How many times a day do you pick up your cell phone? How about your tablet? How many hours do you spend at your computer?
The answer may be a number larger than you want to admit, even to yourself. And if you use social media, the number is almost certainly bigger. But imagine you’re not a mature adult, that—instead–you’re in high school or middle school or even elementary school and your parents have given you a cell phone so you can keep in touch. And while they may think they’ve restricted the unhealthy ways you can use it, you’ve quickly learned to bypass those restrictions.
A whole new world has opened up to you.
The park and the playground are no longer interesting. Nor are trails through the woods or the banks of a quiet pond where the fish bite late in the afternoon. You don’t want to read books anymore. Or work puzzles. Or play cards. Or simply hang out with your friends, shooting hoops or riding bikes or practicing cartwheels.
Because you have a phone. And that phone has changed your life forever.
Traditional childhood in the USA began quietly disappearing about 15 years ago. “Smart phones,” meaning cell phones connected to the internet, came into widespread use in 2010. With the best of intentions, parents bought phones for their children, believing they would help keep kids connected and safe. These days, middle or high school students who don’t have a smart phone are a rarity. It’s estimated that teens now spend seven to nine hours every day on their screens—not counting the hours they’re in school!—and only ten unstructured minutes outdoors.
Clearly, we’re in a crisis.
Predators have moved from the real world to the online world, where they seduce and misuse children in numbers that boggle the mind. Pornography is widely available. Social media presents a distorted view of reality, especially to brains that are still developing. Too many children and teens with unrestricted phone use suffer from social deprivation, sleep deprivation and attention fragmentation. Some have actual clinical addiction.
The solution to this crisis isn’t easy. But thanks to Ryan Dalton and dozens of “Restoring Childhood Putnam County” coalition members, positive change is in the air. Ryan, the father of two young daughters, grew up in Cookeville and teaches at Avery Trace Middle School. He believes that with parents, grandparents, educators and community leaders working together, phone addiction can be cured. Kids can be kids again. Putnam County Schools Director School Corby King and all six members of the School Board are enthusiastically behind the effort. A strict “no cell phones during the school day” policy was recently passed.
Beginning in August, small groups of adults will gather in homes, schools, libraries and churches to discuss the book “The Anxious Generation” by Jonathan Haidt. Haidt lays out the facts about adolescent mental illness, beginning with decline of play-based childhood in the 1980s and culminating in the phone-based childhood that began in 2010. The book is a call to action for anyone concerned about this seismic shift. Haidt recommends steps we must take to reverse this tragic turn and restore a healthy childhood for the generations behind us.
If you’d like to be part of the effort, you can find more information at restoringchildhoodputnamcounty.com or by searching for Restoring Childhood Putnam County on Facebook. These sources will lead you to a discussion group you might want to join. There are dozens, meeting at various times and in various places. If you don’t have the time or inclination to read “The Anxious Generation,” that’s okay. You can still be part of the conversation.
I’m leading a group at Cookeville First United Methodist Church, beginning on August 13 and continuing through September 24. We’ll meet Wednesday afternoons from 1:00 until 2:15. To register, call the church at (931) 526-2177. All are welcome.
(Jennie Ivey is a Cookeville writer. Her email is jennieivey@gmail.com)