(TNS) — Lisa Stroman, a clinical psychologist who specializes in technology overuse, claims she can track an increase in mental health issues among young people since the introduction of Instagram and Snapchat in 2010. These social media sites and those that followed — TikTok — promoted overuse and misuse of technology, especially among school-age children.
That's why she has dedicated her career to connecting the dots between overuse/misuse of technology and mental health issues. She's not a Luddite. She is testing new technologies such as ChatGPT and other AI tools, and she believes technology plays a meaningful role in teaching and learning. But she worries that technology is driving many children of this generation into a hole in their mental health that prevents them from reaching their true potential, both academically and personally. I have serious concerns. And Stroman, author of Unplug: Raising Kids In A Technology Addicted World and Digital Distress: Growing Up Online, believes schools and parents can change the tide for the better. .
Education Week spoke with Stroman via Zoom about her work. This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.
When I enter a school, I often see children sitting together at tables and playing with their cell phones without talking to each other. What are the downsides of such behavior?
I walk around campus because I want to go to schools and look at technology policy, look at school lunches, and see how schools manage it. [challenge]. This is one of the major complaints about recess in elementary schools and school lunches in junior high and high schools. The effect it has on children is to give them a buffer and an excuse. This gives you control over your decisions based on your phone calls and eliminates the need to have difficult conversations or learn how to create them. So there was no eye contact.
Please tell us about your efforts with schools.
I created a program called Digital Citizen Academy. This was my effort as a clinical psychologist for almost 20 years to work with families and provide them with the support they felt they needed. We created a program for kindergarten through 8th grade so students could start in elementary school. This approach is really aimed at schools and helps them understand: “What is your technology policy?” How do you partner with parents? Because the change that I've seen for almost 10 years is that schools are saying these devices are the parents' problem because they're buying them for their kids. And the parents say, “But you're raising my child eight hours a day, so why aren't you fixing this?'' And a stalemate ensued.
So, I came in and thought, “Look, I can actually educate both of them.” We can have parent programs that educate parents about what happens in terms of research, structural damage, neurochemical damage, and overuse of technology.The kids [involved]. They are the most powerful tech group in history, and the industry expects them to be siled and separated without realizing that they have a united voice. We teach children how to become ambassadors for the sector, not just in school, but in future policies that affect them.
Expanding the use of artificial intelligence is a big issue in schools. How do you think the increased use of AI-powered technologies such as deepfake videos will impact students' mental health?
Well, that's scary. Deepfakes are difficult because they require thorough consideration of the developmental appropriateness of students. So if you have a 13-year-old child and a classmate creates a fake photo of that child and circulates it around school, the 13-year-old who is the victim of that circulation doesn't actually have the right to speak or speak out. there is not. Rebuttal before social and psychological damage occurs. Therefore, it no longer matters whether it is true or not. So a lot of damage is starting to happen very quickly.
I've done a lot of training [AI and ChatGPT] I've talked about this a lot because I think schools are missing an opportunity if they just say “never use it'' and ban it. How do I use it and understand its limitations? I often tell my kids, “Try it!” This is a very good opportunity to teach them how to use it and what it is suitable for.
What advice do you have for educators on how to help students use technology in a more balanced way?
That's a great question. I often talk about the “power of one person.” I really respect the relationship between teachers and students. And I think in terms of the technology that's involved, we need to make all teachers understand that it's OK to say to their students, “Listen, the world is moving so fast. There's a lot of influence through these platforms, but I'm here, and I'm a human being that you can trust.” And as much as I can, my kids. Leave the door open for someone to come in and just talk.
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