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The trend I see so often, is the parents "overprotecting" their children. Middle school is the perfect time for teachers to consequence students appropriately when they do something wrong, but unfortunately many parents "overprotect" and are unable to allow their children to have a setback and make sure they learn form it. Students who have not been exposed to the play-based childhood seem to be unable to take the consequence and learn form it...maybe due to the fact they did not have the lessons that are learned during playtime interactions as the book explains.

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Trends to support the idea of a "Great Rewiring"

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Trends to support the idea of a "Great Rewiring"

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One trend I’ve noticed that supports the idea of a “great rewiring” is the growing number of students with 504 plans specifficaly for anxiety and depression separate from other learning disabilities. In the 90’s and early 2000’s, I taught students with 504 plans mostly diagnosed with ADHD. Since 2017, I have noticed an upturn in the number of 504 plans for anxiety and depression alone.

Another trend I am noticing is my students’ lack of social clues and an unwillingness to be connected with their peers.

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The book shares the dates between 2010-2015 as the "Great Rewiring." My daughter was given her first Iphone in sixth grade (2013). Immediately she was always on it with Muscially. As a teacher, it was all my students talked about. Students were no longer flying kites, hanging outside with nature, or going to the park/mall. They wanted me to create Musically content with them. I thought how weird that was for me to be in student videos. My daughter begged for Instagram during middle school. All her friends had it. She was not allowed to have Instagram until her freshman year in HS. Those 3 years were not fun dealing with a teenager who had the mom that was "strict." 2 days ago I was sharing the first 3 chapters of the book, Anxious Generation with my daughter. She looked at me and said, you made the right decision, mom. I know it impacted her mental health by not being like her peers. But I do believe her mental health would be far more impacted if I allowed her early access to those apps like snap chat and instagram.

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Wow! From 2010-2015 American teens' social lives moved onto smartphones. This hits right on my own children. The anxiety and depression that come as a result are understandable. Everyone's social media life is just a snapshot of their REAL life. Inevitably, someone will feel left out by some social posts or experience FOMO.

I get so frustrated when the students are gaming on their computers, but they have had that instant gratification since birth- they are almost addicted.

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I can see the impact that the shift to a phone-based childhood has had on the students in my classroom. Many of my students seem addicted to their Chromebooks. Students want to open their computers to play a game for just two minutes before class starts, and I have to remind them that they shouldn't be on their computer unless it's for a class activity. Also, the games that they used to be super excited to play, like Kahoot, Gimkit, and Blooket, are no longer exciting enough to keep everyone's attention. It has become more difficult to gain and keep their attention for any length of time.

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At first I was skeptical about the author pointing to SmartPhones as the main culprit of the idea of a "Great Rewiring." Numerous variables could impact the rewiring of students' thinking and behavior, and it is difficult to point to just one cause. However, the extensive research submitted in chapter one is well vetted and does make sense.

I find students in my classroom less willing to take academic risks. They know they can "Google" the answers, and they would rather have an instant answer than struggle in the zone of proximal development. They don't see the value in taking time to process information when they could "get the answer" immediately. They want to get the work done quickly instead of discovering the answers and owning their learning. So many students "finish" their work and then take it on themselves to "game." We don't allow gaming in class, but they are magnetically drawn to the activity without caring that they are not following the directions. Gratification needs to be instant, and subpar work is the bar they hope we will accept. 9 times out of ten, when I ask them to show me their work, they will admit it is not finished to expectations. Anyone else see this in their classrooms?

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Working with 5th-grade students, I’ve definitely seen a few things that line up with The Anxious Generation and its idea of the "great rewiring."

Emotional Sensitivity: My students seem more emotionally sensitive than before. If they make mistakes or have conflicts with friends, it can lead to big emotional reactions. They struggle to bounce back from strong emotions, failing to demonstrate the same coping strategies that students seemed to intuitively understand years ago. It's as if they've been shielded from these difficult emotions, making it harder for them to regulate.

Seeking Validation and Overprotective Parenting: Many students crave constant validation from teachers, friends, and family. This may stem from overprotective parenting, where kids are shielded from failure. A couple of years ago, when I let students struggle a bit during problem-solving time at vertical whiteboards, some parents got upset when I didn’t help immediately. It’s clear that many students today aren’t learning to push through challenges themselves, instead relying on constant support and praise to feel confident.

Pressure to Have Devices and Social Media Drama: Nearly all of my students have phones or smartwatches by the end of the year. Those without them feel left out and disconnected. On top of that, I’ve had to address bullying and inappropriate comments in group texts outside of school. These devices have become sources of social anxiety, where students feel they need to be constantly connected to keep up or they’ll miss out.

Academic Pressure and Anxiety: Many students are increasingly anxious about schoolwork, and this is impacting their performance. I've seen more refusals to complete tasks, and the anxiety often stems from the pressure to meet expectations, or they don't want to deal with the discomfort of a difficult assignment.

Overall, it’s clear that the "rewiring" described in the book is affecting kids today, particularly around academic pressures, emotional sensitivity, and the need for constant digital connection.

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The trends of the Great Rewiring are evident in our classrooms and schools. The loss of social connection is very apparent and concerning. It's obvious in the classroom when students need to find a partner to work with and struggle to initiate or have been in class all year together and have difficulty giving eye contact with one another during literacy discussions. They avoid or try to escape those situations. But when given the opportunity to use iPads they jump at the chance. I'm noticing more of an uptick in comparison and competition even in the younger grades.

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A trend that I have observed with my fourth graders is how much time they spend on social media, particularly TikTok. They often say or do things from watching reels that are inappropriate and sometimes they don't even understand what the sayings mean. One of my colleagues even started listing "banned words" on the board because her students would be so fixated on using them throughout the day. Another observation of the "phone-based" childhood I have noticed with my students is that they don't have traditional playdates after school like they used to. Instead, they will communicate via their devices through gaming or social media. I think this is one of the reasons why children have a hard time engaging in a conversation in class. They need explicit directions on how to listen to someone's response and then either add to it or ask a question.

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Things I’ve noticed in my second grade classroom that may or may not be a direct result of the “great rewiring” - diminished problem-solving skills, a heightened need for instant gratification, desensitization to consequences, frequent distractibility, and reduced creativity and willingness to take risks in the classroom.  This year also marks the highest number of students-FIVE- that I had to do rating scales for outside evaluations, mostly related to anxiety/ADHD.

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Some trends I have noticed in my students that support the idea of a "great rewiring" are that children have difficulty solving their own problems and navigating conflict resolution since the influx of technology. Students spend so much time online that they miss out on crucial life experiences. They have a hard time working with others and solving problems. A quote that stood out to me in the intro of this text was "overprotection in the real world and underprotection in the virtual world are the main reasons why children after 1995 became the anxious generation." This quote resonated with me, because children are exposed to so much online, and parents tend to be overprotective in the real world. It is very alarming. Children do not have experiences where they overcome challenges and resolve conflict with other peers. I have seen this trend negatively impact children's mental health.

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I am a Gen Z'er and got my first smartphone in 2013, which is when I joined Facebook and not long after Instagram and Snapchat. It is kind of mind-boggling that I will reflect on myself while reading this book, as I was hoping to apply it to my current students of Gen Alpha.

In high school, social media had a huge impact on us. We would constantly feel in competition with others due to Snapchat's 'best friends list', vacations people posted about, the friendships/relationships that were posted, filtered/edited pictures, etc. I now teach 5th graders and I don't feel that far removed from their culture. I am able to relate to them about technology, social media, trends on TikTok, and (some of) their slang. The most worrying thing I've noticed is how fast these 10/11 year olds seem to be growing up. They talk about things that I didn't care about until I was in high school or even college (makeup, brands of clothes, celebrities, pop culture). They also know inappropriate things that I didn't know about till I was years older than they currently are! They instantly get out their phones when it is 3:30. They have shared with me the drama that occurs in their group chats, yet they do not know how to utilize their phones if they get lost while walking around the neighborhood. They lack problem solving skills and do not pick up on social cues like they should. Technology definitely has had a huge impact on the way kids grow up. -Bella Martinez

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In my students, I notice that more and more attend to lessons like they are in their basement watching a YouTube video. Kids will often comment and make reactions just like their favorite YouTubers. Many of these videos are centered around a reaction to a stimulus and they are completely lacking in creative content, humor, or anything interesting. This year, more than any other year, I had students who argued about assignments, told me they would not do the reading, and started crying when they had to sustain reading or writing. I am very concerned that focus, stamina, and grit are being sacrificed for comfort and easy rewards.

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About two years ago I asked my class about what they do when they went home from school and I was taken aback by the answer. Quite a few of them said in a very excited tone that their parents work when they get home so they get to be on their iPad. This wasn’t a short time period they were talking about, but a few hours of screen time. That same trend of heavy technology use continues with their response in the years after this group. I asked my class to honestly share how many read books over winter break and the answer was bleak. If I asked about iPad time the answer would have been vastly different. Often I give choices about work when they are finished and I’m always curious who will choose what choice. Some of them can’t get enough iPad time and sit almost transfixed by it. Meanwhile, attending to classroom discussions or working with a partner is a challenge.

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I have noticed my students becoming so dependent on their devices. Whether it's because they want to quickly look up how to spell a word or check their computation, or they want to rush through their work to get to a tech-based "may-do". Rather than using their problem-solving skills or checking over their work, they instantly head to their devices. I've also noticed a lot of my students sharing at morning meetings that they played Roblox with a friend online over the weekend instead of having an in-person playdate or going outside. So now technology is replacing the social connections that many of them desperately need.

