You may notice that I have chosen the same title for this fortnight’s article as utilised by our Middle School Leader, Mr Clay Watkins, in the most recent Concordia Connect. This topic has taken on increased focus for us this term, as we have both been reading the text ‘The Anxious Generation’ by Jonathan Haidt. The central conceit of Haidt’s book is this: that since the introduction of social media and the proliferation of its use, the mental health of adolescents around the world has deteriorated. Though the world has changed enormously since the normalisation of social media use around 2010, Haidt argues that the central and consistent factor to explain the phenomenon is the ‘great rewiring of childhood.’

As the Senior School Leader, I see firsthand the influence of devices in our students’ lives. The role of devices can be quite different in the lives of Senior School students; it is true that they can be a useful tool for learning and, indeed, for creating and sustaining some forms of socialisation. Conversely, I have witnessed firsthand the way personal information shared on social media and messaging apps can be used to do enormous damage to another person. I have seen the way easy access to gambling sites and pornography can shape a young person’s life and largely replace real-life interactions.

These, of course, are examples on the more extreme end, but in his book, Haidt talks about the ‘opportunity cost’ of problematic phone use.

Essentially, he asks the reader: what else could you be doing with the four or five or six or seven hours a day if you weren’t spending them on your phone?

This then leads to other questions: what new skill could you learn; which friend could you visit; what service activity might you undertake, if you left your phone at home? Then, what benefit would these things have for your mental health and sense of belonging and connection to others and the world?

While we can’t put the genie back in the bottle when it comes to phone use, at Concordia we try to ensure that our students have those crucial opportunities to build relationships, to play at break times and to collaborate and problem solve together. Though the lure of technology can be strong, nothing beats the real world – we must continue to encourage our young people (and ourselves) to look up and around us, to centre ourselves and to find awe and wonder in the beauty and mystery of God’s creation.

Daniel Wood
Senior School Leader