Anxiety in the Digital Age
The Scream – Edvard Munch
Faces along the bar
Cling to their average day:
The lights must never go out,
The music must always play . . .
Lest we should see where we are,
Lost in a haunted wood,
Children afraid of the night
Who have never been happy or good.
1st September, 1939, W.H. Auden
The wearied and depressed Manhattanites in W.H. Auden’s poem, ‘1st September 1939,’ inhabited a cloying dystopia that is in constant motion. For Auden, the rise of modernity and the horrific suffering inflicted by the industrial wars of the twentieth century provoked an existential angst that could not be satiated by recourse to pleasure or religiosity. After all, Nietzsche had declared that God was dead in 1882 and, sixty years later, the German critical theorist Theodor Adorno opined that there could be no poetry after Auschwitz. So a gloomy concern with the challenges of modernity is nothing new.
New technology tends to be viewed with extreme suspicion and sometimes this suspicion is motivated by economic worries. In the early nineteenth century, the Luddites rioted against the use of mechanised looms within the textile industry. They accurately predicted that their artisan weaving skills would soon be supplanted by the technological advances that accompanied the Industrial Revolution.
British society is prone to periodic bouts of sanctimonious prudery. Soberly identifying the causes of our moral decline is a pastime which we tend to warm to with age. Charting the downward spiral of humankind is a hobby that is both cathartic and surprisingly comforting. We look back on the halcyon days of our youth as a time of simple pleasure and moral certainty. None of us are entirely immune from the temptation to bore our children with stories of cassette players and rotary dial telephones. It is not unusual for me to watch my daughters’ eyes glaze over as I prattle on for the umpteenth time about my first encounter with emails and my attendant belief that such technology would never ‘take off.’ Dating in the pre-digital age strikes some young people as some sort of ancient and bizarre rite of passage worthy of anthropological study. Some are baffled by the notion that you should leave such matters of the heart to the randomness of serendipitous chance encounters.
It is always easy to mistake correlation for causation. It is easy to imagine that the reported rise in mental health issues is entirely due to excessive screen time. Jonathan Haidt’s bestseller, ‘The Age of Anxiety’ blames a decline in adolescent mental health upon a rise in social media and an attendant decline in exploratory play. He argues that social media has left teenagers feeling more anxious and more lonely than ever before. The evidential basis for his thesis is far from secure and it is not hard to think of examples that directly contradict his position. The benefits of digital technology far outweigh the disadvantages though it is quite clear that an over-reliance upon our mobile phones removes us from being present in the moment. It is difficult to experience life authentically and to sustain meaningful relationships if our online presence is of more interest to us than engaging with those who are physically present within our personal and professional lives.
It is the case that schools find themselves compelled to spend enormous amounts of time dealing with the consequences of unwise social media use. Experience tells us that many parents think they understand what their children are doing online rather better than they do in reality. Technology evolves rapidly and our children are much smarter and more adaptive than we might imagine.
We all recognise the risks that come with easy access to violent and degrading pornography or the extremist views of misogynistic influencers like Andrew Tate. There is no doubt that the internet connects unfortunately like-minded people with destructive world views whilst pernicious algorithms enable a small number of curious teenage browsers to become hardened fanatics within a digital echo chamber that re-enforces rather than challenges their evolving prejudices. However, it is our responsibility to educate children to use technology responsibly rather than to simply drive its use underground.
In PSHE and RSE lessons, we discuss what healthy relationships should look like and we promote inclusive values. Indeed, we work hard to challenge all forms of prejudice and intolerance but we accept that digital technology is part of modern life and we want our children to grow up empowered to make sensible decisions. Mobile phones are useful tools but they do not provide an authentic window on reality nor are they a substitute for face-to-face interaction. There is a joy to be had in dispensing with the virtual and immersing yourself in the moment. Relationships require constant love and attention. Is there anything more depressing than watching people glued to their mobile devices when out for a meal? The purpose of enjoying a meal together is surely sociable but, in some instances, the reality appears woefully solitary.
What we do know is that our teenagers often feel isolated and/or excluded from online activity. There is nothing quite so cruel as the tendency to ostracise individuals from a group chat. My advice to my own children, who do have mobile phones, is to avoid such groups like the plague. Often, young teenagers do not have the emotional sophistication to handle the fluctuating and chaotic dynamics of such forums at all well. They are not alone, for plenty of adults show remarkable cruelty or carelessness when expressing themselves or seeking validation online. Groundless rumours often receive validity through repetition and augmentation on WhatsApp groups. Some rumours are harmless and amusing whilst others are simply unkind or unpleasant. Those who peddle such rumours will often affect a mildly apologetic air of naivety when challenged.
So, why are we limiting mobile phone use during the school day? Well, the truth is that we have always done so and, consequently, the introduction of Yondr pouches is simply a practical way of ensuring that mobile phones are safely stored away during the day but still easily accessible in case of an emergency etc. It does not constitute a philosophical groundshift.
It has been suggested that we should ‘police’ the current system more effectively but confiscating devices is inconvenient for pupils and a fairly unproductive use of staff time. We are here to educate rather than to ‘police’. It is our hope that pupils in Years 7-10 will feel freed from their devices during the day and that is what we want for them. Moreover, it is interesting that when you talk to young people, they acknowledge the benefits of knowing that their devices are available should they be needed but not a constant distraction vibrating away in their pockets. From a safeguarding perspective, the use of lockable pouches creates a more secure environment and decreases the likelihood of children making unwise decisions during school hours.
It has been really fascinating to reflect upon parental feedback but this is one issue where I think we should be more interested in what our children have to tell us. Nothing is ever set in stone and practices, protocols and policies are regularly reviewed through discussion with staff, pupils and parents. The feedback from pupils in schools that have introduced Yondr pouches has been overwhelmingly positive and there is no reason to imagine that the same will not be the case here at Rossall but time will tell.
The need for greater control over what is and what is not freely accessible on smart devices does have a cross-party consensus here in the UK. Digital technology has advanced much more quickly than educational and safeguarding policies. I am always uncomfortable with the notion that it is our responsibility to ‘moralise’. However, it is our responsibility to work with parents to keep our children safe and to help them make wise choices.
The introduction of Yondr pouches is designed to remove device anxiety and to ensure that our children are authentically present in the moment. It is designed to ensure that they have time away from their devices and the attendant pressures that accompany the use of social media. We are not Luddites and nor are we nineteenth-century Puritans warning of the moral collapse of society. We simply want to ensure that our children come to school safe in the knowledge that their social interactions are authentic. We want them to experience the joy that comes with being with friends and we want them to grow in confidence as they live, learn and laugh together. We want them to become gifted communicators who invest in relationships in the here and now rather than digital agitators who seek affirmation through online showboating.
I am not convinced that the rise in mental health struggles is attributable to the role of social media. The empirical evidence to suggest that this is the case is surprisingly weak. However, our community is precious and we should never be afraid to model an environment that we believe to be most beneficial for the development of our children.
Jeremy Quartermain
Headmaster of Rossall School