00:00:01
good afternoon everyone lovely to see
00:00:03
you all lovely to be here I'm going to
00:00:05
start with a slender anecdote totally
00:00:08
true from about four weeks ago it was
00:00:10
early evening and I was on a packed 19
00:00:13
bus in London standing over a young man
00:00:15
and a young woman they were sitting
00:00:17
beside each other both gazing at their
00:00:20
smartphones nothing unusual about this
00:00:22
of course they were both attractive
00:00:25
smartly dressed professional looking
00:00:27
around the same age willfully invading
00:00:30
their privacy I subtly angled myself to
00:00:32
see what they were up to on their phones
00:00:35
they were each on dating apps reading
00:00:37
the profiles of men and women who
00:00:39
presented as extremely similar to the
00:00:41
two of
00:00:42
them our bus completely true our bus
00:00:45
reached Picadilly circus and both
00:00:47
happened to a light at this stop I
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watched the two of them as they walked
00:00:51
away from each other one towards shury
00:00:54
Avenue and the other towards St
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James's I don't need to labor the point
00:00:58
of what I witnessed with this couple
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never to be they were side by side both
00:01:03
seeking companionship or love but they
00:01:05
didn't even register each other's each
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other's
00:01:09
existence social media is described as a
00:01:11
great connecting force and it can be a
00:01:14
wonderful thing but when we stop
00:01:17
noticing people in our immediate
00:01:18
surroundings in faor in favor of the
00:01:21
swirling masses online I don't think of
00:01:23
it in quite such a warm fuzzy
00:01:26
glow whether it's my young couple from
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the bus teens alone in their bedrooms
00:01:31
glued to hours of futile or dangerous
00:01:33
rubbish parents scrolling on their
00:01:35
phones while their babies try in vain to
00:01:37
catch their eye or toddlers given Siri
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voice companions in nurseries none of
00:01:42
these newly acquired habits seem to bode
00:01:44
well for our Collective spiritual
00:01:47
flourishing the disintegration of adult
00:01:49
society and the loneliness of our
00:01:51
elderly population is Bleak enough but
00:01:54
the digital destruction of childhood is
00:01:56
a crisis we must face if we're to have
00:01:58
an alliance of remotely functioning
00:02:00
citizens let alone responsible
00:02:03
ones I first became interested in the
00:02:06
topic of screens and children a few
00:02:08
years ago when I was made patron of the
00:02:10
education charity School home support I
00:02:13
visited schools up and down the country
00:02:16
and too often I saw children distracted
00:02:18
in classrooms yet silent in
00:02:20
playgrounds screens were taking their
00:02:22
attention away from their teachers
00:02:24
during lessons and away from each other
00:02:26
during break
00:02:27
time I also observed children in general
00:02:30
becoming a different species the rockus
00:02:33
exuberance of Youth was being replaced
00:02:35
with an anxious irritable insularity
00:02:38
which was disturbing to
00:02:39
see from a personal point of view I know
00:02:42
that if I'd had devices in and out of
00:02:45
the classroom I would have bombed
00:02:47
academically I'd have been constantly
00:02:49
distracted thrilled by all the garbage
00:02:52
available online I wouldn't have read
00:02:54
any books and I'd have got up to
00:02:55
goodness knows what on my various
00:02:57
machines our household landline was qu
00:02:59
quite derailing
00:03:01
enough looking back I cherish the very
00:03:04
analog form of Education that I received
00:03:07
and the Very human connection with my
00:03:09
beloved teachers it's been one of the
00:03:11
greatest Gifts of my life and I want all
00:03:13
children to be able to focus to acquire
00:03:16
knowledge and to achieve their maximum
00:03:18
potential I think that should be every
00:03:20
civilized society's aim but the evidence
00:03:23
shows that we have already put this
00:03:25
Gravely at risk we left the doors to our
00:03:28
children's classrooms their bedrooms and
00:03:31
