Survey Says, Part 2…

A recent Danish study concluded that banning cell phones could lead to improved academic performance and reduced distractions among school age children.

That’s like saying a recent study concluded that being out in the sun could cause sunburn if you don’t use sunscreen.

Not sure we needed a study to confirm that.  I think we could have safely made that assumption and I don’t think anyone would have questioned any actions arising from making that assumption.

But maybe not.  Denmark is now going to ban mobile phones in schools.  This means that almost all children between seven and seventeen will be required by law not to bring their phones into school.

Can you imagine if they tried to do that here in ‘Merica?  Don’t you dare take our children’s phones away!  You can take away some of their books we don’t like, but don’t you dare take their phones.  It’s our personal freedom and right to carry AK-47’s, er, I mean, cell phones. 

Denmark is comparing it to not allowing smoking in schools, saying that “the moment a child is given a smartphone “it will colonise the child’s entire life.” 

I mean, that isn’t false.  I am an adult and was an adult when smart phones came out and it has certainly colonized mine.  Have you seen those photos a photographer/artist had done recently? He snapped photos of various people in various settings, home, school, restaurant, park, etc..  Then, he erased the phones out.  It was chilling to see that even if you were with other people, instead of interacting with each other, everyone was looking at their phones. 

Let’s face it, the smart phone has become a part of us, like an additional appendage. It will be curious to see thousands of years from now what the evolutionary impact on the human body will be as a result of these digital appendages.  Perhaps our fingers and thumbs will grow longer so as to be able to more easily text or scroll with one hand while holding a bag of groceries or a small child in the other.

I am not stating on which side of this debate I am.  Merely pointing out that now the study makes sense.  Denmark was going to need some ammunition to back up their actions.  Apparently, the Danes were so concerned about the welfare of children and young people in general, they set up a Wellbeing Commission in 2023 to understand more about what they were seeing as growing dissatisfaction among children and young people.

I think the world could use some more Wellbeing Commissions right now.  How do we get that going?  And not just for children and young people.  Why limit our understanding of Wellbeing to children only?  I’ve got lots of wellbeing issues that could be addressed, like, remembering what I wanted to buy at the supermarket, how to watch a movie with subtitles because you can’t hear or follow the dialog anymore, and what to do when the Fine Wine and Good Spirits store’s Friday Free Wine Tasting was moved to Thursday that week. (The Fine Wine and Good Spirits store was previously known as the State Store, and they likely feel the new name is an upgrade from the Communist feel of the old name, even though it still is a Communist state run store. I know no one who refers to it by its new name. Kind of like how I know no one who calls Delaware Ave, Columbus Blvd. Puhlease.)

Net net, the report says that a better balance between digital and analog is needed.  No surprise there. Is there anything out there that couldn’t benefit from a little balance? Ice cream and salad. Classic literature and mindless beach read. George Clooney and Joe Pesci. Well, maybe not that last one. Maybe just George Clooney.

My favorite quote is this one from the Minister for Children and Education. Wait, do we even have one of those? Oh well, if we did, not anymore I guess, so never mind.

Anyway, he said, “There is a need to reclaim the school as an educational space, where there is room for reflection and where it is not an extension of the teenage bedroom.”

I am pretty sure that no kid ever, phone or no phone, ever felt like school was an extension of their bedroom. 

But, I get the point.

And so too do some other countries.  In fact, Denmark isn’t the first country to ban cell phones.  France, after running their own study, banned cell phones in school way back in 2018, trialing what they called a “digital pause”. 

Hmm, that’s an interesting concept.  I’d like to trial some pauses of my own. 

For instance, I’d like Giant Supermarket to do their own digital pause and get rid of their digital coupons.  They’ve got certain items that are a digital coupon and other items that are a paper coupon.  How about all paper coupons or all digital coupons? Better yet, how about trialing just having what ever items you are discounting, be discounted with no coupon, digital or paper required?  Wait, that sounds like a topic for another blog post.

And Norway, while not banning the phones, recently set a strict minimum age limit of 15 for social media usage “to protect children from tech companies which it said are ‘pitted against small children’s brains”.  Not sure why that statement feels not quite right to me.  Maybe it was a translation issue. 

But guess what? I am 62 and I feel like tech companies are pitted against my brain.  I can’t have a conversation with someone about say, mattresses, when suddenly my social media feed is flooded with mattress ads.  It’s a constant assault on my brain. If I am talking, my phone is listening, and then barraging me with ads I don’t want to see.

And this old brain is at maximum capacity as it is. It’s actually in the pruning stage. Trying to prevent a total breakdown by removing what it thinks I don’t need to know anymore. But it’s a little glitchy at times and removes things I need, like why did I open the refrigerator door? Hmm, that sounds like another blog topic.

Anyway, could countries like Denmark, France, and Norway be on to something?

Stay tuned. I am sure there will be some more studies to help answer that question.