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I've taught 5th grade since 2004 and have seen such a shift in both students and parents in that time. First with students, their attention spans are just so much shorter. Attending to a task for more than a few minutes has become extremely difficult. Sustained silent reading almost does not exist and stamina for tasks is so low. Parents have shifted too, asking teachers to do what parents used to do; set boundaries, enforce consequences and encourage kids to take responsibility for their actions. The dog and pony show that we need to use now to hold the attention of these 10-11 year olds is exhausting. With their constant swiping, going to the next video and need for instant gratification, teachers are no longer exciting. I hope change can/will come, we need everyone on board.

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I have noticed that many of my students are very anxious.  There has been an increase in the number of students with anxiety.  I also have noticed that students are increasingly on their smartphones.  In class, they mention games that they do on their tablets.  I also think group chats have increased situations that put kids into situations of anxiety and/or stress.

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I have noticed that many of my students are very anxious.  There has been an increase in the number of students with anxiety.  I also have noticed that students are increasingly on their smartphones.  In class, they mention games that they do on their tablets.  I also think group chats have increased situations that put kids into situations of anxiety and/or stress.

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Over the last several years teaching kindergarten, I have definitely noticed a shift away from a play-based childhood. With our new full-day program, we now have more time dedicated to unstructured play as well as time to integrate play into our curriculum, especially during math time, however, I have found that many students don’t have experience playing games or an understanding of how to play a game with others–taking turns, how to move around a game board, being a good sport, and general rule following. We have also noticed that more and more students are coming in with higher levels of anxiety and deficits in social emotional regulation.

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How do you think Illinois' new bell to bell, no cell, will affect students during school hours? My special needs students don't have cell phones, but my own children do! I'm curious to see how my high schooler reacts when she can only use her phone during passing periods. Maybe it won't be effective in limiting screen time because they use tablets for school? I'm also blown away by being unable to distract my own kids from tech. It's like they are almost physically tearing their eyes away from the screen. I have to tell them, "look at me" before I say what I want to say. And I keep repeating "look at me" when their eyes veer off to the phone again if I'm not finished. I'm lucky in that I still have parental controls and can remotely lock their phones, but I'm always "being mean" when I forcibly take tech away.

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I think the biggest thing that stands out to me with respect to trends in students' behavior and this "rewiring" is a constant pull to their devices. I have always valued idle time as being optimal for creative thinking and honestly just an opportunity to rest/recharge. Doesn't have to be anything grand...for me, this is a few minutes in line at a store or quietly sitting on a porch, literally with nothing to do or mission to accomplish. For our students, this is a few minutes at the end of class, waiting for a ride, or waiting for the doors to open in the morning. Ideal time to connect for a few minutes with others or recharge, but often kids are drawn almost magnetically to their devices. This troubles me bc it indicates a heavy reliance on the device for entertainment and companionship.

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When I was my students' age in the 1970s, my parents trusted me to do a lot more on my own. I walked to school, went to the store, and spent hours outside without constant supervision. The world felt safer, partly because, as Anxious Generation points out, there was less awareness of danger—no 24/7 news or social media highlighting every potential risk. That freedom to explore and solve problems on my own gave me a sense of responsibility and boosted my confidence.

Today, it’s harder to offer kids that same independence. Schools can help by providing opportunities for students to solve problems and resolve conflicts on their own. The challenge I face is that many parents don’t want to see their kids struggle. As a parent myself, I understand this instinct, but I believe facing challenges helps kids build resilience and problem-solving skills. Though I've been questioned by parents for allowing students to work through difficulties independently, I see it as essential for their growth. These small struggles teach persistence, patience, and ultimately, prepare them for bigger challenges ahead.

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I was the age of my middle school students during the late 70’s-early 80’s. I am a member of Gen X and vividly recall my risky outdoor adventures and explorations. My adolescent brain was forever in discovery-mode. I played with kids of mixed ages in my neighborhood. Our parents gave us the freedom to ride our bicycles to the nearby swimming pool, parks, and stores where we engaged with adults and resolved conflicts on our own. This independence was an amazing feeling. I gained the skills necessary to become a confident, self-reliant, and dependable person. One specific memory I have about turning 13 is the trust I earned from my parents to babysit for families who lived outside of my immediate neighborhood. Until then all my babysitting was done on the block I lived on and only until 11pm!

I think schools may be at fault for curbing feelings of independence and autonomy in children. I have always believed that middle schoolers would benefit from a much needed lunch recess. Middle schoolers tend to stay after school to participate in sports or clubs-structured activities led by teachers or coaches. After dinner they might have a music lesson or sports practice. It’s no wonder free play has become endangered.

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While reading, I found myself thinking about how important unsupervised play is- especially at the primary grades- at building childhood independence. As teachers, we hear a lot about our test scores. We are challenged to consider which students are making expected growth and which aren't, and to come up with the "why." We have to learn to walk before we can run. Students need a foundation to build social skills, learn to overcome anxiety in a natural/ authentic way, and figure out how to become self-governing adults. I see my students struggle with turn-taking, exercising patience, and problem-solving when things don't go their way. If they don't learn and practice these skills as children, when will they learn them?

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This quote, '"We are forever elsewhere'" really captured the essence of the opening. Students can be bothered to check the directions or make sure they answered all the questions because they are just thinking about what else they want to do on their devices (even when device use is not an approved option). If another student has an accommodation or is working on an alternate assignment, students will ask indignantly why the other student gets to be on their computer, rather than focusing on their own work. Students will come to me unable to focus on their work because they can't stop thinking about the rude comments on Roblox from a classmate, or being kicked out of a text thread, etc. It really does feel like keeping their attention on their learning is becoming exponentially more difficult because their minds are everywhere else.

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In my time teaching middle school French, some of the changes that I have seen in students include students being anxious or frustrated.  This is especially true  when assigned a writing prompt if they didn’t think that they could finish it quickly or 100% correctly.  The students want instant feedback!  I also try to teach them that there is more than one way to write something!  They really only think in black and white.  I have also avoided some technology in my classes, especially when it comes to writing, because it is too easy for students to try and Google Translate answers and some still wonder how I know that it isn’t their work.

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I was also a middle schooler in the 70's, it was sooo different. I went to friend's houses and we took the "free bus" to the mall. We went roller skating...but honestly my parents were probably unaware of exactly where we were. And of course with this freedom we felt great. Sure we had the conflicts etc. but all was resolved amongst the friend group, not the parents being involved. I think that schools can start by offering more parenting classes. If parents can listen to a professional who can explain the need for students to become independent thinkers and resolve issues on their own, that might help. Honestly, students need to go through difficulty at this age, it will absolutely teach them the skills to be resilient and have grit for their future! - Lisa Sasso

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There have been many instances over the past few years that support this idea of a "great rewiring" in our classrooms. The beginning of the day is meant to be filled with chatter, connection, and preparing for the day for my students. And I've noticed with my fifth graders that there are some students that now enter the room and immediately try to open up their Chromebooks and engage with tech rather than with their peers (as I repeatedly tell them to close their devices and talk to the people right in front of them). Out on the playground it is very noticeable which students go home and immediately engage on a device as opposed to those who are in clubs, sports, or other interactive activities. They don't know HOW to play with others and it's really hard to see sometimes. Those same children also are sometimes exposed to content online that is inappropriate for their age. And when they try to use language or phrases that they are repeating from what they saw online, they can get into trouble because they don't have the understanding of the meaning behind what they are seeing. Oftentimes students are repeating something that got a big reaction online, but they don't have the context of WHY it got a big reaction, and they don't have the maturity to realize that it may have been inappropriate in some way. The claim that "overprotection in the real world and underprotection in the virtual world - are the major reasons why children born after 1995 became the anxious generation" really hits home with what I've been seeing lately. A little girl walking her dog around the block will make the news because how DARE she be allowed to do that alone, and yet students in elementary school are able to access pornography from their iPad in the safety of their bedroom...it's disheartening to see our children growing up in this way, knowing that as their teacher we can only help in so many ways, we can't control what happens outside of school.

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I'm a millennial, and was my students' age in the late 90s, and yet I still had a very similar childhood to those coworkers who are sharing about their experiences in the 70s/80s - it was the time of "don't come home until the street lights come on", where I was playing with the neighborhood kids in the street, in the woods exploring behind my house, and bike rides to the parks and libraries. Any interactions with peers, positive or negative, I figured out on my own without parents stepping in to mediate during those "free play" periods of time, and I felt so much less reliant on adults to fight my battles for me. I remember our elementary school even had a "peer mediators" club that I was a part of, where we listened to grievances :) that happened during the school day and attempted to help other students understand and resolve their conflicts. Not sure if this would be something parents would push back on at all within today's school environment, but it could be something to try. I feel like schools and specifically admin today feel such pressure from the parent community to keep their children safe (both physically and emotionally) that it hinders our ability as educators to let the kids work through their conflicts without some adult stepping in to manage it.