their minds wide opened to the World
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perhaps we thought we were giving
00:03:35
children the right to access everything
00:03:37
which might be good out there but
00:03:39
instead we've given everyone else the
00:03:41
good and the bad access to our
00:03:44
children let's con consider some facts
00:03:46
and figures as Illustrated in Jonathan
00:03:49
Heights book The anxious generation the
00:03:51
great rewiring of childhood is causing a
00:03:54
plague of mental illness in our children
00:03:57
in the decade up to 2020 the suicide
00:03:59
rate for younger teens increased by 167%
00:04:02
among girls and 91% among boys Hospital
00:04:06
admissions for children with eating
00:04:08
disorders in the UK have risen sixfold
00:04:10
in a decade the contagious influence of
00:04:13
social media cited as a major factor and
00:04:16
2022 saw a 500% increase of self Haring
00:04:20
among teens over the past 9 years in a
00:04:23
British Study last year researchers
00:04:25
found that one in three children are now
00:04:28
shortsighted myopia is predicted to
00:04:30
affect nearly a billion children around
00:04:32
the world by
00:04:33
2050 too much screen time is the culprit
00:04:37
with blue light harming developing eyes
00:04:39
not to mention interfering with
00:04:40
children's hormones and their sleep
00:04:42
rhythms spending time outside can be
00:04:45
preventative for myopia yet screens suck
00:04:48
children indoors more than in any
00:04:50
previous
00:04:51
generation recently the technology
00:04:53
regulator ofcom reported that a quarter
00:04:56
of British children under the age of
00:04:58
seven have a smart phone increasing to
00:05:01
97% of 12y olds this Mass buyin to
00:05:05
smartphones is resulting in a lost and
00:05:07
deeply damaged childhood with screen
00:05:09
addiction displacing nearly every
00:05:12
wholesome activity you can think of as
00:05:15
Douglas Gentile puts it time spent on
00:05:17
screens is time not spent
00:05:20
elsewhere a healthy childhood should
00:05:22
involve lots of free fun drawing running
00:05:26
reading writing stories make belie
00:05:29
kicking a football around even just
00:05:31
staring out of the window and wondering
00:05:34
these are all housian images in a sepia
00:05:36
tint because they scarcely happen
00:05:39
anymore health professionals for safer
00:05:41
screens recently issued guidance that 11
00:05:44
to 17y olds should have no more than one
00:05:47
to two hours screen time per day this
00:05:49
includes everything iPads School laptops
00:05:52
smartphones it's all just screen time to
00:05:55
the brain and yet children aged 8 to 18
00:05:58
are on average spending seven and a half
00:06:01
hours per day on screens outside of
00:06:03
school hours out and about the reality
00:06:06
is starkly visible the number of
00:06:09
toddlers subdued by screens on public
00:06:11
transport when they'd be perfectly happy
00:06:13
looking at the strangers around them the
00:06:15
dogs on leads the opening and closing
00:06:17
doors is to my mind tragic this
00:06:21
unthinking crossover from the analog to
00:06:23
the digital is resulting in heavily
00:06:25
impaired speech cognitive development
00:06:28
and emotional regulation
00:06:31
how will children so constantly but
00:06:33
artificially stimulated ever learn to
00:06:35
think imagine create or just be still
00:06:39
the short answer is that they won't
00:06:42
excessive consumption of screen based
00:06:44
Technologies is damaging developing
00:06:46
developing brains in ways too seismic
00:06:49
yet to fully
00:06:50
comprehend the battle on the smartphone
00:06:53
front is being waged with ever more
00:06:55
power thanks in no small part to Jee
00:06:57
tweni and Jonathan height who've
00:06:59
established that the harms of a
00:07:00
front-facing camera addictive social
00:07:02
media platforms and 247 dopamine
00:07:05
ignition are incontestable from the
00:07:08
damage to focus to self-esteem to deep
00:07:11
thinking to the ability to read books to
00:07:15
be patient to sleep well to interact
00:07:18
healthily in real life to think of
00:07:20
others as opposed to one's own brand to
00:07:23
Pure opportunity cost the list is
00:07:26
Relentless and these harms are at the
00:07:28
more minor end of the spectrum the
00:07:31
enhanced facilitation of knife crime the
00:07:33
