in our students, and even in myself at times, is honestly best described as an addiction, or at least as an impulsive behavior.

Below are a few highlights from a recent review of available scientific data, published in Frontiers in Psychiatry in October of 2016. Each numerical citation references one or more recent studies.

According to the review, “the cell phone enables behavioral problems and disorders, particularly in adolescents," including:

• New pathologies related to cell phone use, such as “Nomophobia” (No-Mobile-Phobia), “FOMO” (Fear Of Missing Out) – the fear of being without a cell phone, disconnected or off the Internet, “Textaphrenia” and “Ringxiety” – the false sensation of having received a text message or call that leads to constantly checking the device, and “Textiety” – the anxiety of receiving and responding immediately to text messages (28).

• Physical and psychological problems have reportedly resulted from cell-phone abuse, including rigidity and muscle pain, ocular afflictions resulting from Computer Vision Syndrome reflected in fatigue, dryness, blurry vision, irritation, or ocular redness (41), and pain and weakness in the thumbs and wrists leading to an increased number of cases of de Quervain’s tenosynovitis (44).

• Problematic and conscious use in dangerous situations or prohibited contexts.

“If something in our school’s drinking water had similar effects on our student body, how would you respond?”

• Repeated physical, mental, social, work, or familial interruptions, preferring the cell phone to personal contact (52–54);

• Insomnia and sleep disturbances (55, 56).

• The need to be connected, feelings of irritability or of being lost if separated from the phone or of sending and viewing messages with feelings of unease when unable to use it (54, 59–61).

• Anxiety and loneliness when unable to send a message or receive an immediate response (62); stress and changes in mood due to the need to respond immediately to messages (55, 63).

You can read the full review here: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5076301/

With that list fresh in your mind, think about this:

If something in our school’s drinking water had similar effects on our student body, how would you respond? I don’t think many of us would remain silent or look the other way.

Coram Deo Academy

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FOR THIS DAY

Volume 5 Issue 1

We are asking you to partner with us in making Coram Deo a place of rest from the constant barrage of information our “smart” phones provide. Talk to your students about their cell phone use, and then keep talking to them.

Here are some questions you can ask to get the conversation started:

How long do you think you could go without your phone?

What apps would be hardest for you to delete? Why? In an ideal world, do you spend as much time on your phone as you do now?

How confident are you in your ability to have face-to-face conversations?

If you are anything like me, this might also mean that you need to do the difficult work of evaluating your own cell phone use to see what you are modeling to your child.

Some of our teachers may start collecting phones at the beginning of each class. Others may require them to be turned off and in backpacks before class begins. All of us will be less lenient on collecting phones when they are being used at inappropriate times. We are doing so because we see first-hand the damage that they can cause. We ask for your continued support in this area as we seek to train ethical servant leaders and wise thinkers who will shape culture for the glory of God.

________________ Moms in Prayer - meets Mondays and Tuesdays after drop-off M/W Contact: Leah Clark T/TH Contact: Michelle Collins P2P - mentoring new families Contact: Jacque Younger Straight Talk - for families of grades 5th to 12th Contact: Donna Rector Idea Exchange - for families of grades Pre-K t0 4th Contact: Jacque Younger Please check the CDA calendar and upcoming emails for additional information on these resources and events.

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