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One thing that stood out to me in the intro was the quote "social media use does not just correlate with mental illness; it causes it." He says this specifically about girls. This past weekend I was in Lake Geneva, reading this book by the pool. A young woman started chatting with me about the book. She is a dietician who works at a clinic that specializes in helping young girls overcome eating disorders on the Northshore. She said that it is becoming an epidemic in young girls because of social media. Girls are constantly comparing themselves to others, and are being bombarded with carefully curated images of influencers. They are striving for perfection- which doesn't exist. This is directly linked to what he is saying about the end of a play-based childhood. Young adults are spending their time in their phones, starting at a younger age. The other thing that really stuck out to me in chapter 1 was the statistics in the rise of mental illness among young adults and how it coincides with social media access on their smartphones. In particularly, what I found so interesting was the that in 2010 iPhone introduced the front facing camera. This made it easier for people to take "selfies" and videos of themselves. This is when we see a huge rise in self-harm, especially among girls. They are no longer spending the majority of their time in the "real world" but rather, on social medial.

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The " great rewiring" is sadly creeping down to even the "littles". As someone who teaches k-5th I see it both in the amount of kids who have smart phones/watches in 2nd and 3rd grade and also in the choice of activities after a lesson. After a lesson in the LMC students are given time to checkout a book and then quietly read it. Typically the younger ones ( k and 1st) are happy to read their book, but I have noticed 2nd and up ask about getting on their devices to either play a game or do an activity online rather than use the time to read.

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I notice the Great Rewiring in various topics that I teach in health. When I try to explain various ideas to students with regards to social health, depression & anxiety and body image, I often have to talk about before cell phones and after. My students have never called a friends house and briefly talked to their friends parents while they waited for their friends to get to the phone. Few of my students can recall knocking on a door to see if a friend is free to play. I have explained that camera's were exciting because you wouldn't know how a picture would turn out until it came back from the developer. Now students have so much instant gratification, filters and digital communication, that it is interesting to talk to them about ways that can almost 'fight' the Great Rewiring.

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In my experience working with students, I have observed a concerning lack of effort put into their assignments. Many students rush through their work just to finish quickly, often so they can avoid homework and get back to playing games on their Chromebooks. Additionally, I have noticed a decline in academic stamina and endurance among students. Instead of attempting to solve problems independently, they often raise their hands almost immediately to ask for help. I believe that the transition back to in-person schooling after COVID has worsened this situation.

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When I was in middle school I was reguarly babysitting. I am cousin #10 out of 31. By age 11, I would frequently be left in charge of 5-7 cousins younger than me while my parents and aunts & uncles went out for dinner. This was obviously family and we all just played games for a few hours until the parents returned and we all went to bed. None the less, I was a middle schooler in charge. I was also a regular babysitter for other families at the age of 12, I had 2 older sisters who would babysit and as time passed and they got busier, I would step in to help families out and by 13 I had quite a few regular clients. Besides babysitting in middle school I was also able to ride my bike anywhere and I definitely traveled some questionable roads to get to friends houses. Thinking back, I never really thought much of it. It all seemed like a thing to do at that age. I definitely wasn't overly anxious or fearful, I just did what the adults in my life expected me to do. I think schools can help this process by providing parents with research based information on how to support their students. I frequently say we have a parenting crisis because we cannot relay on older generations for guidance. The amount of change that has occurred has left parents floundering and I believe schools/school districts should be part of the solution! We should be working to provide parents will research backed ideas and tools that support raising healthy 21st century kids. Not all families will use the resources provided, but collective action by multiple families can start things in the right direction.

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I am Gen X and was my students' age in the 80s. I had much more freedom than it seems my students do. I could walk or bike to a friend's house and, since no one had cell phones, not check for hours. My parents would drop me off at the mall with my friends. Thinking back on that time, I think it felt good to know that my parents trusted me. It would make sense that today's teens don't feel that level of trust, confidence, and independence because parents monitor there whereabouts constantly and don't give them the freedom to go places on their own or with friends. Honestly, it makes me grateful that I grew up in the times that I did.

I think it is quite the challenge for schools to counteract this, but I think we're headed in that direction by offering more student choice. That tells the students that we trust them to decide what will work best for them. As teachers, we can be there for the students as they face challenges and struggles, but we don't need to solve all of them. Of course, the parents and admin also need to be on board.

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I have noticed a shift in the amount of students with anxiety and depression in the classroom. Students, just like adults, are constantly around technology. Whether it's their Chromebooks, their phones, smart watches, airpods, etc. The loss of independence in children because of it is apparent. They quite literally have all the answers they could need in the palm of their hands, however, they aren't learning to problem solve. This is problematic in many different ways, but it does feed into all aspects of life for them.

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I think about this question often actually... I am right on the cusp of a Millennial and Gen Z. When I was in middle school (2006-2009), my friends and I had free range to do just about anything that we wanted to (if we could get there on our bikes, ha). We had flip phones that were only limited to texting and calling, with limited messaging and phone calls. However, we carried them around to check in with our parents when we got to our destination. I was recently sharing a story how my friends and I went on a PACE bus from Schaumburg to Six Flags without our parents during middle school. It's crazy to me to think about some of my students doing that 🤣. Looking back, I don't think I felt a particular way about it, but it's nice to look back and know that my parents trusted us. I did have some sort of safety net carrying around a phone, however, they were hardly used when I was actually out with my friends.

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I teach 7 and 8 year olds.  The biggest thing that my parents trusted me to do at that age was to walk home from school with my sister and friends that lived nearby.  We lived just under a mile from the school.  I didn’t really think of the freedom entrusted to me at that age because it was just the way it was. This was 1984.  I do not think schools today would willingly allow such freedom. For a good part of the year, we are asked to walk our students out the door and wait until each student finds their “person”. There are some groups of kids that meet older siblings to walk in a group, but a group of 7 year olds would definitely be questioned out of concern for the students’ safety.

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When I was in junior high during the 80's I was expected to complete daily chores without incentives (like earning money, screen time, time with peers). I was expected to complete all my homework, ask teachers if I needed help, wake up on time, and so on. I stayed out late at night playing ghost in the graveyard, SPUD, kick the can, Statue Maker...I walked home from school and trudged through the snow and rain. When I look back, I can honestly say my confidence grew as my independency increased. Today, students are incentivized to do so much. Parents are constantly emailing about homework questions, asking for due date extensions, and requesting teacher support during lunch periods/after school. Schools can counteract by providing students with more opportunities to be responsible and independent. Students need to be expected to reach out to their teachers when they have a question or a need, not the parents. They can choice an email, paper note, or a voice mail message if face to face is too uncomfortable. Sitting with discomfort is healthy. Even if I child is nervous/anxious to reach out to their teacher, they need to be the one doing this. In return, they will feel a sense of accomplishment. My motto on my daily agenda for the last 3 years has been: sit with discomfort, persevere, and be resilient (DPR). Schools also need to help parents understand the benefits of discomfort, perseverance, and resiliency. When I communicate with parents, I always loop back to DPR.

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Growing up, we had a ton of kids on our block, and we spent most days running around the neighborhood. We lived down the street from a park, so we often played unsupervised at the park or climbed trees. We bopped around from house to house, usually playing games outside like capture the flag, ghost in the graveyard, or kick the can. We rode our bikes freely around town, going to the local swimming pool or spending what little money we had at the local diner or Walgreens. We definitely lived a play-based childhood filled with discovery and natural opportunities for problem solving and risk taking.

Although I think there are some legitimate safety protocols that schools have to follow from a liability standpoint, I think trying to micromanage their play as seen in Figure 3.10 on p. 90, prohibits students from learning how to work out some of the issues that naturally arise through unstructured play. For schools, I think it’s a delicate balance between providing students with opportunities for independence while fulfilling their obligation to keep students safe while at school.

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When I was 10/11 years old, I was walking and riding my bike to friends houses, the park, the little convenience mart, etc. My friends and I spent hours hanging out at the park and riding our bikes all around the neighborhoods. We would play in each other's yards or somewhere on the street with kids of all ages until it got dark out. I was allowed to walk or bike home even after dark if my parents knew when I was planning to be home. I learned how to stand up for myself, work through conflicts with friends, manage small amounts of money to buy slurpees and snacks on occasion, and manage my time. While schools can't provide this sort of experience, they can stop helicoptering and micromanaging recess, allow older students to walk themselves to their bus at the end of the day, and promote the positives of fostering perseverance and grit.

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I grew up in the late 70s and 80s. We spent our days running around the neighborhood, meeting kids at the park, playing kick the can in the street, etc. Parents would check on the kids every few hours, but otherwise, we were allowed to have our own adventures without parents getting involved. Now, including myself, parents live in a state of fear. We put GPS chips on our kids to keep track of where they are/what they are doing. Of course this fear would then be translated to our children. It never occurred to me that my fears would be translated to my children. Reading these chapters really resonated with me.

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When I was 8, my parents trusted me to ride my bike with my friend and go to the local pool ALONE! It seems crazy now, but back then that was just the way it was. If you had working parents, you were left home alone at a young age and parents just trusted ( or prayed alot that you could be trusted!). Instead of cell phones we had a dime to use at a pay phone, in case of an emergency. I think when I was young, I just felt free, free to do what I wanted ( within reason) and we learned how to fill our time with our own creativity.

I think school sometimes counteract this by structuring most of the students time so kids are rarely left to their own to fiugure out how to fill their time. There is very little risk in school these days, so students do not learn to take chances, risks and gain confidence from that.

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I was in middle school in the early 90's and was afforded a lot of freedom, partly because I was responsible, but also because I was 1 of 4 kids and my parents were stretched thin. We rode our bikes to school (without our parents), rode to our friends houses, stayed out until it was dark and knew that was when we should come home. I remember when I was around 12-13 my mom allowed me to babysit my younger brothers (3 and 6 years younger) by myself. That was the first time I truly felt that trusted me to make good and right decisions. It made me feel older, like I wasn't a "kid" anymore and also that I could take on more responsibilities beyond that.

