Leadership

Changing Behaviour: Children, Adolescents And Screen Use

This briefing paper published by the British Psychological Society states that much of the evidence for the negative effects of screen use in children and teenagers is not based on robust enough science.

The report recognises that the issue of children’s digital media use is more complex than just screen time and calls for new guidelines to be built on robust evidence. To do this, it offers a number of recommendations for government officials, policy makers and practitioners interested in the impact of social media and digital technology on children and young people’s mental health.

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      string(5738) "empathy paradox: Increasing disconnection in the age of increasing connection. In Rocci Luppicini (Ed.), Handbook of Research on Technoself: Identity in a Technological Society (pp. 204–228). IGI Global. 4	Alloway, T., Runac, R., Qureshi, M., & Kemp, G. (2014). Is Facebook linked to selfishness? Investigating the relationships among social media use, empathy, and narcissism. Social Networking, 3, 150–158.5	 Carrier, L. M., Spradlin, A., Bunce, J. P., & Rosen, L. D. (2015). Virtual empathy: Positive and negative impacts of going online upon empathy in young adults. Computers in Human Behavior, 52, 39–48.6 Common Sense Media. (2012). Social media, social life: How teens view their digital lives. San Francisco, CA: Common Sense Media.https://www.commonsensemedia.org/sites/default/files/uploads/pdfs/socialmedia_infographic_2012_final.pdf7	boyd, d. (2014). It’s complicated: The social lives of networked teens. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.8	Seay, A., & Kraut, R. 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Digital Learning

Countering the Dark Side of Tech: Encouraging Healthy Media Habits

6 Nov 2018

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      string(308) "... place of technology in schools tend to focus on what tools should be used, rather than what their role is in educational practice. 

Immersion in screens from birth is the reality, but that doesn’t mean that the discussion should end. We asked Professor Lowell Monke, co-author of Breaking ..."
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      string(306) "... for the lack of exposure and instruction in the use of symbols. That has changed dramatically in the last 70 years. In the U.S., children of all ages spend over 9 hours a day engaged with symbols on screens and very little time with more mature people. Communicating with ..."
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      string(721) " Technology is now ubiquitous in education and with only a few exceptions, the debate about whether digital technology has a place in education is pretty much over. The pro-tech side has emerged victorious from the early battles, and critical discussions about the place of technology in schools tend to focus on what tools should be used, rather than what their role is in educational practice. 

Immersion in screens from birth is the reality, but that doesn’t mean that the discussion should end. We asked Professor Lowell Monke, co-author of Breaking Down the Digital Walls, to share his thoughts about what kind of education is really needed to prepare students for the world they will face in the future."
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      string(5347) "I want to focus on three largely ignored issues (among many) that grow out of a fundamental examination of the human-technology relationship. We might call the first problem one of ‘dead symbols’. Digital technology can provide enormous amounts of information for learning. But there is a huge qualitative difference between learning about something by consuming and manipulating symbolic information (what digital technology traffics in), and learning from something, which requires entering into a potentially rich and complex relationship. A computer can inundate children with mountains of information about trees, for example. But children learn from a tree by peeling its bark, climbing its branches, jumping into its piled-up leaves. These first-hand experiences are enveloped by feelings and associations—muscles being used, sun warming the skin, blossoms scenting the air. Without these physical and emotional associations, the symbolic representations, no matter how vivid, are merely disconnected pieces of data. As cultural anthropologist Gregory Bateson put it, consuming symbols without knowledge of what they symbolise ‘is like eating the menu instead of the meal’. It is true that we protect what we love. And it is nearly impossible to love something we have never ‘tasted’.But what about all of the technical skills children need to learn? Here we need to consider what I call the substitution problem: the tendency for a tool to replace rather than enhance human skills when relied upon too early. We have already seen examples of this problem: children who learned to use a calculator but couldn’t add, a spellchecker but never learned to spell. We are only beginning to witness the more serious consequences of young people who learned to use social media without first learning how to appropriately socialise. This points to the third issue: the problem of maturation. For centuries, children became grown ups by being immersed in a grown-up world, learning through imitation and attention from caring adults. Schools were invented, in part, to compensate for the lack of exposure and instruction in the use of symbols. That has changed dramatically in the last 70 years. In the U.S., children of all ages spend over 9 hours a day engaged with symbols on screens and very little time with more mature people. Communicating with adults through social media is clearly no substitute. In fact, the difference between learning about and learning from is even more stark here, where non-verbal cues, tone of voice, on-going personal relationships and community context are so crucial to modeling appropriate behavior and attitudes. Thirty years ago the U.S. actually began putting technology at the centre of education. Billions of educational dollars were reallocated to that end. It was sold through the promise that our children would become better prepared for a global, high-tech society. How did that experiment turn out? Soaring test scores? Zooming up the educational rankings of nations? Exporting thousands of tech workers? None of that has happened. Meanwhile, civility in the U.S. hovers on the edge of extinction as racism and bigotry are charging out of the shadows. In my state of Colorado, schools filled with expensive technology have so little money to pay teachers that many rural schools only operate four days a week. The most remarkable characteristic of the millennial generation is how difficult it is to get them to move out of their parents’ homes. And we elected a president who dismisses the scientific evidence of climate change and routinely employs social media to insult and bully both his opponents and his allies. Our grand experiment seems to be producing a populace stuck in perpetual adolescence.I am convinced there is a connection between all of this and the fact that children are no longer immersed in a society filled with people, nature and simple devices that lend themselves to exploration by curious minds. Instead, they are surrounded with indecipherable machines that traffic only in symbols of a world with which they have little connection and less interest. It would do us well to once again invoke the compensatory function of our schools, this time in reverse, creating a school environment saturated with all that is missing from that world of screens. It would also help if we shifted the debate from whether technology should be at the center of education to when. I actually think that technology should gradually become a central focus for high school youth (ages 14-18). But preparation for that requires a long gestation period. Childhood should be a time for learning to be human, immersed in the real world of objects, nature, caring adults and communities. If we do that for our children, perhaps they will be able to stop asking how to prepare their children for a technological world and start asking how to prepare technology for their children.Professor Lowell Monke has been teaching young people with and about technology for nearly 30 years.  He is co-author of Breaking Down the Digital Walls: Learning to Teach in a Post-Modem World. "
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Digital Learning

