You may have heard a lot of talk in the media, and social media, in recent times, about the “millennial question”. These young people in the workplace who apparently have an outlandish sense of entitlement, are narcissistic, lazy and hard to manage. (See this interview with Simon Sinek which “nearly broke the internet” regarding this very topic). While this interview makes some fair points and observations (as well as some very broad generalisations), what we really need to be concerning ourselves with is the wave of young people coming into our school who follow on from this generation… the “post-millenials”. One researcher (Jean M. Twenge) has dubbed this group: iGen. “I call them iGen. Born between 1995 and 2012, members of this generation are growing up with smartphones, have an Instagram account before they start high school, and do not remember a time before the internet. The Millennials grew up with the web as well, but it wasn’t ever-present in their lives, at hand at all times, day and night. iGen’s oldest members were early adolescents when the iPhone was introduced, in 2007.” Teenagers these days spend their time vastly differently to those even 10 years ago. The arrival of the smartphone has drastically changed every aspect of their lives; from the way they interact with others, to their personal mental health. We know this. We see it in our classrooms on a daily basis. We discuss it in the staffroom. This is more than just a decrease in attention spans (you’ve probably heard of devices being called ‘weapons of mass distraction’!). The impact of the smartphone, in particular, on young people’s mental health and ability to maintain and develop sound, meaningful and positive relationships, is abundantly clear. Research, like the one I am quoting in this post, is now emerging of the strong correlation between smartphone use (mostly in order to access social media) and sleep disorders, depression and anxiety, and other mental health issues. The scary thing about this wicked problem, is that like the “black death” of 1347-1351, it does not discriminate between rich and poor, ethnic background, urban or rural… “Where there are cell towers, there are teens living their lives on their smartphone.” On one hand, having a ‘smartphone’ in our pockets has had an amazing effect on our ability to connect with others and to connect with seemingly unlimited knowledge sources. The advent of social media has afforded us the ability to connect with our friends and family all around the world. It enables us to seek out and establish new relationships, to make professional and personal connections and form networked online communities with like-minded people. But on the other hand, while these phones of ours may be ‘smart’, it is becoming increasingly apparent that we need to support our young people, and each other, in how to be smart with our use of these devices if we want to be happy. “It’s not an exaggeration to describe iGen as being on the brink of the worst mental-health crisis in decades...There is compelling evidence that the devices we’ve placed in young people’s hands are having profound effects on their lives—and making them seriously unhappy.” The future has arrived. Not only have we caught up with it, but now it is overtaking us. The uses we envisage for the technology we create are only limited by our own imaginations. The nature of the time we live in, and the exponential advances we’re making in technology, mean that even as we design a tool for a specific purpose, it is already being used by others for things we never even dreamt of. This does not mean we should ban phones or social media because we did not forsee the harm they could cause. Just as we should not ban motor vehicles because people can be harmed by them. We need to provide ‘seatbelts’ or put safety measures, like a road code, into place so that we can all enjoy the positive benefits of our advances in technology and limit the negatives. “...recent research suggests that screen time, in particular social-media use, does indeed cause unhappiness… Teens who visit social-networking sites every day but see their friends in person less frequently are the most likely to agree with the statements “A lot of times I feel lonely,” “I often feel left out of things,” and “I often wish I had more good friends.” Social media use is a reality of our times. It’s here to stay. Many teachers and coaches use Facebook groups to organise groups they run. Most adults I know use at least one form of social media. The ability to converse and function in an online world is just as important a skill to learn these days, as it is to do to in the physical world (anyone who has accidentally read the comments section in a Stuff ‘article’ knows this). Teaching and modelling to students how to converse, collaborate and include others in constructive online spaces, such as in the chat or comment sections of a google doc, or in google classroom, is just as important as teaching them how to work in groups in class. Our role as teachers is to help prepare students for their futures, not the future we were prepared for. They are part of a time period where world leaders tweet and use facebook - either positively, or with disastrous results. We must guide them regarding who to emulate. “Girls use social media more often, giving them additional opportunities to feel excluded and lonely when they see their friends or classmates getting together without them. Social media levy a psychic tax on the teen doing the posting as well, as she anxiously awaits the affirmation of comments and likes...girls are more likely to [harm others] by undermining a victim’s social status or relationships." Almost every serious incident I was involved in exploring last year included inappropriate use of social media as a major component. Girls inciting others to bully, girls “accidentally” including someone in a group where they say nasty things about her, girls pointedly “forgetting” to invite someone to a social event, girls “slut shaming” each other in chat groups and in public forums. "Social media give middle- and high-school girls a platform on which to carry out the style of aggression they favor, ostracizing and excluding other girls around the clock.” Supporting our students to get involved in as many co-curricular and extra-curricular activities as possible, will also help them to forge friendships outside of social media. Many of the girls I worked with last year regarding discipline issues were not involved in any such activities. Supporting our girls, and their parents, to establish a routine where phones are not in the bedroom when they go to sleep, or at least are not by their heads, would be a great start too. Many inciting comments and conversations in major incidents in 2017 at OGHS happened after 9.30pm on social media. Asking our children about how they days was not only at school but also online, will open up the opportunity for them to talk to us about anything they’re not happy with in that space. Lastly, encouraging students to think before they post, and to empathise with another’s situation, is going to be so important to them enjoying and moving forward in the world and workplace. Many employers state that they key skills they’re looking for in employees are the ability to work well with others, collaborate, and empathise with each other and their client base.
“Adolescence is a key time for developing social skills; as teens spend less time with their friends face-to-face, they have fewer opportunities to practice them. In the next decade, we may see more adults who know just the right emoji for a situation, but not the right facial expression.” ~Rowan Taigel
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June 2019
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