The principal of a Washington, D.C. public charter school is offering students $100 each out of her own pocket to stay off their electronic devices just one day a week for the duration of summer break.
Diana Smith, principal of Washington Latin Public Charter School in Northwest D.C. (Courtesy Photo)
Diana Smith, principal of Washington Latin Public Charter School in Northwest D.C., said eighth- and ninth-graders can earn the prize by foregoing electronics each Tuesday until school starts in late August.
Approximately 160 students are eligible to take on the challenge. Students must get two signed letters from adult witnesses to earn their prize.
A recent study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association closely examined the role that cell phones have on brain activity. While the report didn’t decisively link negative health effects to cell phone usage, questions remain about the long-term impact of cell phone use on youth.
“I challenge them to stay off of any screens—so television, games, phones, tables, everything—for the 11 Tuesdays that we have of summer break,” Smith told D.C. radio station WTOP. “Kids have these phones under their pillows at night—they’re going to bed, they’re texting each other at 3, 4 in the morning. I have concerns about the amount of sleep the students are getting and the potential loss of focus.”
Ward 7 residents Marlon and Tamsin Edwards said encouraged the District of Columbia Public Schools, churches, and the larger D.C. community to enact similar programs and incentives to keep children off electronic devices.
As parents of a 16-year-old daughter and twin 10-year-old sons, the Edwards household has a strict ban on most electronics for all but one hour per day.
“I think the phones are addictive and lead to anti-social behavior simply because it is a manufactured connection with other people,” Marlon Edwards said. “You can see it in restaurants with entire tables of people sitting next to each other, but still connected to their phones, tablets, televisions, and other devices. They are so busy…online that they fail to interact with each other in the immediate. We do not want our children growing up like that.”
The Edwards household requires lots of newspaper and book reading, outdoor activities, and at least two hours a day of talking to each other.
“I love this principal’s position not just for better sleep, but also because we know that a certain level of radiation is emitted from these phones, tablets and televisions while in use. What is that doing to our children’s cognition and brain health,” Tamsin Edwards said. “We want our children to sit still in a classroom and listen to someone speak without fidgeting, but we’re equipping their brains to respond to constant stimuli—colorful things jumping about—and so they are losing their capacity to mellow out and pay attention.”