Enhancing Child Development Instead of Replacing It

8 Aug 2019

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      string(5654) "personality that students can choose between freely. What’s Up? Students can type or speak, letting the Worrinot know whatever is on their mind. Make the Fear DisappearDepending on which Worrinot the child chose, their fear will be ripped, stomped, etc. and the child can watch it disappear on the screen. Worri-Tips The Worrinots encourage children to read the age-appropriate Worri-Tips & learn life-long coping mechanisms.Once the child has made the fear disappear, it is forwarded to the monitoring app, WatNot, which is a unique monitoring system designed specifically to help teachers and safeguarding officers identify and monitor fears that have been shared. If a response is required, the teacher or safeguarding officer can write a response that will appear in the child’s private account from the Worrinot character they originally shared their fear with.Worrinots provides a child-friendly way to help schools implement early intervention and have access to a tool that can provide discreet and effective monitoring of pupil’s worries and anxieties. It is also Ofsted compliant so schools can be sure they are using the correct procedures to address these sometimes complex and difficult issues. Mindshift CBT https://www.anxietycanada.com/MindShift-CBTMindshift CBT is an is an app designed to help teens and young adults cope with anxiety. It can help them change how they think about anxiety. Rather than trying to avoid anxiety, the app coaches them to face the issue and make an important shift.Mindshift CBT addresses important issues relating to mental health. It has tools to help with relaxation, developing more helpful ways of thinking and identifying active steps to help teens take charge of their anxiety. In addition to everyday anxiety, it addresses specific issues such as:  Making Sleep CountRiding Out Intense EmotionsTest AnxietyPerfectionismSocial AnxietyPerformance AnxietyWorryPanicConflictIn addition to delivering clear and relevant information that helps students learn about anxiety, assess their own situation and piece together a personalised plan to help manage the anxiety, the app has some great ‘chill out’ tools, such as relaxation exercises, visualisations and mindfulness strategies. Teens start by selecting a situation they are struggling with from the list of ‘My Situations’ and then they can get the facts related to anxiety and the situation their facing. Then they go through some ‘Check In’ exercises to see whether a particular situation is a problem. They can then develop their personalsed program, starting with finding more helpful thoughts with a set of ‘Thinking Right’ prompts, then dialing down the anxiety with the ‘Chill out Tools’ and then identifying next actions in the ‘Active Steps’ area. There is a place to jot down thoughts and feelings and inspirational quotes to keep momentum going. Although the app isn’t especially school-based, it has great content that can be introduced in a PSHE class and then the app can support teens independently as they try to work with the relevant tools and approaches.Mind Moose https://www.mindmoose.co.uk/Mind Moose offers schools a way to support and monitor the mental wellbeing and emotional health of primary-aged pupils through a fun, online programme. Pupils go on a journey of discovery with Mind Moose and his friends, watching short, fun animations before completing reflective activities based on the topics. They earn badges and certificates along the way and they are given ‘Moose Missions’ to undertake in school, or at home. The programme aims to develop children’s sense of self-worth, resilience and coping skills.Mind Moose is most suitable for pupils in Years 4–6, although it can be used with younger pupils and can be a very helpful during the transition to secondary school in Year 7.Within the programme, pupils learn to:recognise their good qualities, achievements and strengthsdevelop and maintain healthy self-worthunderstand how they can deal with life’s ups and downsmanage big emotions using evidence-based techniques such as mindfulnessuse tools such as kindness and gratitude to help them feel positive about lifeAll children can benefit from Mind Moose as they learn specific tools to develop good mental wellbeing, although the lessons are particularly powerful for vulnerable children and those who are anxious, have low self-esteem or low levels of confidence, have special educational needs (such as autism), are having difficulties at home, are experiencing bullying or other difficulties at school, or who are worried about moving to another year, school or from primary to secondary school. The company offers a school license that includes a teacher and parent guide, printable activity pack, assessment tools, stand-alone meditations to use with students, along with full digital access to the lessons and activities. Calm Harm https://calmharm.co.ukSelf harm is an increasingly common behaviour that affects around 10 per cent of young people, especially girls. It is often a way for young people to cope with or release overwhelming, difficult and distressing feelings. Often, the physical pain of self-harm might feel easier to deal with than the emotional pain that’s behind it. Sometimes it can also be a way for them to punish themselves for something they’ve done or have been accused of doing. It can make a young person feel they’re in control of at least one part of their lives, when other areas seem out of"
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Applications and Software

