In class this week we were fortunate enough to have Jesse Miller speak with us about the issues surrounding technology, social media, and privacy in classrooms. I was initially struck by Jesse’s perspective that seemed to go against the standard grain of blaming technology for the ills of our society. Instead, Jesse took the perspective that technology doesn’t lead to more negative behaviours, as much as it amplifies the negative behaviours that were already there. I think there’s a lot of truth to this, especially given the ways we have seen disinformation and other negative types of media spread across social media platforms these last few years.

Jesse seemed to believe that a lot of the negative attitudes around technology and social media with youth were overblown and often contributed to frustrations amongst students who feel their parents and teachers act paternalistically towards them, by say, taking their phone away. I agree that it’s important we don’t shame young people around their technology use, and a better path might be to show interest in what they are looking at. At the same time, I’m not sure that I agree that it is necessarily wrong to take your students phones during class time.

These phones and apps are developed by giant corporations to be as addictive as possible. The driving motivator behind them is not utility or well-being, but profit from the sales of devices and ads on the platforms. I can say that for myself, my phone rarely gives me feelings of joy or satisfaction, and more often prevents me from doing things that actually are good for me. I found the movie “The Social Dilemma” on Netflix did a great job at making these points clear.

Ideally, educators could work with students to develop healthy habits with their phones. But if students are so addicted that their phones prevent them from properly listening and being present in the space to engage with any lessons, that may not work without stronger measures.

So if it is our responsibility as educators to support the emotional and intellectual development of our students, I think there is an appropriate argument to leave cellphones at the door. I personally wish we lived in a society where it was more normalized to leave our cell phones at home whenever possible.