Why Are Schools Holding Technology Hostage?

A few weeks ago, at the family dinner table, the subject of Standing Rock and the Dakota Access Pipeline came up in conversation. My oldest daughter hadn't heard about the protests or the militarized police presence or the proposed oil pipeline. As I stumbled over the scant details I had picked up from the internet, she finally asked, pulling her phone from her pocket, "Can I just Google it?"

I almost told her no. We have a strict No-Phones-at-the-Dinner-Table rule. Crazy me, I like actually interacting with my family members without having to compete with electronic devices for their attention. But instead of complaining about real-world zombies glued to screens and controlled by electronic leashes, I gave her the green light.

Within a few short minutes, she was up to speed, able to offer relatively informed input, actively engaged in a conversation, that just a few minutes before, she hadn't been able to follow. That quick Google search for background on the Standing Rock protests led to more questions, though.

"What's an 'easement'?"

"What does the Army Corps of Engineers do?"

"What is the 1851 Treaty of Fort Laramie?"

Instead of having to deal with my awkward (and only marginally informed) answers, my kids had answers within just a few short seconds. Those electronic devices, that so often seem nothing more than a distraction from real life and meaningful human interaction, actually proved to be something else entirely. At that moment, at that dinner table, their phones were windows to real life events and tools that enhanced meaningful conversation.

Everyone walked away from the encounter having learned something. Even me. And I don't even own a phone.

Image Credits: Jon Fingas, Flickr

Meanwhile, I have a friend who is a high school teacher. She was recently complaining about how modern teens are glued to their phones, how they can't seem to function without them, how she has to collect them from her students at the beginning of class, hold their devices like hostages, and then pass them back out when class is over.

I understand the reasoning. Control is difficult to maintain in a classroom of 30 teenagers who really don't want to be there. Getting them to pay attention for a whole hour to a subject they probably care little about, while there are more interesting things just a click away, is a daunting task. And it's super important that they pay attention, because their standardized test scores (and therefore their entire futures) are at stake.

But this is the world we live in now, like it or not. We live in a world of constant connection and instant information. SmartPhones are here to stay. For good.

And maybe it is for good. Used responsibly, those electronic devices provide opportunities for spontaneous research and more thorough understanding. Not just through Google searches, either.

Mobile technology can facilitate collaboration on real-world projects with students on the other side of the planet.

SmartPhone features that help keep adults organized, like calendars, timers, alarms, and reminder apps will work for users under eighteen, too. These useful tools can help students coordinate sports and club activities and keep up with homework and project deadlines.

Online tools enable students to create spreadsheets, forms, slideshows, powerpoint presentations, videos, and word documents. These tools can even be used collaboratively with fellow students. These are the tools that many of them will be using on a daily basis once they are out in the work force. Integration in the classroom just makes sense.

As education budget cuts are limiting classroom technology updates, it seems more important than ever to utilize every technology resource available. Isolating students from their own electronic devices may be doing more harm than good.

Public school already crams children away in classrooms with their peers for hours each day, isolating them from real-world activities and interactions. Confiscating cell phones seems like just another way to isolate kids from real life experience and hinder them in developing real useful life skills.

By having students hand over their electronic devices upon entering the classroom, we are reinforcing the attitude that technology is nothing more than a distraction, when in reality, their phones and tablets can be very useful tools if used responsibly. We need to teach them to use them responsibly. The only way to do that is to have them actually use them, not isolate them or have them sneaking peeks in dark corners like guilty junkies trying not to get caught.

Technology isn't just a great way to waste time. Keeping students from their electronic technology, their own property, is a gross assumption that left to their own devices, students will not be responsible. Technology bans, whether schoolwide or in individual classrooms, prove a blatant lack of trust and rampant suspicion on the part of teachers and administrators. Have we forgotten that school students are human beings? Must they always be treated like criminals?

I get the fear my generation has as we watch the next one basking in the eternal glow of electronic screens, seemingly oblivious to the world around them, but we don't have to technology shame them.

