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May 13, 2025 20 mins

"Send me a Text Message!"

Digital devices have transformed our classrooms, but at what cost to our children's learning? This eye-opening exploration reveals how smartphones and tablets are quietly reshaping the cognitive landscape of K-12 education, creating generation-defining challenges that parents and educators can no longer ignore.

The numbers tell a troubling story. American teenagers consume approximately nine hours of entertainment media daily on their smartphones. National test scores began plummeting in 2013 after 25 years of growth, coinciding suspiciously with the rise of Instagram (2010), Snapchat (2011), and Facebook's acquisition of Instagram (2012). Meanwhile, the average student can focus for less than six minutes before technology pulls their attention elsewhere. The cognitive implications are profound - chronic media multitaskers demonstrate diminished capabilities in exactly the types of thinking required for deep learning.

Perhaps most concerning is how this digital transformation is affecting our youngest learners. More than half of kindergarteners now have personal tablets, and one in four children possess smartphones by age eight. These children arrive in classrooms wired for instant gratification, struggling with the delayed rewards that genuine learning requires. Their reading rates are declining sharply, dropping from 63% reading daily in 2020 to just 52% in 2024. As I explain, "Technology has provided necessary upgrades in how education is presented, but traditional teaching elements still need to be maintained."

What can concerned parents do? This episode offers practical, actionable strategies to counterbalance technology's downsides while recognizing its benefits. From monitoring educational app usage to promoting imagination-driven play without screens, you'll discover concrete steps to strengthen your child's attention span and learning capacity. Subscribe now to join our community of parents and educators committed to giving children the advantages they need in an increasingly digital world.

Check out my 24/7 interactive expert on my website!  There are some great questions being asked and insightful conversations happening there…  Go to https://liberation through education.com/ask-me-anything

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Transcript

Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:11):
Welcome to another episode of K-12 Education
Untangled.
My name is Dr Kim J Fields,former corporate manager turned
education researcher andadvocate, and I'm the host of
this podcast.
I got into this space afterdealing with some frustrating
interactions with schooleducators and administrators, as

(00:32):
well as experiencing themicroaggressions that I faced as
an African American mom raisingmy two kids, who were in the
public school system.
I really wanted to understandhow teachers were trained and
what the research provided aboutthe challenges of the public
education system.
Once I gained the informationand the insights that I needed,

(00:56):
I was then equipped to be ableto successfully support my
children in their education andprogress.
This battle-tested experienceis what I provide as action
steps for you to take.
It's like enjoying a bowl ofeducational research with a
sprinkling of mother wisdom ontop.

(01:16):
If you're looking to find outmore about current information
and issues in public educationthat could affect you and your
children, and the action stepsthat you can take to give your
children the advantages theyneed, then you're in the right
place.
Thanks for tuning in today.
I know that staying informedabout K-12 public education

(01:46):
trends and topics is importantto you, so keep listening.
Give me 30 minutes and I'lluntangle the latest trends,
issues and topics pertaining tothis constantly evolving K-12
public education environment.
In this episode, I'll bediscussing whether wireless
devices in the classroom arecausing learning issues and

(02:08):
attention deficits for students.
Did you know that declines instudent learning are on the rise
due to increased technology inthe classrooms?
Not only that, but the moreoverall time that children spend

(02:33):
on screens each day, regardlessof the quality, is linked to
lower language development.
While technology has advancedsome of the learning in
classrooms across the country,it has also led to increased
learning deficits and attentionspan deficits.
I discussed the downsides ofthe increased use of technology

(02:56):
by today's children and whatthis means for their thinking,
learning and social processes.
In this episode, let's untanglethis.
Processes in this episode.
Let's untangle this.
On any given day, the averageAmerican teenager consumes about
nine hours of entertainmentmedia on their cell phones,
according to Common SenseMedia's recent census.

(03:18):
If they spend this much timeevery day on their smartphones
much time every day on theirsmartphones this raises a
question when can learning fitin?
The short answer is it can't.
This leads to the rise of mediamultitasking habits, such as

(03:43):
watching television, texting orusing social media while doing
homework Roughly two-thirds ofteenagers who multitask said
that they don't think thatmultitasking while doing their
homework affects the quality oftheir work.
This isn't true.
Medium multitasking doesn'twork.
Chronic medium multitaskers areworse at most of the kinds of

(04:07):
thinking.
That's not only required ofmultitasking, but what's
generally involved in deepthinking.
In fact, according to a recentCalifornia State University
Dominguez Hills study of 263middle high school and
university students, the averagestudent studied for less than