enticement to radicalization and
00:07:35
terrorism and the repulsively violent
00:07:37
porn these Horrors are globally
00:07:39
recognized yet still readily available
00:07:42
on children's
00:07:43
phones some lawmakers around the world
00:07:46
are taking action to limit social media
00:07:48
for under 16s Bravo to Australia for
00:07:50
taking the first
00:07:58
stand all civilized countries will
00:08:00
surely follow suit as a matter of
00:08:02
urgency in a fashion which protects
00:08:04
children without impeding and
00:08:06
controlling adults freedoms and this is
00:08:08
very important adult freedom and child
00:08:11
safety can and must be
00:08:13
symbiotic some parents do everything in
00:08:16
their power to mitigate screen harms at
00:08:18
home but then their children go to
00:08:20
school and they experience hours of
00:08:22
screen time in the guise of educational
00:08:25
technology or
00:08:27
edtech whether that's in the form of
00:08:30
iPads and Alexa Voice assistance for
00:08:32
nursery school children learning systems
00:08:34
like Power School in primary SCH school
00:08:37
or Google Classroom on Secondary School
00:08:40
devices who has proven that this Deluge
00:08:43
of screen education is what's best for
00:08:45
our
00:08:46
children no one
00:08:48
has if we step back and view this state
00:08:51
of affairs through a compassionate lens
00:08:53
it's fairly understandable let's wave
00:08:56
aside the fact that only 7% of UK Ed
00:08:59
Tech compan companies have conducted
00:09:00
randomized control trials and just 12%
00:09:03
have used third party certification
00:09:05
let's put these pesky facts aside at the
00:09:08
beginning these products seemed
00:09:09
futuristically exciting well-intentioned
00:09:12
schools spent fortunes buying and
00:09:14
implementing the latest software and
00:09:16
trained their teachers in how to use it
00:09:19
and some of the tools like no more
00:09:21
marking have been helpful for teachers
00:09:24
but now we have better data on how Tech
00:09:26
is impacting pupils so we must press po
00:09:29
and in many cases
00:09:31
Rewind The kolinska Institute in Sweden
00:09:34
recently published research concluding
00:09:36
that there's clear scientific evidence
00:09:39
that tools impair rather than enhance
00:09:42
learning Sweden has taken note and been
00:09:44
the first country to kick Tech out of
00:09:46
the classroom reinvesting in books paper
00:09:49
and
00:09:55
pens they had the courage to admit that
00:09:58
edtech was a failed experiment Bill
00:10:01
Gates himself said that devices have a
00:10:03
lousy record in the classroom Mark
00:10:05
Zuckerberg went to a tech-free school in
00:10:07
Boston Steve Jobs didn't let his own
00:10:10
children use iPads UNESCO says
00:10:13
moderation should be the key word
00:10:15
relating to classroom Tech use the oecd
00:10:18
found that most Ed Tech has not
00:10:20
delivered the academic benefits once
00:10:22
promised and that students who use
00:10:24
computers very frequently at school do a
00:10:27
lot worse in most learning outcomes
00:10:29
comes global test scores in maths
00:10:32
science and reading are
00:10:33
plummeting I've personally spoken to
00:10:35
teachers in British State schools who've
00:10:37
acknowledged that classroom Tech has
00:10:39
hampered the progress of many of their
00:10:40
pupils and the huge boom in tutoring
00:10:43
among private school children points to
00:10:45
the fact that they're not learning well
00:10:47
in school either so why are we getting
00:10:50
so over excited about edtech here in
00:10:52
Britain why are we Outsourcing executive
00:10:55
function skills to a computer why are we
00:10:58
allowing exam boards to to take every
00:11:00
subject online by
00:11:02
2030 all the emerging research should
00:11:04
generate a pulling up of the drawbridge
00:11:06
rather than the open armed Embrace that
00:11:08
we're seeing there's currently talk of
00:11:10
AI being pumped into our classrooms with
00:11:13
children's data being harvested to
00:11:15
better improve the AI why the fact that
00:11:19
AI will soon outperform humans in many
00:11:22
areas means schools should be backing
00:11:24
away from the neurological junk food of
00:11:26
digital learning alert to the fact that
00:11:28
it's counterproductive to learn anyway
00:11:30
on one instantly aging system and
00:11:32