They are natives in this new land of technological advances, even if it still feels foreign to us. Technology is their birthright. This is the new landscape, and like we've locked them behind wooden desks and cinderblock walls away from the real landscape outside, we are now actively isolating them from the cultural landscape. Depriving them of the most useful tools available, is only going to cripple them in the long run. Education is supposed to prepare human beings to function in the adult world, to be productive and well-rounded individuals. An education that neglects the necessary skills for successfully navigating the social landscape isn't much of an education at all. We have to allow them learn to utilize the tools of their culture.

Or we can choose option B and continue to rage against the machines, continuing with education policies that limit and prohibit and postpone encounters with the tools of the future. We could continue to put all of our effort into authoritarian approaches of force and coercion, instead putting it into building responsible, technologically fluent citizens.

I'd like to think we would choose option A. But I've never been very good at multiple choice tests.

Hang Up And Dine

Saturday night I had the rare privilege of an evening off from work. It was prom night and I had taken the night off to help ensure my daughter's hair was properly coiffed and her make-up appropriately applied and pictures were snapped in fitting abundance. After the flowers were pinned, photos uploaded, and the smiling couple were off to dinner, I found myself completely free of obligations... and the night was still young.

How does a forty-something mother of four party it up on a Saturday night? She straps on heels and heads to Chili's with her hubby for their 2-for-$20 dinner special. This mama knows how to get her hootenanny on!

We were seated rather quickly in spite of our lack of reservations (but it's Chili's for Chrissake... do they even take reservations? It's more like a dining assembly line than an actual restaurant), right behind an obviously prom-going young couple. The fake jewels, gaudy up-do, and cummerbund gave them away.

They looked sharp, too. The guy had gone all out. He even had spats!

The girl had put some extra effort in, too. She had mastered the winged eyeliner and was rocking some fake lashes.

They had obviously gone the extra mile to make it a night to remember!

Only the two of them never looked up from their phones.

Through the appetizer, and the main course, and dessert they honestly spoke fewer than a dozen actual words to one another. Their fingers swiped and scrolled and texted through the entire meal as they nibbled fries and slouched in their seats. I wonder if they even looked at their food (although chances are good that they had snapped some pictures of their meal for Instagram). They seemed completely unaware of their surroundings, hunched like Igor over their screens, as if their phones were some macabre unrelenting appendage.

I thought, "Please, please don't let my daughter be doing this right now."

It made me feel so incredibly sad. Sad that this beautiful young couple's entire night would probably be viewed filtered through the screens of their smartphones. I wanted to scream at them, "Look up from your stupid phone for just a minute! There is a real, breathing, beautiful person sitting right in front of you, someone you should be talking with and laughing with, someone that might actually look into your eyes if they could just look up from their own damned phone!"

Photo credit: Gerd Altmann

If they could disconnect for just a minute, they might actually be able to really connect with the person sitting across the table. Because here's a news flash: There is no one inside that phone. It's empty. There's nothing there, and if that's the only interaction they ever have, they're going to be left empty, too.

When the waitress brought their bill, the guy asked if she would snap a picture with his phone. In spite of the crowd of conveyor belt diners the frazzled server had waiting for her attention, she agreed. (The flash would surely have irritated other diners if they hadn't also been glued to their phones.) I was surprised that the prom couple was able to focus attention on someone else for just a few short moments... but the waitress did have a phone in her hand... and it occurred to me that even as they gazed up from their electronic devices, their attention was still focused on ... well, another electronic device.

As the waitress walked away with what was probably a pretty shitty tip (I've worked prom night. I know how terrible high school students tip) the lovely couple that had been so lively and aware for their photo shoot, drooped back down in their seats and were once again captivated by their screens. They were no doubt posting pictures to their various social media accounts so all of their friends could see what a magnificent time they were having.

