Brian KittingerRoberto Colón’s Updates
The tech effect: 2nd-largest school district bans cellphones/social media. Thoughts on this happening in your district.
I am always interested in national education trends, especially those that attempt to address the oversaturation, overstimulation and potential drama caused by cellphones and social media in the learning environment of public schools. As a Floridian, I was somewhat surprised that this came from a state other than mine. Before opening the article by Yi-Jin Yu (June 2024), I expected it to be one of the large districts within my state.
Since we have several states represented within EPSY 560, how do you see your district or state reacting to the concerns of this article? What are your current school’s policies? Are they site-based or determined by the district? What are some of the issues you see currently with cellphone and social media usage/management where you teach? How do you see the possibility of your district following the Los Angeles Unified School District’s actions affecting your use of technology within your classroom? Do you see any benefits to your school or district going in the direction of the Los Angeles Unified School District?
The article also mentions that concessions would be made for using cellphones for translation and other accommodations. Are there any teachers of Multilanguage Learners out there with opinions? What about ESE teachers?
Within the article is mentioned the American Psychological Association’s advisory for teens and social media from May of 2023. The advisory article below by Sony Salzman (May 2023) addresses how social media, used in the wrong context, can cause mental health issues. What are you seeing in your classrooms?
