Despite my embrace of the computer to keep in touch with my
former home town, most of the electronic communication I want no part of
and, I am encouraged about some negative high tech communication news
today! I read an article today about a local high school, Hillsboro High
School, which is leading the trend among some high school coaches here
who are growing increasingly wary of the impact that digital media has
on their athletes and teams. And what are they doing about it? They are
collecting all cell phones and other media before practice and games and
banning them on bus trips to out of town games. And strangely, most of
the kids on the teams who are involved say they think their lives are
better when participating in sports without those phones.
The coaches have done this because they know that the ability to communicate face to face, rather than through short messages punched out on cell phones, is integral in the team dynamic. many coaches here and across the U.S. are concerned that face to face communication skills are being hindered by the technology. Sports is a little bit different than most normal life situations, a little bit old school. You have to be able to communicate in those older ways, as in speaking face to face while on the basketball court. If you don't have that practice, it does pose challenges.
Here are some quick facts about kids and their cell usage. Nearly 90 percent of older teens (ages 14-17) have a cell phone and 31 percent use a smart phone, according to a 2012 study by the Pew Internet & American Life Project. Text messaging has become the main mode of communication among teens. According to the Pew survey, 63 percent say they use text messaging to communicate every day, compared to 39 percent who use voice calls, 35 percent who socialize in person outside of school and 29 percent who exchange messages on social network sites. Wow! By a two to one margin kids communicate with texting rather than talking face to face.
Those coaches know from their interaction with the kids at the sports activities, that the ability of teens to communicate effectively face-to-face is falling by the wayside. What the coaches see is that teens are simply choosing not to communicate face-to-face. As a result, many teens aren't learning verbal skills or how to resolve conflict by talking things out. In fact, a number of kids on the teams that ban the phones say their ability to talk face to face has improved because of the cell phone ban by their coaches.
Just observe teens today and you will see that they often sit across from one another and have conversations with their thumbs. They don't have honest face-to-face dialogue anymore as much as they did 10 years ago, or even five years ago. They have replaced deeper conversations with short electronic updates. This is not good for their future interactions after graduation from school.
The Hillsboro high coach believes banning cells to be a win for all. "We haven't heard one complaint, one moan, one groan," he said. "I think it's helped that camaraderie and getting ready for the game. If nothing else, to have that 30, 40 minutes to spend talking to each other and enjoying each others company."
Now if only the crazy cell adults would realize that too.....
The coaches have done this because they know that the ability to communicate face to face, rather than through short messages punched out on cell phones, is integral in the team dynamic. many coaches here and across the U.S. are concerned that face to face communication skills are being hindered by the technology. Sports is a little bit different than most normal life situations, a little bit old school. You have to be able to communicate in those older ways, as in speaking face to face while on the basketball court. If you don't have that practice, it does pose challenges.
Here are some quick facts about kids and their cell usage. Nearly 90 percent of older teens (ages 14-17) have a cell phone and 31 percent use a smart phone, according to a 2012 study by the Pew Internet & American Life Project. Text messaging has become the main mode of communication among teens. According to the Pew survey, 63 percent say they use text messaging to communicate every day, compared to 39 percent who use voice calls, 35 percent who socialize in person outside of school and 29 percent who exchange messages on social network sites. Wow! By a two to one margin kids communicate with texting rather than talking face to face.
Those coaches know from their interaction with the kids at the sports activities, that the ability of teens to communicate effectively face-to-face is falling by the wayside. What the coaches see is that teens are simply choosing not to communicate face-to-face. As a result, many teens aren't learning verbal skills or how to resolve conflict by talking things out. In fact, a number of kids on the teams that ban the phones say their ability to talk face to face has improved because of the cell phone ban by their coaches.
Just observe teens today and you will see that they often sit across from one another and have conversations with their thumbs. They don't have honest face-to-face dialogue anymore as much as they did 10 years ago, or even five years ago. They have replaced deeper conversations with short electronic updates. This is not good for their future interactions after graduation from school.
The Hillsboro high coach believes banning cells to be a win for all. "We haven't heard one complaint, one moan, one groan," he said. "I think it's helped that camaraderie and getting ready for the game. If nothing else, to have that 30, 40 minutes to spend talking to each other and enjoying each others company."
Now if only the crazy cell adults would realize that too.....
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