I just completed reading (listening in my car) the book, Coddling of the American Mind. If I were physically reading it, I would have said that it was “hard to put down”. This book has grand implications about our youth and the future of our society. The authors of this book argue that uninviting and not including controversial speakers on many college campuses is causing long-term harm to young adults. This is not the only focus of this book, but it is a big one.
This book argues for a screentime limit for youth to be less than two hours a day. According to research, two hours or less of screentime does not seem to have any negative implications for mental health. This book discusses other things that may be causing mental health issues in our youth. The book does touch on the effects of social media, the mental health of girls and how suicide rates have increased. Social media is not the focus of this blog post.
According to research, “over-parenting” is not allowing children to make as many real-world mistakes as parents who raise their children as “free range” kids. The idea of parents protecting their kids has been around forever and is very well intentioned. The authors introduce the concept of “Safetyism,” which is the opposite of “free range parenting”. "Safetyism" is used to describe an approach to parenting that prioritizes protecting children from any potential harm or discomfort, often resulting in over-protectiveness and avoidance of challenging or risky experiences. The authors argue that this approach, while well-intentioned, may have unintended consequences, such as inhibiting the development of resilience and autonomy in children.
Have you ever heard of Lenore Skenazy? She is the mother who lives in New York City and in 2008, after her son begged her for days, to let him take the city subway and bus home from Bloomingdales. When he got home, he was “ecstatic with independence”. He was 11 years old at the time. Lenore goes on to say that crime is down to 1963 levels and protecting a child from an abduction is like trying to protect them from getting struck by lightning. She goes on to say that parents are so wrapped with anxiety that, “we become so bent out of shape over something as simple as letting your children out of sight on the playground that it starts seeming on par with letting them play on the railroad tracks at night. In the rain. In dark non-reflective coats.” Skenazy goes on to say that raising children has gone from “Laissez Faire” to over-parenting to the point of, "keeping kids under lock and key and helmet and cell phone and nanny and surveillance is the right way to rear kids. It’s not. It’s debilitating — for us and for them.”
What can we do as educators? We must do what is right for children. We need to be thoughtful about our use of technology. If research shows that two hours or less of screen time has no mental health effects on students, then we must be thoughtful about how we use technology in schools, and we should not go over 2 hours of screentime a day.
The authors of Coddling of the American Mind go on to suggest that students need less supervision, not more. Some schools in Scandinavia allow students to have unsupervised recess. If I look back to my previous teaching experience, less than a year ago, the idea of unsupervised recess scares the crap out of me, especially if I was the administrator recommending it for the betterment of our students’ mental health.
Our schools may not be ready for unsupervised recess, but we should work hard to instruct students in inter and intra respect for one another. If these lessons are learned, the concept of unsupervised recess could be a reality and another step in helping students foster personal growth and resilience. If we keep telling kids (by our over-supervision) that they cannot do anything on their own, they will believe it and not be able to accomplish even the simplest tasks that society requires.
Citations
Lukianoff, G., & Haidt, J. (2018). The Coddling of the American Mind: How Good Intentions and Bad Ideas Are Setting Up a Generation for Failure. Penguin Press.
Skenazy, L. (2008, April 6). Why I Let My 9-Year-Old Ride the Subway Alone. Free-Range Kids. https://freerangekids.wordpress.com/2008/04/06/why-i-let-my-9-year-old-ride-the-subway-alone/
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