Written in November 2018:

Wake County Public School System is in the process of updating the curriculum for English classes. (Curriculum is a confusing term that encompasses many things, from the standards to daily lessons. In this case, the portion they are updating are the unit themes and corresponding standards as well as the Canon. In other words, Common Core is here to stay. The rest of it is not.) Freshman teachers “got to” pilot some of the changes before they were permanent. I am currently teaching unit 3 whose major thematic focus is conformity and rebellion. Initially, I thought, “Yuck. That’s going to be dull.” I have since changed my mind. My students are participating in literary circles for this unit with a selection of pretty fabulous books: A Raisin in the Sun, Lord of the Flies, The Outsiders, Fahrenheit 451, and The Catcher in the Rye. Plus, there are a lot of short stories that touch on conformity and/or rebellion.

Anyway, I was doing some research to find some rigorous non-fiction for my students to read when I came across this study on motivations for phone use. While the study sampled “394 smartphone users in China,” the implications of the study could be very real for any smartphone user. They found, “In terms of positive reinforcement motives, only perceived enjoyment significantly affects smartphone addiction. Surprisingly, information seeking and social relationship have no significant impacts on smartphone
addiction. In terms of negative reinforcement motives, mood regulation, pastime, and conformity motives increase smartphone addiction. Among the four categories of motives, pastime places the strongest impact on smartphone addiction” (emphasis mine). Using cell phones can be seen as a form of conformity. Think about it: how often are you with someone and, when they pick up their phone to use it, you do the same? Of course, this thought (along with other things in the study) lead me down a rabbit hole of increasingly worrying thoughts about the way cell phones control my life–and maybe yours too. You can watch this video if you want to know more about how phones probably control your brain.

Naturally, I made my students read this study, and then we took a quiz that was not necessarily suppose to determine if you were addicted but, rather, cause one to reflect on their phone usage. (If you want to take the quiz, I’ve included it at the bottom of this post.) I was legitimately ashamed of my answers (which is also why I will not include them here*)! Shortly after taking the quiz, I checked Screen Time. This application was an addition to the iPhone included in the last major update. It tracks all sorts of interesting things: how often your use your phone, what apps you use the most, average amount of time you’re on your phone each day, number of notifications you get, and how many times you unlock and look at your phone. You can also use it to put limits on your phone use.

*I did include them, so you can see how they’ve changed over the past 5 months.

Written in March 2019:

You’ll notice this is a two part post. I waited to finish the post because I wanted to try living without my phone for a few days (which I did successfully for 4 days), and I wanted to set restrictions on my phone time (which I did and enforce every day). Basically, in November, my point was that we are all seriously addicted to our phones, it’s ruining education and our ability to communication, and we should really use them less. I just wanted to see if that would shake out to actually be true for me. I wasn’t surprised to find out that less phone time makes my life better. In fact, after getting it back at the end of my 4 day fast, I realized that being on your phone all the time is kinda boring. I also now collect my students’ phones at the start of class every day. I never thought I would be the type of adult to support the idea of less screen time but, with all the scientific and anecdotal evidence out there, it’s hard to ignore how detrimental excessive phone use is to our minds.

Phone Addiction Quiz (Simply answer true or false.)

1. Using my smartphone is enjoyable. (November: true / March: sometimes)
2. The reason I use my smartphone is to socialize with others. (November: true / March: true)
3. If all my friends are on their phone, I want to be on mine too. (November: true / March: sometimes)
4. My social life has suffered because of using my smartphone. (November: false / March: I should’ve said true in November, but I believe it’s false now.)
5. I find it difficult to control my smartphone use. (November: true / March: true–which is why I use the app Screen Time)
6. I have used my smartphone to forget about my worries. (November: true / March: false–I stopped picking up my phone when worried or upset and have taught myself new ways to cope. I’ve been writing more and creating a lot of artwork.)
7. When I am not able to use my smartphone, I feel agitated. (November: false / March: false)
8. The reason I use my smartphone is to avoid boredom. (November: true / March: only when I don’t have a book with me!)
9. Using my smartphone sometimes interferes with other activities. (November: true / March: false)
10. When I get a notification, I feel the need to check it immediately. (November: true / March: false)
11. When I leave, I must take my phone with me—even if it’s to go into another room. (November: true / March: true–I’d like to think this is mainly out of habit.)
12. I cannot reduce my amount of smartphone use voluntarily. (November: false / March: false)
13. My smartphones is one of the most prominent features of my life. (November: true / March: false)
14. I would feel out of touch with my peers if I did not have a cell phone. (November: true / March: true)

— Mads