Shelby Budzko

Jesse Miller

ENG 110

November 14, 2023

The New Age of Addiction

Technology is a tool that can influence human behavior in ways that are both positive and negative. There are both good and bad within technology, depending on how, when, or where it is used. There are many times where technology can be an excellent tool and others where it can be an excellent distraction. Two pieces of writing from two excellent authors, Sherry Turkle and Jonathan Haidt, and both had very strong and profound views about technology, and the ways it is affecting today’s youth. They both dive into how damaging technology can be for young people, and how phones should be regulated in schools. With the growing addiction to technology, especially among young people, children are becoming less interested in school, and more interested in their phones. Technology is addictive, encapsulating virtually everyone who uses it, causing us to become distracted from what’s important to us as individuals.

The lack of communication that kids in school are receiving is concerning. In “The Empathy Diaries,” Sherry Turkle was called to a school where kids were excluding each other from group activities and seemed to lack empathy. Turkle blames this lack of empathy on the increased use of phones among students. Turkle claims that rather than talking to each other in person, there is a “new form of conversation” through social media. However, this new form of conversation “is not doing the work of the old conversation” because “the old conversation taught empathy… [now] students seem to understand each other less” (Turkle 345). Face-to-face communication is extremely important to the mental health and social development of kids. Childhood years are when people are most impressionable, and if kids don’t receive proper communication and contact with others, it can have detrimental impacts on social ability, such as the lack of empathy that Turkle is observing. This is why the lack of communication among young kids is concerning because so many of them are bound to grow up with anxious and depressive tendencies because they are not receiving proper communication. Similarly, in “Get Phones out of Schools Now,” Haidt also found negative impacts on children in the new age of social media and smartphones. Specifically, Haidt found a “global increase in loneliness” in schools, as kids became “less likely to agree with survey items such as ‘I feel like I belong at school’ and more likely to agree with items such as ‘I feel lonely at school’” (Haidt 2). As smartphones became common among kids, they began to feel lonely in school, lacking personal connections because everyone was so distracted with their phones. Just like Haidt’s study, I spent my middle school years feeling lonely, as everyone was on social media, except for me. I was the odd one out, and as everyone was constantly using their phones I was left out. I felt an extreme disconnect from others, as it felt like I had no real relationships with my peers, just as Turkle describes.  Once I reached high school, I began to dabble in social media, but it didn’t make me feel any less lonely. The only thing that made me feel truly connected to others was the genuine, face-to-face conversations I had, which in turn helped me to create meaningful friendships. If children receive this proper form of communication as I did, they will be much less lonely, and more inclined to create genuine connections.

            Distraction due to technology in schools is undoubtedly a problem. There are many options to keep kids off their phones and focused on class, but not all of them are reasonable. In his writing, Haidt describes five different “levels” of phone control in school. Levels one through three, because they have the potential to work well Levels one and two rely solely on trusting students not to use their phones to be effective, while level three involves the use of a phone caddy. I had many teachers with phone caddies in high school, and it worked very well for keeping kids off their phones. Haidt argues that “the first two [levels] are nearly useless” and I can see where he is coming from (Haidt 3). The first two levels do little to prevent kids from being on their phones because it’s entirely built on trust; when you have a classroom of 20-30 kids who are all addicted to technology, you need more than just trust. However, I think with added rules, it could work. If teachers give incentives to students for not using their phones or punish students for using them, it encourages kids to keep them away. I had a teacher in high school who would give us detention if we used our phones, while also rewarding us at the end of each semester if we were never seen using them. He used the phone caddy as well, which worked incredibly well. When it comes to levels four and five, I think they are a little extreme. Both levels involve kids locking away their phones in a lock box or magnetic pouch for the entire day. This feels extreme because if there was ever an emergency at school, kids wouldn’t be able to contact their parents. As Turkle describes, “mobile technology is here to stay, along with all the wonders it brings” (Turkle 346). Locking phones away for 8 hours and pretending they don’t exist won’t solve any problem. Technology is present everywhere, and kids will find a way to get around it with tablets or laptops. Locking away students’ phones, which is ultimately their access to their parents and peers, won’t suddenly change their minds or views on technology. It will simply encourage them to rebel.

For kids to stop abusing their phone privileges in school, work needs to be done both inside and outside of school. While school policies are a large part of fixing the issue, more can be done. As Haidt describes, “A school that goes phone free would still have to figure out what to do about laptops, tablets and computers” (Haidt 4). This would be virtually impossible for most schools to achieve because in the current age of technology, everything is going virtual. When I was in high school, virtually everything was being switched over to computers. Virtual tools and websites, like Google Classroom or PowerSchool, are becoming the new normal, and schools must adapt to that. Instead, work outside of the classroom can be done to fix the issue of phones in schools. For example, parents can start by setting a proper example for their kids, because as Turkle describes, “it is not enough to ask your children to put away their phones… model this behavior and put away your phone” (Turkle 350). Children learn what they are expected to do largely by observing what others do as well. If parents are constantly on their phones, that’s the behavior that kids are going to model, and it’s going to carry into their school life as well. Aside from parents, work can also be done by large social media companies, like Instagram or Snapchat, by increasing their minimum age. Many social media platforms have the minimum age as 12 or 13, which is right when kids are entering middle school. If a student just got Instagram or Snapchat, they’re going to much rather use it to talk to friends than pay attention to class. Instead, Haidt proposed increasing the minimum age to somewhere around 16, which I agree with. At 16, kids have better impulse control, are more responsible are well into high school. By combining realistic school policies with proper phone regulations at home, as well as new policies from social media companies, the issue of phones in schools will improve.

            Technology undoubtedly comes with a negative impact on people. It can be distracting, minimizing, and controlling; but it can also be an excellent tool when used responsibly. Technology is here permanently, whether people like it or not. Instead of pushing it away and pretending it isn’t a problem, there are ways to control technology, rather than letting it control us. However, it’s a lot easier said than done. Technology and social media are built to be addictive, which leads to the debate of whether being so controlled by technology is the fault of the people who consume or produce it. If we truly are addicted to technology, serious changes must be made to the way tech companies operate, and the way that consumers and society view and use technology. Nothing will improve unless we make the conscious choice to make a change, whether that is in our everyday lives, or on a large scale by schools, companies, or government regulation.

——————————————————————————————————————–Works Cited

Haidt, Jonathan. “Get Phones out of Schools Now.” The Atlantic, Atlantic Media Company, 14 June 2023, www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/06/ban-smartphones-phone-free-schools-social-media/674304/.

Turkle, Sherry. The Empathy Diaries: A Memoir. Penguin Press, 2022. https://www.amazon.com/Emerging-Contemporary-Readings-for-Writers-dp-1319244637/dp/1319244637/ref=dp_ob_title_bk