I think the best thing we can do for our student is to put them in difficult situations that they need to problem solve their way out of. I have an incoming 3rd grader and at all of his parent/teacher conferences I ask the teacher to put him in difficult situations, groups he may not be comfortable in, etc to allow him the chance to problem solve in a safe place. I know parents struggle to watch their kids struggle, I get that. But I also know that if we don't allow them to figure things out, we aren't raising the problem solvers or innovation seekers that we need. Since last summer when my son turned 7, we've allowed him to ride his bike to his friends houses and that has given him such a sense of responsibility and has made him feel more grown up. I've watched him take on bigger tasks because he knows we trust him. I'd love to see more of that!

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When I was in middle school, we would ride our bikes everywhere and hang out at friends' houses or the plaza close by. Once in a while, we would get dropped off at Northbrook Court to roam the stores. We had to use a pay phone or landline to check in. We would get dropped off at Great America for the day, and our parents just assumed everything would be all right. I loved the merry-go-round (78). Which is. now deemed too dangerous.

We didn't go out to eat much because we ate as a family at home. The reference on page 99 of the family that sis "alone together" is one that stuck out. It bothers me when I see families at restaurants on their phones or a tablet playing a movie. Why not just stay home?

Now my own children had to check in and let me know where they were most of the time. If I don't hear from them, I would call or check their location. a whole new ball game.

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The idea of a Great Rewiring makes perfect sense. It was really interesting to read about, and to make the connections looking at the data and thinking about my personal experience. I had a couple of students this year comment on a game I had in my classroom called "Rush Hour" - they said they knew how to play it, but had only played it online. My game was the same concept, just physical cars to move and not just on the screen. It was so interesting how engaged they were -- one even commented on how this one was better than the one on his mom's phone. It makes me wonder how many students choose board games before iPhone games at home -- or even during free time at school. I thought of this moment right away when reading about how children spend less time physically playing now, and that this is the result of the Great Rewiring.

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When I was younger, my parents allowed me to babysit, hang out with friends, and bike around the neighborhood. I loved the independence, and it made me feel respected, confident, and responsible. I had to solve problems on my own and overcome challenges. A part of the book that resonated with me was the idea of the "discover" mode vs. the "defend" mode. I grew up in the "discover" mode. It seemed like an easier time without the increase in technology. If you had a challenge, you handled it. Period. You couldn't escape reality or avoid it. You were forced to overcome challenges and deal with issues. Schools might counteract this by intervening too often and by not providing experiences where children practice utilizing conflict resolution/problem-solving skills.

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I am Gen X, but I had a little different experience growing up. I rode the bus to school after 5th grade, and I didn't have any friends who lived nearby. My parents both worked and no one was home after school. Mostly I stayed inside or in the backyard after school and did homework, read books, did chores, or ate junk. I didn't start exploring on my own until high school. I was impressed with figure 3.11 on page 92 about the Attachment System. I don't feel that growing up I had the "secure base" at home that let me feel safe and confident to reach out. I think my parents practiced what might be called "benign neglect," in that they were pretty busy all the time with their own things. Besides having dinner as a family and going to church on Sundays, we were pretty much left alone because they were too busy to spend time with us. My parents left us to figure a lot of things out on our own, but they were pretty critical, so I think I worried that if I didn't "get it right," I would get in trouble. I became a pretty shy and introverted kid, something that I'm still trying to shake off in adulthood.

I think everyone has offered great ideas of what schools can implement to help students solve more problems on their own and grow responsibility and maturity. Middle school recess, peer mediation/remediation, and research-based parent education could all be offered to combat safetyism and smartphones.

One more thought: I think my own, let's call it "more attentive" style of parenting was brought out by my own feeling of being benignly neglected during my own childhood. I do monitor my kids more, and spend more time with them by far than my own parents did me, but I also try to get them more opportunities to make their own decisions and grow in new experiences. This book has so far been really helpful to me as a parent.

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The biggest shifts that I have noticed with my students are the need for instant gratification and the lack of problem-solving skills (or the stamina to try), and I see these in all the elementary grades (K-5). They want to be done with their activity as quickly as possible without very much concern or effort, and some even want to throw them away before they leave because they were so uninterested in the activity if it wasn't specifically a game on their device. They will sometimes even ask before we start the lesson if there is going to be a game to play at the end with audible groans if I tell them no. There are others who have developed this learned helplessness so the moment they start to struggle, they want someone or something else to figure it out for them, either a teacher, another student, or Google/AI for the answer. I haven't been teaching for that long, but even in my 11 years, there is a noticeable shift from the way my students were able to handle challenges when I started teaching to now.

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I also was a child of the 70s/80s. My mom and dad both worked, so no one was home with us in the summer. Some of the kids in my neighborhood had stay-at-home moms, but these kids also had little supervision, as those moms were doing chores or watching soap operas. We would get on our bikes and explore, ride into town for candy, etc. At the time, it was just what we did, but looking back, it made us very independent. We had played with different ages. We learned to problem solve, negotiate, etc. As long as we were at the dinner table by 6 pm and back home when the parents called from the back porch, life was good. In HS, I walked about 1.5 miles to work, then got picked up by my mom on her way home. I did a lot of babysitting from age of 11 --including overnight on New Year's Eve.

The current climate doesn't allow for kids to make many mistakes without everyone knowing---it's caught on camera! On the reverse--kids can look up how to do anything right from their phones. We allow students to use this instant access to knowledge in school, but rarely give space for making mistakes.--Shaun

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I was in middle school in the late 80s and we rode our bikes everywhere. We rode them into town to watch a movie, to school, to the pool, to friends' houses, the park, practice...you name it! I even rode my bike each morning to tennis camp at the high school which was several miles away. I loved this independence and freedom. In the summer, I'd hop on my bike with my towel slung over my shoulder. No bag. Pool Pass pinned to towel. Money in my shoe for a snack. We would return when the pool closed for the dinner hour. It was really awesome. We'd eat with our families and then one by one neighbors would spill out of their homes. Ghost in the Graveyard, Kick the Can, tennis under the lights. Baseball games. I loved every minute of it! I wish childhood today would be less programmed. I played one sport per season and still had plenty of time to play or hang out with friends. We went to church, my siblings' games and enjoyed loads of free time. Not sure if this would work but everything about middle school is programmed. I would love to see element of choice perhaps at lunch. Like and "open campus" feel within the building. I also really would love to see an outdoor ed overnight brought back. Lorado Taft was so very valuable for so many reasons.

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I was born in 1980. We used to play outside by ourselves all the time. We would walk down the street to play at the school nearby, other parks, and with friends. We also used to walk home for lunch by ourselves (something totally not allowed these days). Also, I can't quite remember at what age I started to do this, but my siblings and I used to ride over half a mile to the 7-11 to get slurpees. We had to ride down a street a little more industrial, but always managed fine.

Now it seems that kids worry about that independence or can't make decisions without help from an adult. I have young kids and I am aware of this constant hovering. I am trying to give a little more space and encourage simple tasks such as delivering something to a neighbor or riding around the park across the street on their own. Kids are constantly relying on us to solve their problems because they don't have practice doing it on their own. I think schools need to find ways to give more ownership with tasks around the school.

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Growing up in the '70's was naturally different from today. We were responsible for getting ourselves up on time, preparing meals (no door-dash), following parental directives, and making rational decisions. We actually had pets that WE took care of. My parents would not bail me out if I were "too busy" to care for a pet. We had fish, guinea pigs, cats, dogs, turtles; all the kid-type animals, and we were expected to take care of them. We also had close ties to relatives and cared for them, too. We lived in a neighborhood close to Lake Michigan and rode our bikes everywhere. We went to the beach without parental supervision. I had a paper route, worked at a florist shop, babysat, and raised money going door-to-door asking for soda bottles at Christmastime to earn money. No one handed us anything. It was also our responsibility to do our homework and keep up our grades. We took personal responsibility, and it gave us a sense of autonomy. We could make mistakes and then be responsible for fixing them to the best of our abilities.

In contrast, today's adolescents have many after-school activities that are highly structured. They don't have the free time to play or just relax. This free time demanded that we occupy ourselves. Our parents weren't there to "fix" everything for us. We fixed it as we were capable. Sometimes we failed, but we learned from our mistakes. On p.89, the cartoon caption reads, "We've created a safe, nonjudgmental environment that will leave your child ill-prepared for real life." This is where we can change our actions in classrooms to counteract what children experience in school. I use a "fail-forward" attitude with students. When parents come to open house at the beginning of the year, I explain the concept of Failing-forward. Students may fail a task, a test, or an activity, but we should not fix it for them. Help them understand WHY they failed. Then put ownership on the child to change what they did, learn from their mistakes, and do it differently in the future. That is where real learning takes place. This will also require strong support from administration.

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When I was in elementary school, I remember being trusted to roam around the neighborhood on my bike and play at the park or at a friend's house independently. I have very fond memories of going door to door in the neighborhood and asking if so and so could play. I also grew up in a very active neighborhood, and if someone's garage door was open, that meant they were around to socialize; adults and kids alike. When I was in middle school, I was allowed to walk downtown from school and even ride my bike to the nearby Culver's, which required me to cross a somewhat busy street. I remember feeling less like a "kid" and more like a "young adult".

I remember my childhood being very unstructured and free. I think students today are used to having every second of every day planned and structured for them in schools. They don't know what to do with themselves without a choice board or a clear guideline of what to do next. I think to counteract this, schools could provide more unstructured "free" time for students to learn how to be bored and discover their creativity and imagination.

