There's a missing piece in the technology and mental health debate

Pessimistic clouds continue to hover over the debate over adolescent mental health and the role of technology. This spring, the warnings come from the bestselling book “The Anxious Generation” by sociologist Jonathan Haidt. Some parents and educators are calling for a ban on smartphones and laptops in schools. Others are trying to quell the panic by highlighting research that needs further review.

People feel pressured to join the “ban technology” and “don’t ban technology” binary camps.

But there is a way to reignite the conversation that could help parents, educators and kids themselves make better choices when it comes to technology. As writers and researchers interested in the science of learning, we see a gaping gap in the debate so far. The problem is that policymakers continue to rely on just two sets of questions and data: One set focuses on questions about how young people are feeling (not so good). The other focuses on how children use their time (spending hours on their phones).

A third set of questions is missing and must be asked: what do children and young people learn and how? Does technology facilitate their learning or is it an obstacle? Think of technology and learning data as the third leg of the stool in this debate. Without it, we cannot find the path to balance.

Haidt's book focuses primarily on wellbeing, and it's great that he recognizes the research on the importance of offline play and exploration in improving children's mental health. But play and exploration are also essential to learning, and parents and educators need more examples of the many different places where learning happens, whether on screen, off screen or in a hybrid of the two. Parents risk becoming too protectionist or too permissive if they don't consider whether technology offers today's children the opportunity to explore and develop their minds.

Michael Rich, Harvard professor and author of the recent book “The Mediatrician's Guide,” says our children are growing up in a world in which they move seamlessly between physical and digital information, with mountains of experiences and opportunities learning at your fingertips. This is their reality. Today, even children from disadvantaged backgrounds can virtually visit places that in the past were far beyond their reach.

Many parents and teachers know that their children can learn valuable skills and knowledge using different forms of technology and media. In fact, they already consider learning potential when making decisions about technology. They limit phones and laptops in some settings and make them available in others, based on what they think provides a good learning environment for their children at different ages and stages.

Sometimes technology and how children explore and build things with it is an integral part of what children need to learn. This year, for example, students worked in Seattle public libraries with University of Washington professor Jason Yip to create tools and games to help other children identify and avoid misinformation. One of the games is an online maze built in the world of “Minecraft” that shows what it feels like to fall down rabbit holes of extreme information. “Digital play can open up a number of potentials that allow children to experience unfamiliar and difficult situations, such as misinformation, and experience decision-making,” Yip said.

There is a need to focus more on the effect of technology on learning – good and bad – at all ages. Studies with young children show that when parents are distracted by their phones, they are less able to help their children develop the language skills essential for learning to read. Maybe parents should adopt different behaviors when it comes to phone use. Also consider a study at the University of Delaware in which researchers read books to 4-year-olds live, via video chat, or in a pre-recorded video. No significant differences in learning were found between children reading live or via video chat. This study and others clearly demonstrate that children can learn when people read storybooks to them online.

Instead of fighting with kids about smartphone use, we should make sure there are enough teachers and mentors to help all kids use these phones and laptops to support their learning, whether they're collaborating on science fair projects or creating video book trailers for YouTube. Children need teachers and parents who can give them opportunities to explore, play and engage with difficult things, both in the digital world and in the real world.

Our society knows how to create polarization. But today we don't need to take extreme positions of banning or not banning smartphones, laptops or other technologies.

Parents and teachers should make decisions about technology after looking at the problem from three perspectives: how well children use the devices, how the devices affect children's well-being, and – the missing leg – how the devices affect their learning. Perhaps the addition of this new piece could even help adults see more than just an “anxious generation”, but also a generation eager to learn.

Kathy Hirsh Pasek, Roberta Golinkoff And Lisa Guernsey are authors of several books on children's learning and founders of The Learning Sciences Exchangea scholarship program and problem-solving platform at New America.

This story was produced by The Hechinger reportan independent, nonprofit news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education. Register for The Hechinger newsletter.

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