I watched on interesting report on a local news station's
web site recently. (That's right, I do watch television
and surf the web.) The story, on Minneapolis-St.
Paul's KARE 11 news, followed an informal experiment at
a Boys and Girls Club. The researchers - a supervisor at
the youth center and the reporter who filed the report -
attempted the impossible: convincing five teens to give
up their cell phones, texting, e-mail, instant messaging,
and social networking sites…for a whole week.
Here's what some of the kids had to say in the midst of
their media-less week:
"I get to interact in a way I haven't interacted in
a while."
"I feel like a just got a chunk ripped out of me."
"I kind of miss the feeling in my pocket."
"I almost missed my bus."
"I've done a lot more, finished a lot more games with
the kids than when I had my phone because I wasn't always
texting."
"I'm keeping myself busy so I don't think about it."
At the end of the week, the teens all agree that the experience
has been valuable. One boy joins a soccer team to stay busy.
Another starts drawing again. But when the phones are given
back, the look pretty relieved and all begin distractedly
texting and checking their voicemail.
In my experience, that's young people's relationship with
media technology in a nutshell: they know how distracting
it can be, but if they have access to it, they can't help
themselves.
And it's not just kids. California recently joined seven
other states banning texting while driving, just days after
a fatal train accident that may have involved an engineer
who was texting while driving the train. The UK's Transport
Research Laboratory found that driving while using a cell
phone is more dangerous than driving under the influence
of alcohol. As adults, we know it's unwise to text in the
car, but it seems that too many of us just can't help it.
Perhaps the dangers posed by cell phones are greater for
kids though. Research presented at the Annual Meeting of
the Associated Professional Sleep Societies found that "teenagers
who excessively use their cell phone are more prone to disrupted
sleep, restlessness, stress, and fatigue." Studies
from the Pew Research found that texting seems to have an
adverse effect on kids' writing skills and that most kids
prefer texting to face-to-face communication. Swiss researcher
Hans Geser has found that pre-teen mobile phone use seems
to have a big impact on behaviors and attitudes, so much
so that these children "consider it as an essential
part of their style of life."
Our kids will need many communication skills for success
in the 21st century, both in school, on the job, and in
life. Cell phones are wonderful tools, but kids also need
verbal communication skills wired into their brains. It's
our job as adults to make sure that our kids have the range
of experiences that will wire their brains for success in
the 21st century, so they can have success, not just for
a week, but for a lifetime.
David Walsh, Ph.D. is the founder of the
MediaWise Movement, a program of the National Institute
on Media and the Family (www.mediawise.org).
His latest book, No: Why Kids - of All Ages - Need to
Hear It and Ways Parents Can Say It (Free Press) is
available in bookstores.
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