teaching their pupils the deeply human
00:11:34
skills which AI will have a harder time
00:11:37
replacing the skills of reading about
00:11:39
and getting to grips with the Human
00:11:41
Condition empathy concentration eloquent
00:11:45
and humorous discussion and creative
00:11:48
expression the neurology specialist
00:11:51
Christina Capel explains that the brain
00:11:53
is like a muscle which needs to stay fit
00:11:55
with sustained focus and deep thought
00:11:58
online learn learning encourages a short
00:12:00
circuitry which damages the mind's
00:12:02
ability to focus rendering it flabby
00:12:05
needy Twitchy and easily distracted
00:12:09
reading a book in contrast to all that
00:12:11
stimulation all the bells and whistles
00:12:13
of a tablet then feels like a leaden
00:12:15
demanding and deeply unattractive
00:12:18
Prospect the standard defenses of
00:12:21
convenience and having to be oay with
00:12:23
the modern world are crumbling as
00:12:25
progress rates dive downwards Plus
00:12:29
digital literacy is a very different
00:12:31
beast from digital dependency and
00:12:33
atrophy the literacy can be taught in it
00:12:35
lessons without contaminating every
00:12:38
other
00:12:38
subject easy peasy questions such as why
00:12:42
is cutting and pasting some information
00:12:44
from Google into a PowerPoint Superior
00:12:47
to reading a passage in a well-
00:12:49
researched textbook and handwriting a
00:12:51
response why is homework listed on
00:12:53
Microsoft teams better than jotted down
00:12:55
in a paper homework diary why is
00:12:58
digitally transported in a child to the
00:13:00
Egyptian pyramids better than that child
00:13:02
imagining it this kind of jazz hands
00:13:05
immersion as an engagement tool doesn't
00:13:07
work it negates the need to imagine
00:13:09
rendering the pupil a passive rather
00:13:12
than an active
00:13:13
learner parents such as myself ask these
00:13:16
questions but we do not get answers as
00:13:19
the educational psychologist Dr Jared
00:13:21
horv has said the question isn't what's
00:13:24
the best way to take arsenic but should
00:13:26
we be taking arsenic in the first place
00:13:31
that's him not
00:13:36
me there's even no consensus that
00:13:38
interactive smartboards are safe they're
00:13:40
insanely bright they're radiation
00:13:42
emitting and they're simply not as
00:13:44
effective as a teacher writing out what
00:13:46
is in that second being explained on a
00:13:49
black or white board yet we seem to be
00:13:52
marching into a world where screens are
00:13:54
replacing books edtech companies are
00:13:57
relentlessly flogging them wees to
00:13:59
schools very successfully too the
00:14:02
business of edtech is now worth hundreds
00:14:04
of billions of dollars teachers are
00:14:06
having to submit to The New Normal and
00:14:08
as mentioned exam boards in Britain at
00:14:10
least are threatening to go online for
00:14:12
all subjects which effectively forces
00:14:14
the hand of the whole profession at
00:14:16
once so where is all this coming from if
00:14:20
like social media edtech is not in fact
00:14:23
in the best interests of the children
00:14:25
but of the people who make the products
00:14:27
shouldn't we step back rather ra than
00:14:29
Gallop ahead Emily churkin former
00:14:32
teacher now screen time consultant calls
00:14:35
Ed Tech big Tech in a school
00:14:38
uniform yet the British government has
00:14:40
committed to the high-speed rollout of
00:14:42
AI experiments which could mean a future
00:14:44
where children learn via screens
00:14:47
directed by AI surveillance will
00:14:49
intensify to track pupils progress
00:14:52
classrooms will be filled with cameras
00:14:54
and listening devices voice recognition
00:14:57
devices and chatbot Shooters are already
00:14:59
already being piloted for
00:15:00
classrooms why children who have their
00:15:03
eyes on the teacher at the front of the
00:15:05
classroom learn better than they do from
00:15:07
a
00:15:08
screen why is the rush to remove human
00:15:11
beings from The Learning Experience so
00:15:14
lorded why is it considered progress to
00:15:16
render ourselves obsolete there must be
00:15:19
a hidden incentive beneath these plans
00:15:22
because all those multiple millions
00:15:23
should be spent on teachers more of them
00:15:26
more training more recruitment more
00:15:29
