Screens In Schools
What effect does the screen-based learning that has overtaken many education settings have on grades as the competition to get in college increases? A study conducted at West Point found that“ unrestricted laptop use reduces students’ exam scores by 0.18 standard deviations” and that“ tablets reduce scores by 0.17 standard deviations,” amounting to a difference between a B + and A- in students’ grade point averages( GPAs) when generalized, the researchers reported in the journal Education Next.
“ We also looked separately at subgroups of students defined based on gender, race, scores on college-entrance exams, and entering GPA. In no group did students appear to significantly benefit from access to computers in the classroom. We did find some suggestive evidence that permitting computers is more detrimental to male students than to female students and to students with relatively high entrance-exam scores,” the researchers said.
One of the reasons computers may not improve academic performance is that they’ re a source of distraction rather than education.
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Melanie Hempe, founder of Screen- Strong, an organization that empowers parents to limit their children’ s screen time, sees other impediments to academic learning caused by screens, such as relying on the easy retrieval of computers to“ remember” facts rather than using one’ s own memory, a practice sometimes called“ cognitive offloading.” Taking notes by hand rather than on a computer also better employs our memory, according to Hempe.
“ Like any muscle, the brain needs to‘ work out’ by thinking deeply and critically and not just practicing data entry skills or surfing for quick answers to get a task done,” she said.
Writing doesn’ t seem to benefit from screen time either. A screen-based child may have myriad websites at her fingertips” but“ can’ t seem to complete a research paper in any reasonable amount of time,” or may take“ twice as long to write a paragraph” as those working without screens, Hempe said.
Even early research into screen-based learning in schools raised concerns. Researchers writing in the journal Pediatrics in 2006 linked television and video game screen time with poorer school performance, and research published in the journal South African Family Practice in 2004 linked“ sedentary, screen-based behavior in children” to mental health effects, less physical activity, and digital eye strain.
Special Concerns About Generation Z And The Selfie Era
Jonathan Haidt, author of“ The Coddling of the American Mind: How Good Intentions and Bad Ideas Are Setting Up a Generation for Failure,” is especially concerned about the effect of screen time on Generation Z— those born between 1997 and 2012.
“ There has never been a generation this depressed, fragile and anxious,” he told The Wall Street Journal. Indeed, the generation is the most obese in history as well as depressed— often treated with psychoactive drugs like antidepressants.
Facebook, Instagram, and the“ selfie era” began when Generation Z babies were in their mid-teens, creating a childhood that is“ largely just through the phone,” according to Haidt.
“ It seems social because you’ re communicating with people. But it’ s performative,” he said.“ You don’ t actually get social relationships. You get weak, fake social links.”
Rep. Mike Gallagher( R-Wis.) took the dangers a step further and characterized the popular app TikTok as“ digital fentanyl” during an appearance on the TV show Meet The Press.
Obviously, children engaging in screen time, especially video games, aren’ t outside playing with other children as their parents likely did. Lack of outdoor play denies children exercise, companionship, Vitamin D and the healing powers of nature.
So no— all that screen time is not good and the AI revolution has dramatically increased the dangers. Note to parents— even if your children say they need their screen for distance learning, or friendships, remember they also“ need” ice cream for dinner.