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I am in Gen Z and have been teaching 5th graders the last two school years. When I was in 5th grade, I would walk with my friends to the library after school as it was a quarter mile away from our school. We would do our homework, but mostly mess around and get in trouble with the librarians. I would either get picked up by my mom or walk home. Hanging out with friends required my mom to know beforehand as it usually required her to drive us around. We would go to the mall and hang out together, but my mom would be in a store in the mall separate from us so she could drive us back. It wasn't until I was in late middle school/beginning high school that I started to bike around town with my friends. I don't remember an urgency of staying safe or being back by a specific time. We always had fun and then it just happened to be time to go!

I teach a small portion of 5th graders, so I'm not sure if their experience is universal, but it seems like they do not hang out with their friends that much. Every Monday I ask them about their weekends and they may share about having sports competitions and being with family, but never mention going to a friend's house or going around town. Once a student shared with me for her birthday she went to her best friend's house, got her nails done by the older sister for a few hours, and then LEFT! I was so confused about them not doing anything else to celebrate her birthday... They know how to do popular TikTok dances together, but then they get into huge arguments on the playground during the school day due to lack of problem solving and conflict resolution skills. This ends with the adults having to step in and solve the problems.

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I immigrated from South Korea in the late 70s. My sister and I did not think that it was "cool" for our mom to walk us to school when we lived in the city, so we walked to and from school on our own. We were latchkey kids since both our parents worked, so we had a lot of freedom and responsibilities growing up. We did a lot more chores than most kids do today. Then, when we moved to the northwest suburbs when I was 8, we hung out with the neighborhood kids aged 8-15. We learned to communicate, compromise, argue, and resolve issues on our own without involving our parents.

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I was in middle school during the late 1970s. I lived in the suburbs for both 6th and 7th grades before moving back to the city for 8th grade. I remember doing many of the same things that other Gen Xers mentioned this week. I had to either take a bus, ride my bike, or walk to get to different places. Whenever I went out, I needed to inform my parents of my whereabouts and had to be home before dark.

I had more responsibilities, especially since both my parents worked. I looked after my younger brother and sister, did chores, and even went to the neighborhood store for groceries. During the summer, my siblings and I delivered flyers for a local pizza place. While we lived in the suburbs, I had to get to the bus stop in time to catch the bus to school. Once we moved to the city, it was even more important for me to leave the house promptly to get to school on time. I don’t recall exactly how I felt during that time; I simply did what was expected of me, knowing there would be consequences if I didn't.

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When I was a middle school student, I was trusted to do a lot. I went on the roof to clean pine needles out of the gutters, I mowed the lawn, babysat my younger cousins, made chicken dinners, went on hikes in the woods (northern Wisconsin), and explored our surroundings with my friends. My mom never interrogated me about my whereabouts, she never grilled me on safety issues- she just trusted me. Yes- I made a few mistakes, but when I made a mistake, I felt shame, and then I learned from that shame. I wanted to be trusted by my mom and especially my grandparents, so I just learned how to do things. I loved it. The funny thing is, I lived in a home with a single-parent, and we did not have money, yet I feel that my childhood was better than the childhood that my children are experiencing. My teenage daughter is constantly in a love/hate relationship with social media and modern pressures, and I feel trapped in a cycle of allowing screen time and then taking it away.

I think schools might start to counteract the loss of play and independence by allowing kids to have recess, allowing them to make mistakes and earn bad grades, and to reduce to use of screens in the classroom. I would love to see the rebirth of textbooks! Which brings to me to a point that I think needs to be addressed- digital reading and digital work is a nightmare for kids with executive functioning issues or ADHD. It is near impossible to expect a young person who is easily distracted to NOT be distracted when we hand him/her the internet.

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The freedom growing up was empowering and fun! Two of my favorite activities was neighborhood tag and kick the can. All the kids in the neighborhood would come together nightly and play together. Our parents trusted us and left us to figure things out on our own.

I found myself nodding in agreement to the text about risky play and how mistakes are at a low cost. My class motto is, "Mistakes are welcome here." We remind one another of that phrase often. With that in mind, next year I'm going to focus more on not giving as many reminders to be careful or watch out. In the book it said, "Small mistakes promote growth and learning." Hopefully this will help foster more independence, confidence, and problem solving!

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When I was middle school age in the 90s, my parents trusted me to do a few things on my own—like walking or biking to friends’ houses, going to the nearby stores- sometimes just to hang out, and often babysitting neighbors’ kids. They also let me hang out at the mall with friends, as long as I was back to the meet up location on time!

Being trusted with those responsibilities made me feel grown-up and capable. It was exciting to have a bit of independence, and I liked that my parents believed I could handle it. It also helped me learn how to make decisions and take care of myself in small ways, which gave me confidence.

I do remember peer mediation programs at school and attending special programs like Operation Snowball that encouraged leadership through self-awareness, responsible decision-making and positive peer influence.

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When I was my students' age, I was riding my bike with my friends and siblings, hanging out at the park across the street, and skipping rocks in the creek by Lake Arlington. We knew it was time to come home when it started to get dark and we heard my dad whistle from the front porch. My parents knew where we were, trusted us, and we felt comfortable and safe in our neighborhood to play freely and come up with our own adventures.

Schools might counteract this freedom by having rules, agendas, overflowing curriculum that needs to be followed and completed in a given time frame, and assessments. There is less and less time for "PL," art projects, and those fun and engaging experiences that make school extra fun and exciting. Classrooms need to have clear behavior expectations so teaching can take place and pacing guides can be followed. I am finding there are 3 types of parents these days. The first is the helicopter parents who don't let their children breathe and jump in before even giving them a chance to figure something out on their own. The second is the parents you hear from rarely, who are informed about what is going on at school, and you know they are offering support at home even if you don't hear from them regularly. The third type is the drop-off parent, who drops their child off at school and picks them up at the end of the day. They aren't engaged, don't seem to care about their child's learning, and feel it is "the teacher's job" to teach them (and the teacher's job alone.) They take no responsibility for their child's behavior, offer zero support, and then the child feels the rules at school don't apply to them, because they don't receive any consequences. Teachers struggle to find a happy medium for this range of students/parents, and it's sad when a few kids who can't/won't follow the rules shift the tone of the whole classroom.

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Since 5th graders have had access to their own Chromebooks in my classroom, it has been easier as their teacher to share information, resources, activities, and assessments quickly.  My reliance on them being on tech has dramatically increased, which I noticed especially when it was about time to turn in their tech in the last week or so of school!  Any worksheet, reading passage, writing prompt, video, resource etc. is available for me to upload and post on Google Classroom in a moment (or ahead of time). In terms of my daily planning it allows me to schedule activities in advance, and keep track of assessments and grades digitally.  Typing feedback on a Google Doc assignment can be quicker than handwriting it on a piece of paper, and Google Forms automatically grades multiple choice questions allowing me to just focus on written responses for assessments.

However that reliance has turned a solution for teachers into a problem for students, who are now more comfortable sitting next to each other on their device but not interacting with their classmates.  They will put on headphones to either listen to music when allowed, or to block out the natural noises of a classroom.  It can take away from the natural interactions they would otherwise have with their classmates.  When students are asked to utilize online encyclopedias or other resources for a research project, they have been copying/pasting or using the AI now embedded in Google’s search engine to give them the answers instantly.  They lack the skills to critically evaluate the information that is given to them, and they don’t even really know how to use the information they do get if it doesn’t exactly match the question they are trying to answer.  Screens have effectively taken away students’ ability to think critically  and solve problems, and diminished their motivation and drive to perservere through challenges when most information is given so quickly and easily.

Because of these observations my teammates and I did a few “tech resets” throughout the year when we didn’t use Chromebooks at all for a week or so.  While it was a nice change we as teachers still weren’t totally prepared to go completely screen-free with students, but it’s definitely something that we plan to do again throughout the next school year. It’s not a solution but still allowed students the chance to interact more with their physical environment.

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I grew up in the 80's-90's. In the summer I was constantly riding my bike to my friends' houses, I didn't have every second of my day scheduled for me, and I had a lot of household chores. Both of my parents worked, so in 5th grade I was trusted to come home by myself and I would stay home for an hour or so until my mom got home. I teach elementary aged students. I think one of the biggest things that is different now, is that students have every second of the their lives scheduled. They don't have as much free time. They aren't as encouraged to be independent thinkers, or be bored. I think kids now are so used to instant gratification from using iPads and watching youtube, etc. Most elementary students have watches that parents use to track where they are and to communicate with them. As a parent myself, of two 10 year olds, this has been the summer that they have been riding their bikes with friends, and have been given more independence. We got them a watch so we can know where they are. This wasn't something that was part of my childhood. I also think that many of our student population go from school, to daily extra curricular activities. So they're used to being told what to do. They also aren't playing as much. This is why we see so many issues during recess and lunch. Students aren't having play dates, they aren't learning conflict resolution- they are going from one structured activity to the next. I think we need to build more unstructured play time into our students' day. I also think it is important that we continue with SEL, and giving students classroom jobs.

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Screens do help my students in a positive way. For example, since I teach Italian, and vocabulary has to be memorized... in addition to making flashcards, we use different online resources to aid in vocabulary learning. So my students are required to use the different websites at home for 10-15 minutes a night. In the classroom, I use these same resources to have my students play games using their vocabulary or it's great for a warm up. This year we also have been using an online resource to assess students' speaking ability. This helps me so that I can listen to the students speaking on-line and give them more thoughtful feedback.