Which made me wonder what they will remember about prom night twenty years from now. When they look back at all of those pictures of their smiling faces, what will they think? Will they remember what a good time they had or will they only remember the pictures they posted? Will they have any actual memories outside of the false ones that were captured in digital pictures? Will they remember their status updates and Snapchats and text conversations? Will there be any real memories or just the fabricated electronic ones?

I hope beyond hoping that that young couple eventually made it to prom and that they were able to put down their phones for at least a few minutes. I hope that they danced until they were sweaty and breathless and the girl's eyelashes fell askew. I hope they laughed, not at something funny someone posted online, but because someone started a ridiculous conga line, where hands touched real people, skin on skin, and not just images of people on an electronic touch screen.

I hope they made eye contact and savored the taste of too-sweet prom punch. I hope she smelled the flowers on her wrist and her date's overly abundant aftershave. I hope they paused at least long enough to feel the music thrum through their bodies until they just couldn't sit still anymore.

And I hope they kissed. I hope for just one night they found themselves alive, vibrantly beautifully breathlessly alive. I hope they made real memories... the kind that linger in your mind and on your skin for years. The kind that aren't just trapped in social media profiles. The kind that aren't lies for a constructed image, but the kind that leave feelings, feelings that will stay with you even if you live long enough that your brain becomes addled with old age.

I hope, for the love of God, that they just put down their fucking phones.

A Public Apology To Smartphone Users

I've written before about all of the benefits of not having a cellphone. I've casually acknowledged how irritated my friends get when they aren't able to reach me immediately with something super important (like the latest funny cat video or pictures of what they ate for lunch). I realize that by not having a cellphone myself, I have made their lives drastically more difficult. Sorry guys!

While I have been quick to point out the many perks of NOT having a smart phone, I now realize that I haven't adequately acknowledged how very demanding life with a smart phone can be. I tip my hat to you smart phone users. I've been walking around boasting about the facility of my cellphone-free lifestyle without completely understanding all of the hard work you guys put in on a daily basis.

For instance, I woke up yesterday, stretched, and groaned about needing coffee. Then just threw back the covers and staggered toward the kitchen for caffeine.

I didn't have to jump up, fix my hair, apply uber-natural looking make-up (just enough to hide the dark circles under my eyes and maybe highlight my naturally high cheekbones), then strategically tousle my hair to make it look rumpled yet groomed, then practice my sultry freshly-wakened look in the mirror. I didn't then climb back into bed and snap several pictures from different angles in an attempt to capture the perfect "look how sexy I am in the morning" selfie. I didn't realize just how much easier waking up is for me.

Also, when I realized there was no coffee in the house, I just grabbed the keys, cruised through town obeying traffic laws, and bought a steaming fresh cup for myself. I was completely ready with my order when it was my turn. Then I simply consumed it while it was still piping hot (sigh).

I didn't have to tweet or text my no coffee horror to the masses. I didn't have to rip myself away from all of the "likes" and replies that came streaming in while I was attempting to drive (or try to answer them while swerving dangerously through traffic and almost mowing down innocent pedestrians). I didn't have to fumble away from the screen of my phone when I reached the front of the line. The barista was not angry with me for barely acknowledging her existence. I didn't have to capture a picture of my coffee with my camera phone, angling the light just right to pick up the spiraling steam and then post the picture to Instagram, Facebook, and Snap chat all while my coffee cooled to room temperature before finally getting a chance to taste it. I concede that purchasing coffee is much more of an ordeal for you.

When I went for a walk outside yesterday, I was able to notice traffic and safely yield while crossing the street. I was even aware of my surroundings. I saw a falcon swoop through the trees in an attempt to capture an unsuspecting squirrel (I was secretly rooting for the squirrel). I smiled at the elderly gentleman who passed me on the sidewalk, and waved at my neighbors who were working in their yards.

