DCI: Too much focus on tablets/devices?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Kids are going to drink in college. Why don't we start them early on the theory that then they won't go crazy with it when they are on their own? Because their brains are developing and we want to give them a safe space to develop. Because there is no evidence (in fact to the contrary) that drinking in high school means less drinking risky in college.

Same with tech. On both scores.

Absolutely agree. There are of course benefits/advantages to tech that aren't true of alcohol, but your point is still valid because it is about moderation/strategic use, not "all use, all the time". And the whole part about the impacts of overuse of tech on still-developing brains hasn't been addressed by any of the "It's fine, it's ok, it's preparing them for a world where it's everywhere". Um, no, it's not if it's doing more damage than helping, or if it's teaching bad habits. The point made upthread about rich tech execs sending their kids to tech-free or low-tech schools is fascinating and revealing. I went to one of the best private elementary schools in the US and even then, they kept most of their instruction tools and processes much simpler than what was available at the time (it's a teaching college as well as Elementary and Middle school, and they have stuck largely with the same teaching philosophy for decades).

The fact that negative influences are in the world and yes, our kids will encounter them at some point is not a reason to just dive into constant exposure of one type that is good in moderation but increasingly looking bad for children in excess.

[Anonymous]

I won't be able to attend the information session. I hope any parents who attend would be willing to provide a summary of what the administration's response to some of these questions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Haynes is 1:1 too.

Any other schools? I'm not interested in sending my children to Haynes either.

St. John's Academy in Chevy Chase has been using this for the past 2 years.
Enrollment has gone up.

[Anonymous]

Just looked on their website which suggests school incorporates technology into some lessons but did not suggest they were a paperless school, using google classrooms. I don't know much about their program but it appears to use tech in moderation and in conjunction with a more traditional approach. Having the kids make spreadsheets seems reasonable. Any St John's parents who are reading this forum, please correct me if I am wrong!

[Anonymous]

Another DCI parent here. The use of the chromebooks in the classroom is not particularly excessive. The kids do science experiments using their hands, my DDs language class has a text book and some subjects (Math), is taught partially on paper. As a parent I have found a work-around for the reading - I just buy books, borrow from library or print. Homework online did not work for us as the G-chat invites would distract my child. But some kids swear they use G-chat to get assignment help from their friends. We made the decision to buy a printer and do HW offline, then type up the assignments with a parent (to monitor screen). Extra work but I think it definitely helps imprint the content into my DD's brain.

However, I worry that the school environment is too tech heavy. I was stunned when the administration told our kids at orientation that at break times they could use their cell phones, play games... The administration says it wants the kids to "choose" how to spend their time. My DD reports that many, many kids "choose" to be online, describing lunch tables with boys playing games and girls "liking" pictures on Instagram. The school insists that kids do choose offline activities and I do see DCI working to improve these options.

Another distraction is the easy access to games during class times. My DD does not have a problem with this but she talks about kids who get distracted by games and other kids who get distracted from kids who get distracted. In short, a huge distraction. My DD told me the other day, " We're not even supposed to be playing games during class so why have them?" Smart kid!

What I don't understand is why DCI feels so compelled to allow these distractions and why they allow screens during non-education times to kids who are getting so much screen-time already. And why would the school even want the liability?

I really want this school to succeed both for us and for the hundreds of families excited to have this MS/HS option. There is a growing group of current parents talking to the administration, trying to persuade them that reducing the tech times to classrooms only will improve the school. I encourage prospective parents to raise these issues tonight and going forward.

[Anonymous]

Glad to hear homework can be done off line. Do they insist that homework must be typed? I would want (at least in 6th and 7th) grade for DC to write out assignments. Also, why not have some more traditional classes to reduce the amount of time the kids are working on their Chromebooks?

