Teenage Smartphone use

Sparked by an offline and online concern about Smartphones used at Tim's school:

​Teenage brains are very fragile. They gets completely rewired and what is happening in this time is actually the blueprint for how the brain is wired for adulthood. Whatever you want them to do and become as adults, needs to be introduced in this time. Our brains are still fragile too, a little less, but still, and most of us are doing a lot of damage by giving in to the endless instant gratification. We rewire ourselves and many regular experiences won't be enjoyable anymore because we are used to this faster, easier way,... It makes us all depressed. Learning more about all this, I put myself on a media diet and still experiment with it. I have an app monitoring my usage and how often I unlocked my phone. I also set my screen to black and white, which is less engaging for the brain, so it's easier to put it away. I watched 'Screenagers' with my family and we talk about media use and what is healthy behavior and what is not. I tell them how frustrated I am with myself if I use my phone too much. My hope is that they see my struggle and know it's real. I hope they will be able to judge and control their own behavior better when they get older. I know they can't do it yet. We tried. The temptation and peer pressure is too strong, so my kids don't have smartphones anymore. It was really scary to see them struggle and miss out on so many great things in life. They were easily frustrated and unappreciative but constantly checking for updates, messages, chests, likes, points. All they talked about was stuff that happened in these apps. Other than as a convenient 'pacifier'when I needed them quiet in an adult setting there weren't many benefits to having moody kids around. I was shocked when I found out they get to use smartphones at Madison during instruction time. And for the parents that want them, if your message is important enough to disrupt their learning, you can call the office and get the message transferred to your kid the old school way. If not, it sure can wait til release.