(04:29):
six minutes before switchingtasks because they were often
distracted by technology,including social media or
texting.
So I ask you, what kind ofcritical thinking can possibly
exist within the span of sixminutes?
Even though teenagers are inthe prime stage of life to learn

(04:53):
, they simultaneously possesspowerful habit-forming abilities
that make them vulnerable todependency and addiction
vulnerable to dependency andaddiction.
It follows, then, that, asteenagers' attention spans
continue to diminish because ofunrestrained media consumption,

(05:14):
this generation of students maybe cognitively unprepared to
think critically.
The erosion of criticalthinking skills is due to
uninhibited media consumptionand a six-minute attention span.
It's interesting to note thatdeclines in student learning are

(05:34):
on the rise due to increasedtechnology in the classrooms.
National test scores starteddropping abruptly in 2013 after
25 years of growth, with noclear cause, however.
Instagram came out in 2010,snapchat came out in 2011, and

(05:54):
Facebook acquired Instagram in2012.
With this in mind, the nationaltest score tumble seems to be
correlated to increasedsmartphone and social media use.
The more overall time thatchildren spend on screens each
day, regardless of the quality,is linked to lower language

(06:18):
development.
A majority of educators saidstudents' learning challenges
rose along with their increasedscreen time and that student
behavior worsened with morescreen time.
Without a doubt, the indirecteffects of technology on the
comprehension habits of younglearners are a problem.

(06:42):
In a broad sense, technologyhas transformed the way children
view life.
Unfortunately, the overallinfluence of rapidly advancing
technology can also be anobstacle to K-12 classrooms.
Most children arrive inkindergarten with an advanced
idea of instant gratification.

(07:03):
Due to readily available accessto wireless devices.
They know that any game,program or form of communication
is available at the touch of abutton.
This easy access to everythinginfluences the way children are
programmed for learning,especially when moments of

(07:25):
frustration arise.
It's always been difficult tokeep the attention of students,
especially those in elementaryschool, but advancements like
smartphones, electronic tabletsand websites directed at young
learners have complicated thistruth even more.
This is how technology takesits toll on K-12 classrooms

(07:48):
across the country.
Look at it this way when we readfor pleasure, most of us are
looking for some type of escape.
We feel a special interest in aparticular topic, excitement, a
chance to escape reality.
People who love to read have aninteractive relationship with
the material.

(08:09):
It's that cracking open of afresh book.
That's an experience unlike anyother.
That's an experience unlike anyother.
On the other hand, children whoare introduced to literature in
the same way that they learnmath problems or have video
calls with grandparents or playnon-educational games, don't

(08:29):
have that same reference forreading, because it's nothing
special to them.
You may be wondering what's theanswer, then?
There is no clear, definitiveanswer for how elementary and
secondary school students can beexpected to learn the

(08:49):
quote-unquote right way.
Technology has provided thenecessary upgrades in how
education is presented, buttraditional teaching elements
still need to be maintained.
Educators in middle and highschools continue struggling to
manage students' cell phone useduring class.

(09:12):
What may be surprising is thatcell phones are poised to become
a bigger problem for elementaryschools, since a significant
percentage of young children nowhave their own devices.
In fact, more than half thechildren who enter kindergarten
have their own personal tabletsand one in four have their own

(09:33):
smartphones by age eight.
Further, of the children whoare age 8 and younger that have
cell phones, 79% have asmartphone that can go online
and use apps, 19% have asmartphone that has limited
access to the internet and apps,and 3% have a very basic phone

(09:57):
that lacks features liketouchscreens.
In response to this, severalstates and school districts have
created more restrictive cellphone policies in schools In
response to their frustrationsaround managing cell phone use
in the classroom.
Classroom Overall, this means alot of distracted students, a

(10:22):
large percentage of whom mayexperience learning and
attention deficits.
Children ages 5 to 8 arespending an average of three and
a half hours on screens daily.
Researchers continue to pointout that young elementary
students' technology use couldaffect their social life and
emotional and academic learning.
Additionally, 25% of parentswith 5 to 8-year-olds said their

(10:47):
children are watching orplaying on mobile devices to
fall asleep most nights.
Research shows that screen timebefore bed negatively affects
children's sleep, which can hurtnot only their mental health
but their ability to learn inschool.
Pediatricians recommend thatchildren get off screens at

(11:16):
least one hour before they go tobed, as the use of personal
devices such as smartphones,have become more entrenched in
young elementary children'sdaily routines.
Reading among this group hasdeclined.
For example, in 2020, 63% ofparents of children ages 5 to 8
reported that their childrenwere reading or being read to

(11:39):
daily.
That percentage dropped to 52%in 2024.
To address the proliferation ofcell phones in schools, many
states and local schooldistricts are considering or
passing policies to restrictstudents' cell phone use in
school.

