Smartphone blowback, Remembering Kris Kristofferson, and Sri Lanka's peaceful Election.
"Freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose"
The backlash has begun. Not against social media but against the tech companies that enticed parents to hand over phones, like a gateway drug, to very young children. Yes, kids, sometimes as young as nine or ten.
These kids have grown up and are now part of the Gen Z cohort (those born between 1997 and 2012) who treat their phones as appendages. Marshall McLuhan back in 1964 foresaw how these tools and these media would be ‘an extension of ourselves.’ (The Internet was not even around then.) Speaking of extensions, Woody Harrelson said it best, calling it “an appendage on my appendage.” No wonder teens cannot be separated from the device.
Almost half of Gen Z wish social media platforms were never invented, according to some research research put up by Jonathan Haidt’s outfit, The Anxious Generation.
As any teacher will tell you, there is a a mental health epidemic all around us. No one like to talk about it openly because it has begun to touch many families—probably one close to you as well. The cellphone is directly connected to this, as Haidt’s research often points to. By 2021, just about 31 Percent of teenage girls faced major depression. This meant a tripling of self-harm episodes, and a steep spike in suicide rates not just in the US, but in many countries.
As a result of Haidt speaking out, countries and states have begun to pass laws to limit phone use.
The Irish Medical Association backed a call by the government for smartphone use to be prohibited for children and adolescents under 16.
Australia is planning to adopt a minimum age for social media users—age 16 and above.
England is also discussing a ban on phones in schools.
Indiana's ban of smart phone use in the classroom will take effect in the Fall.
US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy called for ‘warning labels’ to be placed on social media platforms.
Florida and Virginia have similar laws in the works or on the books to keep phones out of the classroom.
How are social media companies responding? Running scared is a polite way to describe the reaction. Meta (formerly known as Facebook) decided to change the age limit for Instagram users. Here’s what it said in January.
“We will start to hide more types of content for teens on Instagram and Facebook, in line with expert guidance.”
And then, a day before a new bill was being debated, the Kids Online Safety and Privacy Act (KOSPA), on September 17th, Instagram announced ‘teen accounts’ that parents could monitor, and teens could control.
“Teens 13-17 automatically have a protected experience, with built-in limits on who can contact them and the content they see…”
Sure, the features such as sleep mode (Instagram turned off between 10 pm and 7 am) sound well and good. But it’s silly if they think teens would not turn off this feature. My take is that Meta does not believe this will change a thing, but makes it look like it is doing something.) Read the details here, and you will see what nonsense this is.
In August, soon after the US Senate passed the kids online safety act, media outlets like the one above scrutinized the gestures and pushback from social media companies, who tried to frame this as an attack on free speech.
The reason I am writing about it here is twofold. First, I am a teacher who sees first the direct affect that phones are having on young people. I also see how wonderful it is to work at a school that has had a no-phone policy for years. It’s so easy to teach and have students pay attention. Second, I like to document the progress of how society is finally taking action on something we had ignored for decades.
No Visas for Sri Lanka!
Sri Lanka seems to have shocked the world by electing a left leaning president. I don’t discuss politics here, so I will focus on how the news media around the world covered the peaceful election of ‘AKD’ as Anura Kumara Dissanayake is known. I was amused how they quickly added the adjective ‘Marxist’ and ‘communist’ as if it was some sort of aberration.
At Least the New York Times did a better job how they handled the headline:
But the news that caught my eye was the immediate cancelling of visas fee for visitors from 35 countries, thereby scrapping the debacle with the Indian company, VFS Global. I had weighed in on it here in a column published in the Sri Lankan newspaper, Daily FT.
Kris Kristofferson, RIP
He was a “walking contradiction, partly truth and partly fiction” to use his own words from that song, The Pilgrim, Chapter 33. His story is so colorful, so inspiring, as was his life and his music. I knew he hung out with Johnny Cash, and both had some amazing spiritual insights, despite their (or probably because of their) mischief and flaws.
Kris was indeed a poet. A student of William Blake, his hit, “Me and Bobby McGee” is one of the most haunting Country songs in my book. Janis Joplin’s version is a classic, too! No surprise that Bobby McGee was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. The line, “Freedom is just another word for nothin' left to lose..” is probably one of the most memorable lines in country music.
So let me end by citing the first two verses, mainly because they capture Kristofferson’ skill as a poet:
Busted flat in Baton Rouge, waitin' for a train
When I's feelin' near a, s faded as my jeans
Bobby thumbed a diesel down, just before it rained
And rode us all the way into New OrleansI pulled my harpoon out of my dirty red bandana
I's playin' soft while Bobby sang the blues
Windshield wipers slappin' time, I's holdin' Bobby's hand in mine
We sang every song that driver knew
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As a final request, please do share the story (above) about phones in schools with any parent of a child you know of. There is a groundswell building up, and every one of us needs to play a small part in influencing those who can—administrators, teachers, parents, lawmakers—to take a stand.