{"id":22197,"date":"2022-09-15T13:11:31","date_gmt":"2022-09-15T18:11:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.moundsparkacademy.org\/news\/?p=22197"},"modified":"2022-09-15T16:37:43","modified_gmt":"2022-09-15T21:37:43","slug":"upper-school-division-news-september-15-2022","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.moundsparkacademy.org\/news\/2022\/09\/15\/upper-school-division-news-september-15-2022\/","title":{"rendered":"Upper School Division News September 15, 2022"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"from Mark Segal, Upper School director<\/strong><\/p>\n

I am sure that you, like me, have been in an in-depth conversation with another person when, out of the blue, their attention became distracted and they, instinctively, reached for their pocket or purse to examine the notification that arrived on their cell phone. Urgent or not, the buzz or ring distracted the person you were speaking with enough to significantly shift the direction of your interaction. Similar to Pavlov\u2019s classical conditioning experiment with the ringing of a ball and dog salivating, large percentages of individuals have become conditioned to act as soon as our cellular phones ring or buzz.<\/p>\n

This became far more noticeable with students when after they had spent long periods away from peers, activities, and social interactions due to pandemic driven shutdowns. For many students the weeks and months of isolation was difficult emotionally and psychologically as they endured months without almost everything that they valued \u2013 sports, theatre, music, friends, etc. Thankfully, students returned to school and their activities, but returned to normalcy \u201cout of practice\u201d when it came to social graces, meeting expectations, and the expected give and take of everyday life.<\/p>\n

Prior to Covid, psychologist Jean Twenge had been studying teen mental health, and in her 2017 book, iGen, she shared, \u201cthe historic downturn in the well-being of young people coincided almost exactly with the dramatic rise of the smartphone and social media.\u201d English teacher and author Tyler Rablin shares in a recent EdSurge article that, \u201cwhen students pick up their phones, they are immediately bombarded with notifications and noise, which doesn\u2019t support learning.\u201d He continues that there are creative tools and apps that are beneficial to learning, \u201cbut these tools and apps are not actively reaching out to them. Instead, it\u2019s TikTok, Instagram and games that are causing distraction. Their phones are actively and intentionally working against the goals of learning.\u201d<\/p>\n

For these reasons, the upper school faculty unanimously chose to require their students to keep their cell phones in their backpacks or in a provided \u201ccell phone parking lot\u201d while in class. Recent history has shown that if a student had their phone out, there was an endless stream of notifications flooding their home screen from social apps telling them they\u2019ve been tagged in photos or videos, game notifications letting them know they\u2019ve been challenged by a friend, or text messages from parents reminding them about after school commitments. Twenge found that \u201csome students are able to control their phone use, but as they have become more ingrained in everything we do, that number is dwindling.\u201d We know that the decision to \u201cstow away\u201d cell phones is a significant paradigm shift for our students and their families. Thank you for working in partnership as we do all we can to build (and re-build) the interpersonal relationships that are valued aspects of our community.<\/p>\n

I look forward to seeing you on campus soon.<\/p>\n

Important Information<\/strong><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Upcoming this week are two special Upper School-centric Homecoming events. The Upper School student BBQ and bonfire are scheduled for Friday 5-8 PM. Burgers, veggie burgers, and other BBQ food will be provided to upper school students free of charge. There is a chance of rain Friday evening and as this is an outside event, we will communicate by 4 PM should we need to cancel. Then, Saturday night we will host the Homecoming dance. It will be held in the Upper School Commons 8 -11 PM. Students will not be admitted after 9:30 PM, so please plan accordingly.<\/li>\n
  2. Fall Conferences will take place in-person, on campus, on\u202fThursday, September 29, from 3:30-7 PM, Thursday, October 6, from\u202f3:30-8 PM, and Friday, October 7, from 8 AM-4 PM.\u202fIn the\u202fUpper\u202fSchool, parents and families may schedule to meet with up to three of their student’s\u202fteachers\u202ffor\u202fa\u202f10-minute conference. Once the initial sign-up window closes, families may elect to go in and schedule up to two additional 10-minute conferences.\n