(11:59):
42% of teachers and principalssaid that students aren't
allowed to use cell phones atschool at all, although they are
allowed to bring them to thecampus.
Another 7% of teachers andprincipals say that cell phones
aren't allowed on the campus atall.

(12:20):
Schools are trying a variety ofapproaches to curb students'
cell phone use, from all-outbands to more tailored
restrictions that allow studentsto use their phones during
certain times of the day or indesignated areas.
But it's one thing to have cellphone restrictions in place on

(12:41):
the books and yet another thingaltogether to enforcing them.
More often than not, cell phonepolicies aren't enforced by
administrators or teachers.
Now let's move from listeningto this discussion to applying

(13:02):
it.
So what can you do about cellphone use for your children?
Here are the action steps youcan take regarding this topic.
Without a doubt, the indirecteffects of technology on the
comprehension habits of younglearners are a problem.

(13:23):
The direct downside ofincreased use of mobile devices,
whether at school or at home,decreases your child's attention
span and learning engagement.
Researchers have noted thatparents who spend more time
distracted by their cell phoneswhen their children are very
young, between the ages of 10months and 2 years, have

(13:45):
children who have underdevelopedlanguage skills.
These language skills deficitscarry over, if not addressed,
into kindergarten.
You are the best monitor ofyour child's screen time.
Here are some tips to managescreen time One, spend more time

(14:11):
engaging with your children inreal life by playing games,
reading to them or participatingin hands-on activities.
Two, or participating inhands-on activities.
Two, monitor the types ofeducational apps that your child
uses, not only in content orquality, but in duration.
Three, help your child work ondeveloping their creativity by

(14:34):
writing out stories, usingpencils or crayons to draw and
illustrate those stories' ideas.
And four, utilize audiobooks orchildren podcasts to enhance
your child's listening skills.
As I reflect on what tools wereused when I was growing up,

(14:56):
which was way before wirelessdevices, we used reel-to-reel
tape recorders, board games and,most of all, we used our
imaginations, you might besurprised at the things you can
create when you're outside andonly have old pods or pants,
cups, rope and sticks to playwith.

(15:18):
The possibilities are endless.
Give your children the gift ofusing their imagination by
letting them play outsidewithout devices.
Go for it.

(15:39):
Here are this episode'stakeaways.
On any given day, the averageAmerican teenager consumes about
nine hours of entertainmentmedia on their cell phones.
If they spend this much timeevery day on their smartphones,
this raises a question when canlearning fit in?

(16:00):
The short answer is it can't.
It's interesting to note thatdeclines in student learning are
on the rise due to increasedtechnology in the classrooms.
National test scores starteddropping abruptly in 2013 after
25 years of growth, with noclear cause.

(16:21):
However, instagram came out in2010, snapchat came out in 2011,
and Facebook acquired Instagramin 2012.
With these things in mind, thenational test score TUMBLE seems
to be correlated to increasedsmartphone and social media use.

(16:43):
The more overall time thatchildren spend on screens each
day, regardless of the quality,is linked to lower language
development.
A majority of educators saidstudents' learning challenges
rose along with their increasedscreen time and that student

(17:03):
behavior worsened with morescreen time.
In a broad sense, technology hastransformed the way children
view life.
Unfortunately, the overallinfluence of rapidly advancing
technology can also be anobstacle to K-12 classrooms.
Most children arrive inkindergarten with an advanced

(17:26):
idea of instant gratificationdue to readily available access
to wireless devices.
It's always been difficult tokeep the attention of students,
especially those in elementaryschool, but advancements like
smartphones, electronic tabletsand websites directed at young
learners have complicated thistruth even more.

(17:50):
This is how technology takesits toll on K-12 classrooms
across the country.

(18:11):
What are your thoughts about theuse of wireless devices and the
decrease in attention andlearning for your children?
What are your thoughts?
What do you think about that?
Leave me what you're thinkingabout that in a comment on my

(18:35):
podcast website,k12educationuntangledbuzzsprout.
If you enjoyed this episode,why not listen to another
episode from our library?
It can take as little as 10minutes of your day and remember
.
New episodes come out everyTuesday.
Thanks for listening today.
Be sure to come back for moreGame 12 educational discussions

(18:58):
with even more exciting topicsto untangle.
Until next time, aim to learnsomething new every day.
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