It’s no secret that teens nowadays have become more attuned to the technological world rather than the real world. It’s safe to say we can accept defeat in the battle with technology and any promise for a world of mindfulness is lost. While we won’t be ridding children of their technological dependence any time soon, our school systems have at least began to work towards accommodating to our generation’s technology obsession. They are doing so by regularly updating school websites with important information, posting grades electronically, setting up google drives for students, having twitter pages for sports and clubs, and the lucky ones even have school newspapers online (Thanks, PV!).
Schools really are working towards conforming to children’s inability to stop “staring at their crotch” in class but most of their wifi networks haven’t quite caught up with them. That awesome website with all the information about your school and upcoming events? Blocked. Those twitter pages that keep you posted on your sports teams and clubs? Blocked. All those YouTube videos of cats meowing? BLOCKED. Yes, I suppose the last one has no direct relation to school but I’d bet we’d all be a lot happier and less stressed if we could set aside five minutes a day to watch a few kittens meow.
Most sixth graders have iPhones. And no that wasn’t my attempt at a five-word horror story but a fact that we all must face. “It sounds crazy but the majority of the children in my class already have an iPhone. It has helped a lot to compensate for the small number of computers in my room but when even our own school website is blocked, it’s hard to take advantage of the technology,” said Linda Schieffer, a sixth-grade teacher at Riverdale Heights Elementary School.
While the web filters may encourage more attentiveness in class, it is clearly doing more harm than good as students are losing the ability to do school related things as well. Schieffer added, “I teach sixth graders for crying out loud, we aren’t exactly learning chemical equations and writing 10 page research essays. These kids should still be having fun in class while learning but I can’t even show them funny videos of science experiments or cute songs to memorize all the states because that would require access to YouTube.” Technology goes beyond the realms of being a distraction and really can aide in children’s learning if we allow it to.
While no teacher would like to admit it, students are not busy with school work from the beginning to the end of the school day. Realistically speaking, eight hours of students’ lives aren’t and shouldn’t be spent doing worksheets, practice problems and in class essays, especially if we are expected to be taking home work as well. Students have enough time in a day to finish their work and catch up on their social media platform of choice, another thing
teachers won’t tell you. “I have on average five minutes in every single one of my classes where we are not doing anything. I’m not complaining about that but it’d be nice if I were at least able to go on twitter and see what the theme for the next football game is or check Jessica’s latest subtweet about her ex. If we have the free time I don’t see why we are still being restricted in our web access,” says student at Pleasant Valley High School, Sophie Marchiori.
Social Media is everything in high school and limiting students’ ability to access that will just as much of a distraction to them as they will be fixated on whatever they’re missing out on. Marchiori continued, “Kids are already on their phone in class anyway unless the teacher is really strict about it, the web filters limit what we can do but we can still text and do other things so I don’t see the point in them.” If the teacher wishes to regulate the usage of phones in class, they have the power to. If the teacher of the class doesn’t believe their class deserves undivided attention and isn’t enforcing rules against phones then why should the administration?
Technology isn’t the devil. It IS unarguably the most important thing in teenagers’ lives today and our school systems need to recognize that restricted web access is doing more harm than good. Schools should continue to open their minds to the idea of technology because it isn’t going anywhere any time soon. For now, us students are in this together, determined to beat the system one over-filtered wifi network at a time.