The problem I have is that in the classroom when there is any down time, the chrome books are immediately opened, and when I am ready to teach I have to wait until all chrome books are closed.

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Screens can be helpful in the classroom in many ways. As a teacher, I rely on having my daily agenda slides to share with the students, and it's great for students who are absent to be able to access the day's plans and activities (if they choose to take advantage of that). I also much prefer reading and providing feedback to the students' essays and stories on the computer; I appreciate not having to take home a stack of papers. It's also great for me to see all the technological knowledge and creativity students have when doing projects on the screen. I think they enjoy being able to show their teacher how to do something new on the computer!

Not surprisingly, screens also create a lot of frustrations and problems. I find too many students immediately trying to use AI to create writing for them, even when it's a very low-stakes, ungraded assignment. They just want a finished product and don't realize the value of the process, even when I stress that. I also find students trying to game on the Chromebooks when they get to class early even though they're not supposed to, and then they don't want to close their computer when class starts. For some of the students, being redirected for this really causes emotional dysregulation, too.

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When I was middle-school age, my parents trusted me to stay close to home with friends. That said, they were always more strict with me than my brother, who is ~9 years older and born in 1979. Part of that was because I was more active socially than he was growing up -- but it was also many years later (1999-2002 for middle school). There was an unspoken expectation to maintain grades and school involvement. I had chores around the house -- taking ownership of my space and keeping it clean (wherever I was) and polishing furniture. I have seen more "hand-holding" at schools (adult/student) than what I recall when I was a middle school student -- among both teachers and parents. There should be a feeling of student responsibility and ownership, though I'm not sure we're there yet. I believe schools should instill trust in students and help them feel ownership. My son is 3.5 years old and everyone in his class is assigned a daily job at daycare. He has his favorites, such as "teacher helper," "line leader" or "door holder." It is wonderful to get them started with responsibility at a young age!

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In years past, the library was open during lunch periods as an optional location for students to relax, connect with other kids, play board games, or work on homework. We've since paused this use of the LMC for various reasons, but (if I am being totally honest) one major reason is that we lost trust in kids to use Chromebooks responsibly. I felt like I needed to monitor very closely, and that wasn't a great situation. I have a goal to offer the LMC as an optional location for kids who need a break, but I think this will simply be screen-free due to the track record.

I'd love for busy kids to use the LMC to work on schoolwork, but that may take time. I think so much of what we do in middle school is based on what this age level can and cannot handle. I think it is interesting to see the subtle yet significant shifts in responsibility when kids enter high school. "Open" periods, access to phones, "open campus" for lunch, backpacks brought to class are just a few that I can think of off the top of my head. Is this a maturity that comes with age? Can we establish and foster these responsibilities and expectations?

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The study of adolescence and sleep has interested me for years. Our book briefly mentions the ramifications of sleep deprivation. The American school system is just not set up with teens in mind. Starting middle school at 7:45 is counterintuitive to adolescent development. As teens develop, their sleep cycle changes. They are naturally prone to staying up late and sleeping longer in the morning. This is not just because of screen time, but because of hormones. Add the addictive nature of screens at bedtime, and you have an exhausted teen at school. As adults, we work less optimally when we are exhausted. Take that scenario and impose it on a teenager, and the result is, as Jonathan Haidt states, "depression...aggression...behavior problems" (p. 125). I was surprised to read "the effects were larger for girls" because I see this play out in the classroom more with boys. In my dream teacher-world, students would stay off screens after school and then benefit more from the screen usage in class. It is an engaging way for students to learn.

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One of the things I see more often in the LMC is the preference for boys in particular to go straight to playing games on their chromebooks instead of browsing during checkout. Very rarely do I give this as an option of how to use the last 5-7 min of class to do anything other than browse books/checkout/read. However some kids just try to find a out of the way place and open their chromebooks and just play. Not asking, just going for it.

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This is bringing back a vivid memory of a friend and I being dropped off at Randhurst for the afternoon at like 10-11. We were asked to take a survey and told they would pay us $5. It sounded like a good idea until the took us up to the top floor above the food court to an office. We both thought we were being kidnapped and each separately give fake names. My foolproof alias was Mary Smith, the teenager who was interviewing me was like "no way" that was the name I was using to practice with!" The point it is, we were trusted by our parents, and to the best of our ability were trying to protect our identities, even though this was a legit survey company. We felt so brave that we made it out alive! lol. Kids today look for parents to do things for them that they can do themselves. As a parent, I am guilty as well. They can make their own appointments, send a thank you message, interact with adults, etc.

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I think a lot about this - the things that my parents let me do that I wouldn't let my own girls do. I rode my bike everywhere starting in junior high school. I babysat till the wee hours of the morning for families who got my name from the park district after I took a babysitting class. It was just something we did at the time, and I didn't really think anything about it. After reading these chapters, I think about the things my parents let me do and how those experiences helped me grow. I want to provide more "antifragile" experiences, both in my classroom and at home. I hear my colleagues talk about how kids have a hard time problem solving and want everything done for them -- is that a result of the changes outlined in these chapters?

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Screens and the use of educational apps is extremely valuable. Students can access information faster and teachers can differentiate more easily. Kahoot and Blooket can engage the entire class and provide a way for all of your students to participate. Students are used to instant gratification outside of their school day, as teachers, we have to adapt and create learning experiences that mimic how many students are used to getting information. However, while screens are valuable, I think students can become almost obsessed with their devices. Technology should be a tool, and I think for many it becomes a crutch-a way that they don't need to engage with others. The use of learning apps can be extremely useful. But they also need to be used correctly. For example, iXL is a powerful learning tool. However, I watch students answer something incorrectly and then they don't read to see why they got the answer wrong-they just keep going. Where my own kids go to school, they use their chromebooks for everything. They even take their math tests on their chromebooks and have to upload photos of their work. I think it is a huge disservice to the students because they don't learn from their mistakes. When so much learning is done on a screen, you lose the opportunity to have discussions. In chapter 5, he described the four foundational harms of the phone-based childhood. One of the things he didn't touch on as much is the misinformation adolescents are getting from these social platforms. Now with the use of AI the misinformation is even worse. Chapter 6 reminded me of this quote: "Comparison is the thief of joy." We should all have that in our classrooms.

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During Covid eLearning, I transitioned how I prepared my lessons to completely using Google Slides (and now Canva sometimes too). All of my read aloud book pages are now scanned along with slides about the author, the learning objectives, video links, and anything else I share with students. This was necessary in the beginning as a way for the half of the class who were learning at home to see what I was sharing with the "in-person kids." It was a HUGE shift and very time consuming for me but in the long run, I love it. I often teach the same lesson 5-6 times each week, so it is worth the effort. I never forget key goals, even after the fatigue of teaching the lesson for the 6th time. 5 years later, I still do this now, all the kids can see the intricacies of beautifully illustrated pages of picture books, not just the kids in the front row on the rug. I still always (when possible) hold the book so they connect that this is indeed a book with pages, when I read to them. I work in elementary schools, more so in primary, their LMC class time is one of the only or few iPad experiences they have each week. I like to create interactive experiences with them regularl. I use nearpod ALL THE TIME, also seesaw, and lots of review games like Kahoot or Baamboozle. They are engaging and exciting. I also like to unplug too, putting out art supplies and crafts and puppets and other creative assignments like black out poetry have also be engaging as well. I like to find a balance. I know they are young so not as exposed to screens as intermediate and middle school, but offering a variety of lesson formats has been working well.

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Screens definitely help with certain things in the classroom. They make it easier to differentiate instruction, offer quick access to resources, and allow students to work at their own pace. Programs like IXL or Google Docs let students practice skills or revise writing more efficiently. For some students, screens give them the confidence to participate or explore ideas in ways they might not be able to on paper.

One problem with screens I see is that students are becoming more dependent on digital stimulation. I’ve noticed that some kids struggle to stay focused during activities that require patience, like reading a novel or having a meaningful group discussion. They’re used to fast input, and classroom learning can feel too slow in comparison.

Another concern is social development. Haidt talks about how screen time—especially when it replaces in-person play—can affect kids’ emotional growth. In class, that shows up as students avoiding eye contact, struggling to work in groups, or having a hard time resolving conflicts face-to-face.

That’s why I try to plan a “no-tech day” about once a month. I was initially inspired by Global School Play Day. On those days, we put the screens away and give students the chance to just play, create, and connect—with no agenda and no devices. It’s amazing to watch them build forts, invent games, write skits, or just laugh and figure out how to work together. Kids learn so much through play—things like problem-solving, communication, and collaboration—that screens just can’t teach. It’s not just a break from technology; it’s a chance to be fully present and practice those important connection skills.

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Screens have provided some wonderful tools for teaching, learning, efficiency, and accommodations. Using Google Translate, text to speech for kids who need things read aloud, quickly and more easily creating and sharing various leveled versions of assignments and assessments, and easy ways to share links and resources for all kids as they are in and out for special lessons, appointments, illness, band, etc. As mentioned by others, having some assignment or assessment questions auto-graded and being able to more easily push comments and requests for revisions back have been game-changing! However, students using AI and copying and pasting work that is not their own, obsessions with online games, sharing google docs with each other to "chat," searching memes and GIFS during class time, have all had a very negative impact on effort, accountability, behavior, and face to face interactions. Even limiting tech use during class only partially addresses this, as they are used to doing all these things at home as well.