support more
00:15:35
retention also this roll out has
00:15:38
implications far beyond learning and
00:15:40
children's well-being it threatens
00:15:42
privacy Liberty and democracy perhaps
00:15:46
that is where the incentive lies I say
00:15:49
no way to all of this no way for the
00:15:52
reasons above and no way from a learning
00:15:55
point of view text has now been
00:15:57
clinically proven to be more profoundly
00:15:59
absorbed from a page in a book than it
00:16:01
is from a screen and handwriting
00:16:04
installs learned information into the
00:16:05
brain much more effectively than cutting
00:16:08
pasting swiping and
00:16:14
typing reading books and handwriting
00:16:17
work is a deeper not to mention a calmer
00:16:20
way to learn screens manage to be both
00:16:23
caffeinating and numbing where books are
00:16:26
decompressing and absorbing reading and
00:16:29
handwriting also harder in a good way
00:16:31
friction and struggle are a necessary
00:16:33
part of the learning process make
00:16:36
everything too easy and it's like
00:16:37
feeding 10-year-olds puree when they
00:16:39
need to
00:16:40
chew hearteningly members of the
00:16:42
teaching profession are pushing back
00:16:45
David James Deputy head of a leading
00:16:47
Independent School says the most
00:16:49
powerful learning tool in the classroom
00:16:51
is an excellent teacher and the most
00:16:53
effective way to ensure children
00:16:55
progress is to teach them to read and
00:16:57
write effectively a screen can be a
00:17:00
distraction an obstacle to learning in a
00:17:03
way in which a book paper and Pen never
00:17:05
are certainly the schools I've visited
00:17:08
where Tech is used in moderation as
00:17:10
opposed to trigger happy abandon are far
00:17:12
more successful in terms of student
00:17:14
attainment and
00:17:15
well-being Katherine BBL sing's Michaela
00:17:18
Community School is one of the most
00:17:19
triumphant schools in Britain the
00:17:22
children are discouraged from using
00:17:23
devices in and out of school the lessons
00:17:26
are taught by passionate teachers Who
00:17:27
quiz the children on facts and figures
00:17:29
in every subject the lessons are
00:17:32
electrifying the school is calm and
00:17:34
organized the children happy
00:17:37
self-disciplined and hungry for
00:17:39
knowledge Katherine is known as
00:17:40
Britain's strictest head mistress but on
00:17:43
visiting the school it quickly
00:17:44
transpires that she's in fact Britain's
00:17:46
most loving head mistress these children
00:17:49
are given every possible tool they need
00:17:51
for incredibly successful lives another
00:17:54
Oasis of screen free education is to be
00:17:56
found at the Heritage School in
00:17:58
Cambridge Jason and Fiona Fletcher's
00:18:00
Haven of focus Serenity classical
00:18:03
intellect Christian Heritage nature art
00:18:06
and beauty is a profoundly effective
00:18:08
learning space again it would not be
00:18:10
possible if the classrooms were filled
00:18:12
with screens to build on this Movement
00:18:15
we need both a parental Revolution and
00:18:17
government cooperation firstly we must
00:18:20
employ Tech as our slave rather than our
00:18:22
Master our use of it has to be
00:18:24
intentional specific and moderate
00:18:27
secondly we need transparency about how
00:18:30
much is being spent on edtech compared
00:18:32
with what's being spent on teachers we
00:18:34
must drastically reduce the presence of
00:18:36
screens and technology in our classrooms
00:18:39
and smartphones must be permanently
00:18:41
excluded from the school day ideally
00:18:43
from children's lives
00:18:44
altogether we should Empower parents
00:18:47
with a right to opt out of classroom
00:18:49
Tech in favor of paper and pen and we
00:18:51
should Inspire generations of children
00:18:53
to love honor and cherish books to
00:18:57
conclude if we want to produce a
00:18:59
generation of responsible citizens we
00:19:01
must flip the current argument on its
00:19:03
head rather than constantly having to
00:19:06
prove the screen use's blighting
00:19:08
childhood we should ask simply where is
00:19:11
the evidence to prove that it's safe if
00:19:14
we take these Brave steps I believe we
00:19:16
can Veer away from catastrophe return
00:19:19
childhood to our young and light the way
00:19:22
to a hopeful future thank
00:19:27
you for