As for letting 6th graders "choose" how to spend their breaks is one of the craziest ideas I have heard and goes against every recommendation of how kids should use the internet. Such poor judgement just makes me question the administrators who are running the school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Another DCI parent here. The use of the chromebooks in the classroom is not particularly excessive. The kids do science experiments using their hands, my DDs language class has a text book and some subjects (Math), is taught partially on paper. As a parent I have found a work-around for the reading - I just buy books, borrow from library or print. Homework online did not work for us as the G-chat invites would distract my child. But some kids swear they use G-chat to get assignment help from their friends. We made the decision to buy a printer and do HW offline, then type up the assignments with a parent (to monitor screen). Extra work but I think it definitely helps imprint the content into my DD's brain.

However, I worry that the school environment is too tech heavy. I was stunned when the administration told our kids at orientation that at break times they could use their cell phones, play games... The administration says it wants the kids to "choose" how to spend their time. My DD reports that many, many kids "choose" to be online, describing lunch tables with boys playing games and girls "liking" pictures on Instagram. The school insists that kids do choose offline activities and I do see DCI working to improve these options.

Another distraction is the easy access to games during class times. My DD does not have a problem with this but she talks about kids who get distracted by games and other kids who get distracted from kids who get distracted. In short, a huge distraction. My DD told me the other day, " We're not even supposed to be playing games during class so why have them?" Smart kid!

What I don't understand is why DCI feels so compelled to allow these distractions and why they allow screens during non-education times to kids who are getting so much screen-time already. And why would the school even want the liability?

I really want this school to succeed both for us and for the hundreds of families excited to have this MS/HS option. There is a growing group of current parents talking to the administration, trying to persuade them that reducing the tech times to classrooms only will improve the school. I encourage prospective parents to raise these issues tonight and going forward.

Thank you PP, those additional details are so helpful in this discussion! It's great and so important that some current parents are trying to engage the Administration to re-examine these practices. I'm with you though, knowing how school administrations often are, especially new ones with so much going on, the voice of prospective parents is huge. Parents saying "I would not send my child there if this..." and being vocal about it gets attention. Not that DCI is hurting for interested parents, but if the parents who know the most about child development, education, or technology are the same ones criticizing the DCI practices publicly, that can hurt them. The goal of course is to give feedback so hopefully this can improve, not to trash the school. But this is a big, huge, giant deal. It would be great if there are signs that the administration is taking these concerns and the feedback seriously and better yet engaging students and parents on ideas of how to improve it, even though the admins make the final decisions about what changes and what doesn't.

[Anonymous]

^^^Thank you for weighing in. What you describe is really alarming. As if our kids aren't already damaged enough in the social interaction area, now a school is allowing them to "choose" to sit together at a table and all stare at their phones during lunch. Horrific.

I bet a million dollars this "reduces" discipline issues and lowers the volume in the lunchroom. Thus, its appeal to the administration.

I truly hope parents are able to have these concerns addressed and solved. School culture is so, so so important in middle school and it starts at the top where the tome is set.

[Anonymous]

12:009 poster

Can you elaborate on this statement you wrote 'I do see DCI working to improve these options' - what is DCI doing to improve this?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Glad to hear homework can be done off line. Do they insist that homework must be typed? I would want (at least in 6th and 7th) grade for DC to write out assignments. Also, why not have some more traditional classes to reduce the amount of time the kids are working on their Chromebooks?

As for letting 6th graders "choose" how to spend their breaks is one of the craziest ideas I have heard and goes against every recommendation of how kids should use the internet. Such poor judgement just makes me question the administrators who are running the school.

Not PP but I agree. Someone above said something about "kids used to pass notes, now they email/text/facebook etc, somehow it's the same thing." No, it really really is not the same thing. I remember middle school and high school clearly and work in several now. Kids may pass notes or try to sneak on their phones during class, but at break time we never "passed notes" or texted (it was recent enough that a lot of my peers did have phones, though not smart phones). Break times, lunch, and before and after school were all about socializing, i.e. face to face engagement and conversation. (And kissing for some couples, LOL!). Kids at lunch on phones/Chromebooks, sitting at the same table but not talking ot each other or not talking face to face, is a nightmare in so many ways. Yes, it happens, and yes it's increasingly common that people sit in restaurants and sit on their phones instead of talking to each other. But it being common does not make it healthy, ok, or beneficial.

