Students have any number of electronic and digital distractions in their lives on a daily basis. The discussion among educators and parents seems to center around how to best balance what is clearly embedded in our kids and student's lives (texting, video games, facebook).
In an in-depth article by the
New York Times titled
Growing Up Digital, Wired For Distraction, Matt Richtel shows the struggle parents and educators have in confronting the use of technology by children, and most importantly for me, the effects on their brains. I think this will prove worthwhile reading for anyone with children or who works with children. For me personally, we will be using the TV much less in the days to come.
And just for fun, any students who happen to read this article and comment on it before the end of Thanksgiving break will find a nice surprise in their lives when we return.
This article is harsh. I took it with a grain a salt. The person to do the most research on this subject is Don Tapscott, who wrote "Growing Up Digital" and Grown Up Digital" has a rebuttal article in the Huffington Post --- http://www.huffingtonpost.com/don-tapscott/whats-wrong-with-the-new-_b_787819.html. Please check it out.
ReplyDeleteI think this article gives a really bad reputation to all technology. Although things like facebook and myspace can be distracting when students use technology, the technology can also be very helpful and productive. If a student has a willingness to learn and do well in school, they will learn to overcome those distractions.
ReplyDeleteI am sorry to say I agree with this article, most of the time. It's true kids my age are distracted ALL the time by technology. Now I must say I get distracted a lot and I'm not trying to say I don't. Most students aren't interested in boring things like chemistry or how to find the slope of an angle. But the kids like Vishal from the article, who know what they like to do, should be able to do it. He sounds like he has a pretty promising future in film and he's taking classes in film. If he likes that and knows for a fact that he wants to go further in that, why should he be forced to take Latin? I do think it teaches him to learn how to balance his life or teach him self-control. I guess I just feel like okay yes, kids are distracted and yes we have been almost trained to be distracted, but what are we supposed to do? It is hard to overcome these distractions, but for somethings (like Vishal with his film) it's worth overcoming. But if we don't have the things we know we LOVE then no, we won't work to overcome them. So adults, instead of trying to connect with technology, should really try and help kids my age find something their passionate about.
ReplyDeleteI have to admit that this article is mostly true. I do think that kids get distracted by technology; however, I think that by incorporating technology more into the school systems, it's almost making it impossible for students not to get distracted by technology. I also believe that students have a choice. If a student is inspired enough to do well in school, they will. I believe the society we live in today is so dominated by new technological advances it almost poisons the mind.
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