I didn't have to check the hour-by-hour weather forecast before venturing into the world outside my home. I didn't have to wander out into traffic because I was following a long line of celebrity tweets or answering my BFF's text messages about nothing, risking my life or causing automobile accidents. I didn't have to miss cool acts of nature because I was frantically trying to capture them on video for my YouTube channel.  I didn't almost knock over the elderly gentleman coming up the sidewalk, causing him to break a hip and probably file a civil lawsuit against me to cover his enormous medical bills. I didn't miss out on bonding with my neighbors and forming a closer-knit community (Or the guilt-induced motivation to mow my lawn and trim the bushes). Taking a walk for you smartphone users is much, much more complicated than simply putting one foot in front of the other

When I ate dinner with my family, we actually had real conversations, the kind with spoken words instead of texts and actual eye contact. I also ate my meal while it was fresh and warm and delicious.

I didn't have to check online restaurant reviews before making decisions about where we would eat. I didn't have to update my location on social media so everyone would be aware of my restaurant choice. I didn't have to limit my communication with my family to 120 characters or text speak and emoticons. I didn't have to worry about misinterpretations due to lack of verbal inflection and body language. I didn't have to take pictures of every single course, slowing down the natural pace of our meal, or have to convince a very busy waitress to please take a photo of our whole group so we could immortalize the occasion of a typical family dinner... or convince her that she should take another one because the first one was blurry... or convince her to take another one because I had my eyes closed... or convince her take another one because the angle was kind of funny and made me look fat.

And when we sat down to watch my favorite television show (The Walking Dead. Hooray!), I just sat and watched it, enjoying the shared moment with my family. And popcorn!

I didn't have to update statuses with my emotional shock of each scene or follow social media play-by-play. I didn't have to keep up with a text conversation with my friends as we discussed the convoluted plot twists while trying not to miss anything that was actually happening on-screen. I didn't have to rush through Candy Crush levels during short commercial breaks. What an ordeal all of that must be.

So, I'm sorry.

I wasn't aware of how utterly taxing it is to be tied to a smart phone. So I'm issuing this formal apology to all of my friends, family, and acquaintances. I wasn't aware of the extra work and commitment that goes into what, for me, are incredibly easy tasks. My insensitivity to your plight is inexcusable. In the future I will make every effort to understand the hardships and frustration you must face everyday.

I'm sorry. I promise to try to  be more accommodating and  hospitable. I just didn't understand everything you were going through.

Y'all probably deserve a special parking space or something...

8 Perks To Not Having A Cell Phone

I don't have a cell phone.  Not because they are expensive or I can't afford one or anything like that.

I'm a conscientious objector.

Even though it drives my friends and family and co-workers bonkers because I can't always be easily reached or respond to messages in 2.8 seconds or instantly post pictures of what I ate for lunch (a chicken salad sandwich... in case you were wondering), I still refuse to have one.

I've had plenty of people try to convince me of the perks of getting a cell phone (usually my teen-aged children or my co-workers when they need someone to cover their shift).  I've heard the lists proclaiming the glories and conveniences that I'm missing out on (snap chat, for instance... How am I living my life under such Third World conditions?). And I've met with the shock and disbelief of others when they realize I'm not constantly connected to the entire world (It is a viable option, people).

So I've compiled a list.  A list of perks that you may not have considered in most of your cell phone captive lives. Here are the top benefits to NOT having a cell phone.

1. Actual verbal conversations.  If you need to contact me, I have a land line.  No texting options available. I know this sounds like absolute horror for anyone under the age of twenty-one, but actual verbal conversations are my preferred method of communication.  It means you get to hear my exasperation when you call me to volunteer for something I think is a waste of time.  It means you will hear my annoyance when you call to ask if I can work for you on the day I asked off over two months ago because I had something super important planned.  (I hope you feel guilty.  I really do.)  It also means you can hear excitement and gratitude and sincerity and sarcasm (Okay.  Maybe not sarcasm... at least not if I'm doing it right.)  Think of how many misunderstandings and hurt feelings could be avoided by simply hearing tone of voice and inflection.  Texting conveys none of the nuance of meaning and emotion and intent that spoken conversation possesses.  It's really wonderful.  You should try it sometime.