I really hope the administrators are listening to the current parents. It's discouraging that they could be that out of touch to not realize the negative social and developmental consequences of such a policy and the (apparently minimal) oversight of student computer use in classrooms. Only way to really cut down is to have classes where they have to put the chromebooks away, all the way away.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:^^^Thank you for weighing in. What you describe is really alarming. As if our kids aren't already damaged enough in the social interaction area, now a school is allowing them to "choose" to sit together at a table and all stare at their phones during lunch. Horrific.

I bet a million dollars this "reduces" discipline issues and lowers the volume in the lunchroom. Thus, its appeal to the administration.

I truly hope parents are able to have these concerns addressed and solved. School culture is so, so so important in middle school and it starts at the top where the tome is set.

I agree with you, but just for the record it will likely not reduce discipline issues at all, and more likely will increase them. All that time on technology actually damages social interaction skills, especially problem-solving and dispute resolution. Which means students are more and more awkward/disabled in their ability to handle conflict in a useful way and it makes for greater discipline problems, not less. It really is an awful idea.

[Anonymous]

^^^Yes, I wrote the post and agree with you. Once their ability to engage productively is damaged, the ONLY solution is to keep the screens on constantly to pacify the environment. It is deeply creepy. This is also why I hate PK3/4 programs that put on educational TV or stories on a smart board in order to "keep them quiet". It's just the beginning

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Glad to hear homework can be done off line. Do they insist that homework must be typed? I would want (at least in 6th and 7th) grade for DC to write out assignments. Also, why not have some more traditional classes to reduce the amount of time the kids are working on their Chromebooks?

As for letting 6th graders "choose" how to spend their breaks is one of the craziest ideas I have heard and goes against every recommendation of how kids should use the internet. Such poor judgement just makes me question the administrators who are running the school.

Not PP but I agree. Someone above said something about "kids used to pass notes, now they email/text/facebook etc, somehow it's the same thing." No, it really really is not the same thing. I remember middle school and high school clearly and work in several now. Kids may pass notes or try to sneak on their phones during class, but at break time we never "passed notes" or texted (it was recent enough that a lot of my peers did have phones, though not smart phones). Break times, lunch, and before and after school were all about socializing, i.e. face to face engagement and conversation. (And kissing for some couples, LOL!). Kids at lunch on phones/Chromebooks, sitting at the same table but not talking ot each other or not talking face to face, is a nightmare in so many ways. Yes, it happens, and yes it's increasingly common that people sit in restaurants and sit on their phones instead of talking to each other. But it being common does not make it healthy, ok, or beneficial.

I really hope the administrators are listening to the current parents. It's discouraging that they could be that out of touch to not realize the negative social and developmental consequences of such a policy and the (apparently minimal) oversight of student computer use in classrooms. Only way to really cut down is to have classes where they have to put the chromebooks away, all the way away.

If the children's attention spans haven't been fried to such a degree that putting the chrome books all the way away leads to chaos.

[Anonymous]

From the American Academy of Pediatrics:

Community-based pediatricians, especially those serving in an advisory role to schools, are influential voices in school and neighborhood forums and can work to encourage a team approach among the medical home, the school home, and the family home. So pediatricians, especially those serving as school physicians or school medical advisors should:

Educate school boards and school administrators about evidence-based health risks associated with unsupervised, unlimited media access and use by children and adolescents, as well as ways to mitigate those risks, such as violence prevention, sex education, and drug use-prevention programs.

Encourage the continuation and expansion of media education programs, or initiate implementation of media education programs in settings where they are currently lacking.

Encourage innovative use of technology where it is not already being used, such as online education programs for children with extended but medically justified school absences.

Work collaboratively with parent-teacher associations to encourage parental guidance in limiting or monitoring age-appropriate screen times. In addition, schools that do use new technology like iPads need to have strict rules about what students can access.

http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/132/5/958.full

[Anonymous]

Thanks PP for posting link to pediatric guidelines. Maybe a parent could send link to DCI administrators so they could learn about the guidelines!