Nurturing Mental Health with Wellbeing Apps for Young People

8 Aug 2019

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      string(5714) "wellbeing Every Child Journal89Children are asked questions across six themes at the beginning andthe end of the course, along the following themes:Their environment – are they happy? The unhappier they are, thesmaller their world is and the more isolated they often prefer to be.Their behaviour/feelings – can and do they control theirbehaviour and feelings? Many young people do not know how todo this.Their abilities – what they think they are good at.Their values and beliefsTheir identity – Do they like being them? How they describethemselves?Their future – Their plans and dreams.The themes also include questions about confidence and self esteem.At the end of the six weeks, the answers asked before and after theprogramme are compared to note progress.ImpactIn January 2011, a pilot was commissioned by a consortium ofschools in Hertfordshire, in the UK, to assess the benefits of the programme offeringempowerment coaching with young people who were experiencing emotional, social andbehavioural difficulties in some aspects of their lives.The commissioner described the work with students as: ‘swift and significant withparents calling to say what a positive difference [it] had made to their child’s emotionalwellbeing. From a student’s perspective, [its] involvement resulted in a student feeling“magical” after only six weeks’ work.’ The work was rated as the singular most effectiveintervention that the school had seen in several years.The evaluation revealed that 25 out of 26 children had benefited from the programme,with one child referred to another agency.Outcome of Jepeca pilotnnnnnnCase study 3: Kevin’s storyKevin was 16 when he was referred to the JepecaProgramme. His mother was terminally ill. He wasreceiving counselling, but he was still tense andgetting angry with people. He said at counsellinghe talked about his feelings but didn’t know whatto do with them. After attending the programme,he said he knew how to channel his feelings. Hedescribed the experience as ‘changing, relaxingand exploring’. His concentration improved and hefelt calmer around people and less tense.A year after the course, his mother had died. Kevinwas still using the techniques he had learned tohelp him with his homework and to build andmaintain his friendships.Vol 4.5 n www.teachingtimes.comMental health and wellbeingEvery Child Journal90The testimonies are powerful. One child said: ‘Thisprogramme saved my life. I am so different now. I amhappy and love my life. I wish I could have done this along time ago. My eczma has really improved and I nolonger pull my hair out. Everyone at home treats medifferently. I still use the techniques when I need to.Without this programme, I don’t know what would havehappened to me.’ Hadden’s own evaluation reveals that92 per cent of interventions with children have achieved apositive result.Although these results are strong, the evaluation issmall scale, a fact that she is well aware of. In order to testthe method, she is planning more robust tests including anfull evaluation which will be ready in the autumn.Contributing factorsOne of the main concerns that emerged from the study,and confirmed by Hadden’s experience, is how a troubledhome environment can contribute to a child’s difficulties,and how video games can often contribute to a chaotichome life. Some of the examples she gives are of theyoung boy whose mother played avatar games leaving him to look after his younger sister,and losing track of where they were. She cites the cases of boys who playing computergames well into the night becoming tired, cranky and unable to concentrate at school,and taking that behaviour onto the playground and causing chaos.Other problems are more based around diagnosable issues which remain unresolved,such as the boy who had ADHD and hated himself and life because of his behaviour bothat school (where he was reminded of how badly behaved he was every class) and at home,or another young boy also with ADHD who loved his mother and wanted to be good forher but couldn’t help reacting to his sisters causing upset and tension.Hadden believes that ‘screen watching’ needs to be addressedbecause it is impacting on children’s ability to perform at school, ontheir ability to socialise, and their ability to respect other people’sand contributes to low confidence, self esteem, behavioural issues,depression, bullying, self-harming, stress and anxiety. However, ‘screenwatching’ exists in a context of other problems; relationships; tensionand so on and in an environment where parents, as well as children, areusually struggling.Whatever the sources of the problems, the clock is ticking forchildren in need of practical support. As well as the one in ten childrenwith mental health problems, 89 pupils are suspended each day fromschool for behavioural issues. Being unable to understand, process anduse feelings and emotions in a productive way leads to unproductiveand often destructive behaviours which, if not addressed can escalateinto serious problems of self-destructiveness and violence.The damage that children can suffer and the cost to individuals andsociety and are apparent in the disappointed aspirations of children andthe costs to services of supporting them. The worry is that some of theprocesses intended to help children can sometimes alienate them byfailing to offer them the opportunity to resolve their problems and cometo terms with them themselves.For more information about the Jepeca programme, contactJulianne Hadden at julianne@jepeca.com or visit"
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Special Needs

The route to empowerment

7 Aug 2014