The Lion, the Witch and the Smartphone

“Come,” said the pencil to the boy, “and draw with me.” So the boy reached for the pencil, about to touch it to his sketch pad. “But I can show you a three-hour drawing condensed into three minutes,” said the Smartphone. So the boy watched the drawing of a world map, complete with oceans, seas, and capitals, finished in three minutes. “Come,” said the paintbrush to the boy, “and paint a river with me.” So the boy picked up the paintbrush, about to dip it into the sky-blue watercolour paint. “But I can show you a river in India, one in Alaska, and the largest waterfall in the world,” said the Smartphone. So the boy watched videos of the Rivers Ganges and Alsek, and clips of Victoria Falls tumbling 5,600 feet into volcanic dikes. “Come,” said the books, “and read about a lion that battles a witch and a ship’s journey into heaven.” So the boy opened one, curled up on the couch and began reading. “But I can give you the movie,” replied the Smartphone, “and a soundtrack that stirs your soul.” So the boy closed the book, got up from the couch, sat at the counter, and watched the video. “Come,” called the trees and birds outside. “Climb us, and listen to us sing.” As the boy stepped outdoors, the Smartphone called, “But with me you can play a game where you scale mountains while dodging man-eating vultures.” So the boy stepped back inside to play the game. With his face glued to the Smartphone, the iPad next to him dinged: a text. The boy glanced at the message. Returning to his game, he heard a ping: an e-mail in his inbox. He read it and returned to his Smartphone, where a flashing Snapchat announcement obscured a bloodthirsty vulture. Next to his iPad, the pencil lay motionless, and next to the computer, the paintbrush untinted. And beside his Smartphone, “The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe” lay with uncreased pages, the lion’s roar stifled, the witch’s cackle silenced, and the gate into Imagination closed.

7 years later... The epidemic of overexposure of phones has now reached such lofty heights warnings are now being signaled that social media being viewed on smartphones are posing real health risks and should be altogether banned until children turn 14. Research by Meta, the company behind Facebook and Instagram, has shown kids are at risk of mental and physical health problems when they are allowed to use platforms like Instagram and Facebook as much or as often as they like.

Psychologist and digital wellbeing expert, Jocelyn Brewer, said: “If you say to a teen, ‘this is banned,’ it makes it something they want,” she said. Her view is she would “love” the community to shift toward waiting until a child was in high school before they got a phone.

But first, she said students should learn the social and emotional skills needed for participating in online spaces from an earlier age.

“Everything we learn takes practice.” Ms Brewer said kids should be taught these skills under parent and teacher supervision. They should also be taught about how social media use affects the brain. Teaching in this way, instead of banning kids from using the tech, helped kids make better choices online.

“Rather than get them off-side, we can explain to kids time is a non-renewable resource … are you okay with paying these platforms with it? “That gives kids autonomy to make better choices.”

How does Montessori East introduce technology to the primary school aged children?

At Montessori the children are guided from an early age to make independent choices and to regulate their emotional responses to situations; to pause, consider the question, “Is this a good choice for myself, for others and the community around me?"

The first introduction to technology in the Montessori classroom is at the age of 7 when the children learn to touch type using their creative written stories that they have first hand written to then type up on the computer. Over time as they mature and their curiosity grows, rather than take it away, a little more application of computer technology is given to the children. When it comes to education around social media, the Montessori teachers create lessons that motivate the children to consider how technology and social media may impact their choices and find creative problem solving solutions that encourages them to consider a socio/emotional aspect to their solutions.

We understand at Montessori East that technology and smart phones aren’t going away but the children can learn with practice and time, well before the age of 14, on how to manage their responses and interactions with smartphones or any technological device. They may not always get it right, but with the support and guidance of the family backing up the school approach we could be on the road to being half-way there in curtailing the health-harm of smartphones; notifications and tricky algorithms, well before a big tech giant does.