The recent front page story describing the detrimental effects of cellphones on children delivers a disappointing portrayal of adults in youth leadership positions, namely teachers and school system administrators unable to comprehend and offer solutions to the problem.
Hatfield School Superintendent John Robert is one of many school officials who laments how cellphones are causing kids to lose “their pragmatic skills, their interpersonal skills” and “helping to create students that are going to become more isolated, more lonely.”
Yet he and many other educators resign themselves to a perceived inability to protect children from a digital culture run amok. To our tireless, valuable educators, it’s time to take a stand with sensible policies restricting cellphone use in schools, and do your part to ensure a favorable environment for kids to experience at least a few fleeting years of healthy social development before the digital world swallows them whole like the rest of us.
Roger Sorkin
Florence