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Having one-on-one Chromebooks has helped in many ways. I can post an assignment, and students have immediate access. I can reduce paper usage and provide immediate feedback to students. However, since the pandemic, I feel that students have become increasingly reliant on their screens all the time. If they finish an assignment instead of reading a book or doing a word game, they feel the only option is to be on their screens playing games. It is a battle I don't see being solved anytime soon.

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Screens in the classroom ( or LMC in my case) allow me to save a ton of paper ( think 100 copies a day) by having activities in Seesaw or Google Classroom, I can revise lessons more quickly and post a new one.

For some of my lessons they allow the kids to interact with some of our stories by visiting place all over the world via virtual field trip in Nearpod or VR goggles. It also allows me instant feedback to did the students understand the lesson/book by using interactive sites like Blooket and Time to Climb.

The problem screens create is students seem to expect to use them every week and depending on the task, can rush through the activities, whereas if I were to hand out a paper, they would need to complete it before being given the next one. The other prob bloem screens create is the constant negotiating of the students wanting time to go on their device to play games.

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Screens are helpful in many ways. One way is that students are able to access lessons, activities, and resources quickly and efficiently. A second way is that I'm able to differentiate activities to meet the diverse needs of my students. A third way is that students are truly engaged in activities such as Blooket or Gimkit. They enjoy creating questions and playing the review games. On the contrary, screens cause many problems. One problem is that students always want to be on their Chromebooks. They don't know how to handle "downtime." They immediately try to game on their device. Another problem is that students get frustrated and shut down if they are not entertained or having fun. "Tech-free" activities do not have the bells and whistles and provide the "dopamine hit" that using technology creates. Also, screens have negatively impacted students' ability to focus for a sustained time period. It is challenging to try to encourage my students to practice silent sustained reading even for twenty minutes. In sum, screens have positive and negative impacts on the learning environment.

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I find more challenges with screen time in my classroom. Problems created by tech include students struggling to remain on-task and task initiation, authentic work, and work completion. Supporting positive appropriate behavior is more challenging than ever before. The amount of time taken from students being their authentic selves is quite damaging. Having to spend more time 1:1 with a student discussing use of Chatgbt takes away from 1:1 time connecting with students in positive ways. Students also become more and more savvy with technology, so I often wonder what change is being made giving them a minor for these behaviors (and student reflection). I have been teaching for 30 years. Yes, I can say technology has offered some shortcuts and efficiency for teachers as well as accommodations for students. Some positive of technology include: assignments and assessments can be graded in seconds, lesson plans and worksheets can be created with ease, but is this truly helping me connect with my students and assess their knowledge? Technology supports students with accommodations, engagement can momentarily increase, and knew information is at student fingertips. To be transparent, if I want my students on less technology, then I should be modeling the same thing. Finding the balance is challenging.

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Technology can be helpful because there are always new apps, games, and online tools to learn and explore. Students are easily engaged and motivated. Tech can be a great tool for a quick snapshot of some student skills while teachers work with others in small groups. The feedback is quick and helpful.

The downside to technology is that attention spans are rapidly decreasing. The effects are alarming. Students can not sustain attention, engage in ongoing conversations, and their patience is thin.

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Third graders can become glued to their Chromebooks. They use iPads in second grade and so this is often their first experience having their own computer. I am torn about technology. There are so many benefits. Students can have access to research materials that often we do not have enough copies of at the library. They also can find doing the same activity that we could do on paper more motivating in a game format. That being said, students become addicted. I noticed this year when we would have indoor recess, most of the class would ask to use their Chromebooks instead of choosing a different activity. When on their computers, there was less social interaction. It was almost like they were parallel playing. I found this very concerning. I think it is important to be mindful of why and when they are using technology.

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I teach 1st grade and years ago I was wishing for some easy ways for the kids to practice subjects such as math. Now we have easy access to apps that allow kids to have extra practice at their level. It is wonderful and easy. We also have access to apps for reading practice and the kids can access good books.

However, I think these apps at the tips of our fingertips sometimes make for lazy teaching. It is really easy to default to putting the kids on app for practice rather than something that might be more engaging or screen free. I often give my students the choice of a few activities and some will always default to the screen. Meanwhile, some kids on the screen avoid the work and don't practice even though the screen is up. Screens can allow for the teacher to have time to work with individual kids, but sometimes they seem like a babysitter.

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There is a fine line is using tech in the classroom for sure. In 5th grade we rely heavily on google classroom and assign most things that way. I love the ease in which you can send an assignment to all kids and it automatically opens it with their name, ready for them to edit. I love that I can send out assignments that appear the same, but are slightly different and geared towards individual students without anyone noticing. Grouping on google classroom is easy and sending appropriate assignments to different groups silently is a great plus. Grading things on google classroom seems less tedious and goes faster than writing comments on each paper that comes through. There are some great websites and apps we’ve started utilizing more for practice and to use when we are meeting with small groups. Kids are skilled at navigating around their Chromebooks and all of the tech work they need to do to get an assignment is fairly easy.

The downside of using tech is of course the strain is puts on face to face interactions and conversations. Students choose to sit side by side on their devices instead of talking to each other. Around February we were having issues with misuse of technology so we went screen-free for a week. The kids were shocked at first aid a little angry, we made them keep their Chromebooks in their backpacks and they couldn’t take them out during the school day. As the week went on, kids started commenting on how much they liked being screenfree at school. It felt less stressful to them. Google classroom wasn’t constantly telling them they had something due. Kids were talking to start the day instead of looking at sports scores from the night before or clocking through google classroom. After that reset, my team began to think more about what NEEDED to be done online and what we could move offline. We stopped allowing devices before the bell rang at 9:10 and kids just conversed, read, drew, etc but they seemed to enjoy it. It is definitely more work for us as teachers as far as planning and implementing assignments without tech, but I do think it’s important to find a balance.

Moving into next year I want to keep these thoughts at the front of my mind. Knowing there will be some things that need to stay online, but also realizing things can be done just as well with paper and pencil or with a conversation. We need to work more on people skills and less on tech skills since they seemed to have mastered those by 5th grade!

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There are many upsides to having technology readily available in our classrooms. As a teacher, I am able to easily share resources, videos, activities, and assessments with my students. It also makes it easier to differentiate for various student needs. Students can have texts read to them at their specific level or can translate activities into their native language. However, screen usage has created problems in students' social development. Rather than scheduling a play date after school, students will play Roblox together in their respective homes. It also increases the need for instant gratification. Students are so used to being able to quickly find an answer or have an online "may-do" choice readily available when they finish an activity.

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As a resource teacher, my students don't use their devices often in my classroom as I provide direct instruction using a variety of curriculums. There are times when I may give them supplemental work / typing up a project on their Chromebooks, and I notice that some students try to get away with getting less work done because they're hidden behind a screen -- even though they know I monitor them on GoGuardian! Technology isn't a big issue in my class and I would like to utilize it more other than their earned breaks. Sometimes students are unwilling to close their Chromebooks when I say that their break time is over, which may lead to dysregulation for the next activity. I've had to restrict kids from bringing their technology to my class as they cannot handle stopping their online game and returning to the task.

When I push-in to classrooms to help my students during Word Study or their content times, I did notice that they try to sneak out of doing their digital independent work. They may tell me that they finished the work but they actually did not, so we have a back and forth where they are reluctant to show me the unfinished work and then become annoyed when I make them do it. Having digital work seems to make them more lazy and unwilling to put an effort in for their education. They just want to do the 'free choice activities' which include fun and games. There are so many amazing websites and apps offered for kids to further their understanding of what they learn in class, and this is super helpful for teachers to utilize, but (some) students manage to find a way to do the least amount of work possible no matter what the task is!

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In the special ed classroom, screens can bring a lot of positive features. We use screens to break up instruction: Sometimes we are doing whole-group on the big screen, sometimes we are doing pencil/paper activities, sometimes we are doing Chromebooks/iPads. We also use screens to teach our students independence: How do you write an email? How do you look up a topic that you want to know more about? But of course there are many negatives. Sometimes students who have had an iPad to supplement verbal communication end up not needing it anymore (yay!), but end up using it for video watching during choice time (boo!). With a couple of our students, we are phasing out the iPad in the IEP so that they will be compelled to make a different, no-tech choice.

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Much of our kindergarten day focuses on learning through hands-on and play-based activities, but there are definitely benefits to some screen time. A lot of the apps we use on our iPads help us differentiate learning for our students. In Khan Kids, we assign activities to individual or small groups of students that match the skills they are learning. In Seesaw, we create activities that match students’ learning styles and needs, and students are able to use different tools to show what they know. With the new reading program, we were also able to experiment with Amira, HMH’s AI-powered reading platform. It’s definitely a new way for students to learn and grow as readers, and although it was challenging to use at first, it did give us some good information about individual students’ growth and areas to focus on. We also use Google slides at times to project our daily routines and step-by-step directions with visuals when working on a project, which helps keep our day flowing and provides students with support to help them work more independently.

On the flip side, we do have challenges with screen time too. For some students, it can be very hard for them to separate from their iPads when it’s time to move on, and it’s also challenging to troubleshoot tech problems when I am working with small groups. It also takes away time for socializing and working on fine motor skills too. We are always trying to be mindful about how much screen time we use, especially in kindergarten.

