Screens have no benefit for teaching and they harm the development of young people’s potential, according to a specialist in psychoeducation, who pleads for the banning of cell phones and tablets in schools.
Linda S. Pagani is a professor at the School of Psychoeducation at the University of Montreal, and a specialist in the effects of the screen on young people.
Contrary to the widespread idea that digital devices have certain advantages in education if they are used wisely, DD Pagani is adamant: “Research shows us that tablets are not an advantage for teaching. I think we just wanted to feel ‘up to date’,” she said in an interview.
“Pencil and paper works extremely well. We’re leveling down a lot these days.”
According to her, the many hours spent in front of screens – especially on social networks – are one of the causes of the unprecedented despair that adolescents are experiencing today.
“Adolescence is a time when we are more fragile, she explained. We tend to compare ourselves with others, and from there comes distress, dissatisfaction with our body, suicidal thoughts, self-mutilating behavior (…). It’s in all the medical journals, and we wonder what to do!
The researcher recalls that social networks work with “algorithms based on neuroscience to make people addicted”. “We increase our consumption, then we lose track of time. We become less productive, we have difficulty remembering things, because we are too preoccupied with our digital life, ”she lamented.
To eliminate these problems, the DD Pagani proposes banning cell phones and other types of screens in educational establishments. She also suggests holding a “great national conversation”, including researchers, parents and young people on this subject.
“I believe that we must find solutions to operate a revolution which will bring us back to something more adequate, which will promote our health and our potential”, she summarized.
Currently the tablet is mandatory in the vast majority of private schools. Cell phones are only banned in a handful of schools, including Grande-Rivière high school in Gatineau.
Since 2018, in France, cell phones have been banned in schools and colleges, even during breaks. There has been a similar regulation in Ontario since 2019, but young people can consult their device outside of school hours.
Drainville is aware of the problem
Even if he says he is aware of the problems that young people who spend a lot of time on social networks can experience, the Minister of Education, Bernard Drainville, is of the opinion that “there is no use excessive use of digital technology in the education network”.
“Let us also remember that the use of digital technology is made for educational purposes,” he said in a written statement to the QMI Agency.
The new Quebec Culture and Citizenship course “will broadly address the use of social networks”, but it is also the responsibility of parents to limit their children’s access to screens, finally argued the minister.
Towards a parliamentary commission?
The idea of conducting a major national conservation on the place of screens in schools and more broadly on the impact of technology on young people has supporters on the benches of the opposition in Quebec.
During the last legislature, the Liberals tabled an order of initiative on this subject, which the government did not follow up on. “Given recent developments, we do not rule out returning to the charge with this request,” said Liberal MP Marwah Rizqy.
“We should look into that. There, we see it coming out a little to the left and to the right, but it would be interesting to have expert recommendations to see after what we do in the schools. It would be a good initiative, and if it presents itself, Quebec solidaire we will be for, ”said solidarity MP Ruba Ghazal.