Screen Schooled Part 2: The Teen Mental Health Crisis

Shot Caller: A Podcast by Shannon Sagawe

In Part 2 of the Screen Schooled Podcast, Joe Clement and Matt Miles , two veteran teachers from the Washington DC area, do a deeper dive with Alex and I on how the over exposure to gaming and especially social media is contributing to the teen mental health crisis.

"Learned Helplessness" and a prolific lack of resilience among the teenagers they teach is a big theme in this episode. Joe and Matt give examples of how parents are overly controlling their students schedules, tests, homework and complaining about grades. This trend to prevent any "failure" in our children means a lack of accountability and resilience later in life that may come back to bite, hard.

Joe and Matt discuss the trend for boys to be more addicted to gaming and girls to be more addicted to social media. In their book they sight a tripling of teen death by suicide from 2007-2017, coinciding with the invention of the smart phone. Other problems like anxiety and depression are also massively on the rise.

If we know, and science has demonstrated, social media is toxic, why aren't we as parents, teachers and as communities doing more to help them? This is a big question that requires big, sweeping contribution from our entire society, including the tech firms and the educators who are embracing technology in a way that does not actually serve their students.

As educators, Matt and Joe are often subjected to school administrators who think they should not be left behind in the school "tech" proliferation trend. They don't use digital devices as as A TOOL, but rather as proof that they are modern and up-to-date with trends. Students of all ages are now overdosed with screens and digital devices, much to their detriment, Joe and Matt argue. Grab a copy of Screen Schooled to inform yourself on both the problems and the solutions for raising well adjusted and balanced adults.

If you have children, you will be doing your entire family an important act by listening to what these two veteran teachers have to say. We are in the midst of teen mental health epidemic and avoiding the worst outcomes for our children should be our top priority.

Highlights from Episode 2:

• The gamification of our children's education
• Social media is not "actually' enhancing our kids' social interactions because they lack the skills and knowledge that are supposedly being enhanced
• Cutting the "digital umbilical cord."
• Technology firms and a lack of ethical responsibility to children and young adults;
  • The lobbying of firms like Twitter that result in school administrators forcing teachers to attend 1.5 hour meetings on how to get students to TWEET more!!!!
  • Adam Smith, The Theory of Moral Sentiments
• Major decline of student involvement in school pride activities; sports games, school concerts, plays, etc.
• What the skills of the future will be...

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Avoiding "Financial Learned Helplessness" with the Revolut Card and App!

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Referral code here: https://revolut.com/referral/shannogjiz!SEP1AR

This is a great way to start your young adult children out on the right financial path!

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