2. Face-to-face interactions.  My attention is not constantly focused on a tiny electronic screen.  This means my attention is freed up for connection with other people. I can share very real moments with my husband, my children, my friends, my co-workers... even the chick behind the counter who is about to totally screw up my order.  We can look each other in the eye when we speak to each other.  We can hear each other laugh or cry, or ask for extra ketchup.  We can share space and thought and consideration all at the same time... at least if I can get them to look up from their tiny electric screens.

3. More free time.  79% of smartphone users have their phones with them 22 hours each day.  Eighty percent of smartphone users check their phones within fifteen minutes of waking up. ( I got these stats here.)  The majority of cell phone users are tied to their devices like electronic leashes.  With that kind of constant connectivity, there's never a dull moment.  There's always a text to answer or a cat meme to laugh at or weather to check or candy to crush.  With constant passive entertainment or distraction, there is no time to be bored, or be alone with our thoughts.  With every moment of our lives filled, there is no time for daydreaming, mind-wandering, beautiful silences.  No time to contemplate the universe or our insignificance in it. But without an attachment to a phone and constant access to a never-ending stream of information and games and Youtube videos, I have more time for contemplating the universe or my insignificance in it.  More time to be truly free and creative.  Even more time to just simply contemplate what's for dinner (although there's an app for that, too)

4. The ability to be in the moment.  Without instant access to camera phones and video recorders and snap chat and Instagram, I'm never tempted to document every moment of my life.  I can see a vibrant sunset, and instead of trying to find the best angle from which to capture the image and then upload it for all of my internet buddies to tell me how beautiful it is, I can just see it.  I can sit in the moment and just soak it up for all it's worth.  And it's worth isn't determined by how many likes the photo gets on Facebook.  The same is true for delicious meals I've eaten and landmarks I've visited and wacky horribly dressed awkward people I've spotted at Wal-mart.  I'm free to enjoy them for the simple value of their being, rather than feeling the need to pimp my every waking moment out to the entire free world.

5. Not being physically tracked.  When you have your cell phone turned on, it registers it's location periodically with local cell towers... whether you're using it or not.  And government officials and local police have access to this information, without your permission, and without a warrant.  It might seem trivial, and I might be channeling my inner conspiracy theorist, but I don't really want the government, or anyone else for that matter, knowing my every move.  Even though my life is pretty boring by most standards,... I frequent the public library, and spend way too much time at Wal-mart, and go to the gym... oh, and I walk the dog around the neighborhood... it's still the principle of the matter.  There are rights to privacy (You know?  That pesky little Fourth Amendment?) that I and many other Americans hold dear that are being violated in ways that must have our forefathers spinning in their graves.  I'm sure I'm probably being tracked via satellite or drones or FBI spies, but I like to think I'm making it a little bit harder on them by not carrying a cell phone.

6. Sticking it to the NSA! The National Security Agency  has access to all of your cell phone conversations, even the one where your mother nagged you about actually doing something with your life, and the one where your cousin asked to borrow money even though he hasn't paid you back from last time.  Every single day, the American government hijacks and stores nearly two billion cell calls and text messages and emails. Call me crazy, but I'm not participating in this twisted dystopian excerpt from 1984 (although that was a good year).  No the NSA will have to get their jollies off of my landline conversations...where they can still hear my mother nag and my cousin beg for money.

7. Avoiding possible cancer risk.  While the experts can't seem to make up their minds about whether cell phone use actually increases cancer risk or not, (the argument has gone back and forth like an out-of-control see saw and dueling scientists think it may take decades to sort out), I'll err on the side of caution.  Besides I spend enough of my day exposed to other forms of cancer-causing nonsense that I can't as easily control.

8. Peace of Mind. You know that gut-wrenching panicky feeling you get when you've lost your phone, or dropped your phone, or spilled something on your phone?  Yeah... I don't have that.

So while you are over there reading this blog post on your smart phone... I'll just be over here enjoying my sunset and my chicken salad sandwich... both of which you'll never get to see.