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My Communication Media Arts class for 6th and 7th graders is 100% dependent on screens. My students use the desktop computers in my lab for the entire creative process of their project. They begin with brainstorming, ideation and organizing the design then move onto enhancing their projects through editing programs, and finally receiving feedback. My students develop their ability to collaborate, manage their time, persist and communicate through this digital creative process. I use platforms such as Wakelet to curate resources and inspiration for each of the students’ projects. Students are encouraged to use my Wakelet collections in addition to my Help folder on Schoology where they will find a plethora of digital tutorials. Most of the programs and apps used in my class have collaborative features where students can join their classmate’s projects.

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In second grade, I've given a lot of thought to using screens minimally ever since the overuse of them during covid. There are definitely some pluses to using ipads in the classroom: apps/games can be tailored to different skill levels, helping with personalized learning, access to digital books on Epic! and research tools like PebbleGo. All of these help enrich student learning and are flashy and fun. The minuses to screen use are: attention spans, kids are becoming more and more dependent on screens to keep their attention and adding time on them in the classroom when I know they use them way too much out of the classroom is only adding to the problem. For some students the transition from ipad time to something else can be tough, even with a 5 min. warning beforehand. Overall, the pluses outweigh the minuses, but it's something that I thoughtfully plan the use of in my classroom.

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Screens can increase efficiency in my classroom. Students can take pictures of their assignments and post them on Seesaw, creating a digital portfolio of their work that I am able to view and review both at school, and at home when I am working on progress reports. It is also a place for parents to view and comment on their child's assignments, learning about what we are doing in our classroom, creating a platform for dialogue about their child's work, and allowing them to reinforce the learning at home in real time.

Screens create a crutch for students when it comes to using the microphone to help them with spelling, or asking a question on google using the microphone instead of learning how to type and do the research on their own. Students often say they are "checking their work" using their device, when they might be having the device so all of the work to solve a problem they are working on. Screens do not let kids learn how to struggle through something that is hard, they don't know how to persevere because they demand instant answers and gratification, and students expect this same immediate feedback from parents, teachers, and peers and do not know how to exercise patience and put forth effort to solve a problem.

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There are many benefits to students having their own devices in the classroom. Sharing assignments via Google Classroom or Seesaw has been easy and beneficial. I find that most students write more if given the option to type than to handwrite on notebook paper. As a teacher, it is easier and faster for me to look at their work and "send it back" for them to revise, edit, or add more information if it does not meet my expectations.

The problem arises when students rely too heavily on their devices or misuse them. I have caught students on a site that they shouldn't be on in class, or using AI to write for them. As teachers, we have a responsibility to use technology with our students when it is necessary and beneficial, and not to rely on it too heavily ourselves. It's all about balance!

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I know I am guilty of "doom scrolling" or mindlessly scrolling at times. I have often caught myself and thought, "I could be doing so many other, better things with my time." I generally feel, that compared to many, my time on social media is fairly low, especially during the school year. As a single mom, dog mom, teacher, and working extra duties, I just don't have time most days to spend much time on social media. HOWEVER, I will find myself saying, "I am going to read this book before bed!" and before I know it, I am falling asleep scrolling Instagram, and NOT reading my book. I feel that this is a constant area that I am trying to be aware and thoughtful about. Reading this book I am often thinking, if this is an area where I set goals and many times get sucked in to scrolling, how hard is it for those raised with it to resist that impulse ??!! I do feel that this book has reminded me to keep working on being cognizant of when I am with others, (hang outs, family get togethers, outside my daughter's dance class, at the grocery store, etc) to not be constantly on my phone. Even when I am trying to use it for catching up on messages, rearranging schedules, responding to emails, etc, what message am I giving to those around me? Life feels so much better connecting with other parents, having a short, friendly conversation at the grocery store or at the park, smiling and greeting others on a walk....which all are much less frequent while looking down at the phone. Even when my daughter is watching a little TV or playing at the park, I want to set a good example for her about not always being on my phone. I have been increasingly aware of this in my personal life, and I hope to carry some of that mindset over to school as well (not necessarily being on my phone, but just that balance and example for in person eye contact and connection.).

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In a middle school French classroom, chromebooks can be powerful tools, but they also introduce new challenges. Students can watch French videos, listen to native speakers, read articles, and explore French websites—exposing them to real-world language use and culture. The students also enjoy the games like Blooket and Gimkit that they can play to practice and reinforce language and vocabulary.  Sometimes they are assigned and at other times, it is full group practice.  We also started using a new site this year for students to practice speaking and would only pass if they were close enough. Some students found this frustrating and it was always the computer’s fault!  Digital platforms like Quizlet, Kahoot, or Duolingo make vocabulary and grammar practice more engaging and game-like.  There is also the ease of posting the daily slides and making homework and assignments always available.  It is easier to post notes and have students work on assignments and activities together.  I also like that I can post color images instead of printing worksheets in black and white.

I limit the use of Chromebooks by still having students write out their homework assignments to practice spelling.  They also write out their written assessments so they can’t google translate their work.  I haven’t felt comfortable putting the controls in place to make sure that I am getting the students’ authentic work.  I also get frustrated with students who come into class and are immediately on their chromebooks, despite repeated warnings not to be.  They also rush through assignments to get back to gaming. When we are working on Chromebooks, I need to monitor to make sure that the students are on task.

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Screens have addressed various challenges in the classroom. For instance, students can use text-to-speech tools to have online textbooks read to them, and those who struggle with writing can utilize speech-to-text technology. Online versions of textbooks also enable students to interact with the text in engaging ways. Additionally, teachers have greater creativity in designing assignments and can project class to-do lists for better organization. As a teaching assistant, I have access to students' documents, allowing me to provide discreet feedback and suggestions on their assignments. However, a significant issue with screens in the classroom is that students often struggle to disconnect from the computer and transition to new tasks. This difficulty can hinder their participation in class discussions and focusing on the lessons being taught. Consequently, when it’s time to work on assignments in class, many students quickly raise their hands for help because they are unsure about what to do.g. As a result, when it’s time to work on the assignment in class, they almost immediately raise their hand asking for help because they don’t understand what to do.

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I do not feel that screens solve many classroom problems at all. Yes, I can use a screen and my slideshow to streamline a lesson, but teachers have been teaching since the beginning of organized societies- no computers needed, and I do not feel they are necessary for a good lesson. The first astronauts in space and on the moon were educated without computers. From the student-perspective, I feel there are not many, if any, things that are better online than on paper. As an ELA teacher, there is research that can be done online, but I don't think it is better than the research done from reading a book. A Chromebook can allow a student to type a document, but that also comes with many set backs such as distractions, copying, and students letting online programs do their editing. I think the answer is to be mindful of when and how we use technology and to only use it when it enhances an activity, and by enhancing I don't mean that it simply looks better or neater. I would also like to see teachers be more consistent with how we set expectations for screens. A unified approach would make it easier to enforce those expectations.

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My family has a cottage in Wisconsin and there is no internet connection there. It is always an incredible reset to be there. There are no checking phones, no tech distractions, etc. Instead it's full of great conversations, games, lots of reading, and true relaxation. My goal after this recent trip is to leave my phone in other rooms and focus on being more present. Social media has been a great way to stay in touch with friends that live all over the country, get inspiration, try new recipes, etc. Time always feels so limited, so I want to be more intentional with how I'm spending it!

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Honestly, I am not versed in any games on my smart phone. BUT I am guilty of scrolling on Instagram. I definitely waste too much time on that app. In addition, I have developed a bad habit of following people on Insta that model clothes and I have become a bit addicted to shopping. It's so easy...in a click I can order outfits and get them the next day. I have had to really make an effort to stop my shopping addiction! Amazon is winning but I am working on it! (haha)

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I am guilty of doom scrolling. It is a bad habit. I have started putting my phone down at night before bed- I don't look at it- even to reply to text messages. During Covid times I had a TikTok and found that I was spending so much time watching stupid videos that I ended up deleting it. The only social media I have are Facebook and Instagram. I will post photos every now and then, but probably spend too much time scrolling on the apps. I think that there are up sides to social media. You can keep up with friends and family, and get community information. However, I also think there are negative aspects- even for adults. You have to remember that you are seeing people's highlight reels, and again there is a lot of disinformation. I also get bombarded with ads. It's become such a sales tool to get us to consume things we don't really need. I have also noticed that kids (including my own) don't really watch TV anymore. They watch YouTube. My boys love to watch Mr. Beast videos or sports content. The videos are all short- this feeds into the short attention span. All 3 of my kids, including my 6 year old, love to make pretend videos where they talk like they are a YouTube influencer. I personally have never played video games. My boys like building worlds in Minecraft and play Fortnite with friends. They have headsets and connect with school friends- so at least is a social thing. However, they aren't allowed to play during the week and have time limits on the weekend. I have students who play video games all the time after school and on weekends. They are up late playing video games, and say things like "I didn't touch grass all weekend because I was grinding." I think in small doses video gaming can be a fun recreational activity but so many kids don't have limitations, and I can see how it easily becomes an extremely unhealthy addiction.

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Having Chromebooks are beneficial to students, however, it's not doubt that they do cause problems. Resources and materials are easily accessible for students on the Chromebook. There are so many online learning resources for students to use, for every subject, which is great. Additionally, it's easy for me as a teacher post on Schoology, not have to make copies, etc. However, middle school students are very reliant on the computer. As an ELA teacher, I have students do a combo of handwritten and typing assignments. Anytime there is a handwritten assignment, they all groan and complain that their hands hurt while writing. Another issue that arises with Chromebooks is gaming. Students are constantly wanting to play games on their Chromebooks instead of doing their actual work. There obviously has to be a balance of Chromebook use and not, but it can be difficult to do so.