"We believe 2024 will stand out as the year when the darkness lifted on the mental health crisis engulfing young people in America and around the world. Many adults suspected that the arrival of smartphones and social media had something to do with it, and even many kids said that social media was harming them. Yet it seemed impossible to do anything about it. "You can’t put the genie back in the bottle!" people would say. Or, "the train has left the station." - Jon Haidt and Zach Rausch (article embedded below)

Dear HKMS Families,

Over the last several weeks something remarkable has occurred. Mrs. Mohr and I have called zero parents about their child's confiscated cell phone and only 2 calls about smartwatches.  Last year we made about 6 calls per week, every week, all year. In the past, we had a strict policy (phones could be carried but had to be powered off), but more than once per day a student would "sneak a look" or send a text to a parent or a friend from the bathroom (we know this as parents told us). Many were repeat offenders but most were one time violators.  This year we have had two violations.  One teacher remarked, "How do you do it? How did you completely eliminate the cell phones here?"  My answer was WE did it! The parents, students, teachers, and our community took collective action and said, no more will a phone disrupt our kids' educations.  Even the students are on board. When asked about the new cell phone policy, one seventh grader reported "...it is a relief not to have to worry about checking my phone.  I used to get notifications during the day and would feel the pressure to go and check it, I didn't want to miss out, so I would run to the bathroom." These seven hours are sacred time and we need to protect them.  THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT ON OUR CELL PHONE & SMARTWATCH POLICY! 

I think our community should keep expanding phone-free hours.  In a recent article by Freyda India (A Time We Never Knew article embedded below), high school students were shown clips from 90's high school videos, and they lamented at their "lost childhood."  A childhood lost to their phones, one said, "I know I’m still young (14F), and I have so many years to make up for that, but I can’t help but hate myself for those years I wasted doing nothing all day but going on my stupid phone."  Another said, "As someone who graduated in 2015 this looks like such a nice time. Not a phone in sight. People actually talking face-to-face. I wish I could have grown up in an era like this." We can help foster more phone free time, by adding in more challenges, opportunities and excitement into their free time.  

The decline in children's mental wellness is not just about smartphones. The loss of  free play, especially in the afterschool hours, has also had a detrimental effect on students' physical and mental health.  In an article, Why Children Need Risk, Fear, and Excitement in Play, Mariana Brussoni reports on the decrease in non play-based injuries as a warning flag for parents.  "Parents are worrying about the wrong causes of injuries and harm. In fact, the very strategies that parents use to try to keep their children safe – driving them around, maximizing supervision, and minimizing freedom – are unintentionally increasing the likelihood of injuries and even death” (article embedded below). We are lucky to have been able to carve out some "free time" for students during the day.  We have our 10-15 minute recess, and often during ELT students have the opportunity to play in a less-structured, less supervised manner, but that pales in comparison to exploring the woods, riding bikes to friends' houses, or finding a passion.  These are precious years that they are in desperate need of free play.  They need boredom to let their creativity blossom.  They need less schedule activities and more time to create their own experiences.  None of them will ever look back and say, "I wish I spent more time on my phone", but they may regret not connecting with the real world. 

We had some amazing real world experiences this week at Keller!  From the great teaching and learning in classes this week to the inspirational performance at the instrumental concert last night, this week was one to remember!  I hope you can take a few minutes to enjoy this week's newsletter.

Wishing you a wonderful weekend!

Steve Clapp, Ed.D.

Dr. Clapp and Mrs. Rudy took on some talented pickleball players in the 6th grade PE classes today!  They lost big time!