The Federalist BY: AUGUSTE MEYRAT
Maintaining a screen-free environment for our children is not easy, but it’s worth it to avoid what I witness in kids bewitched by their phones.
Many of today’s children are ignorant, sad, and set up for failure. They lack the knowledge and skills to perform basic tasks. They are lonely and suffer from depression and anxiety. Also, as Mark Bauerlein explains in his book “The Dumbest Generation Grows Up,” they are incredibly immature.
The reasons for this are not a mystery. One top answer is actually incredibly simple: screens. Instead of learning about their world and participating in it, the majority of young people are glued to their devices, playing video games, scrolling through social media, and streaming videos.
This past year, American teens and pre-teens spent an average of nine hours per day in front of a screen. That means they spend almost twice as much waking life looking at illuminated pixels than they do at physical objects and people.
As I’ve argued before, tablets and smartphones have radically transformed the school experience from what it used to be. Those who taught before screens wouldn’t even recognize today’s classrooms, and those who taught afterward wouldn’t even believe what students of the past were capable of without the help of technology.
