No. 105 of 108
September 26, 2025
A high school in Kentucky banned mobile devices “bell to bell” (… the beginning of the school day to the end of the school day). There has been a 67% increase in books checked out from the library. The lunchroom is louder. Card and board games spontaneously appear. Recesses are louder. Parents nervous about being in touch with their children have had to call the principal’s office if there is an emergency, like in the “old days” before mobile devices.
Whoa! Teenagers talking to one another! Reading books! Mobile devices are built to entice us into being in our own world. Being an introvert or extrovert does not matter – equally attractive algorithms beckon. Luckily, I am a Techno Dino with a humble flip phone which technically can connect to the internet, but why bother? I am thus limited in my wireless connectivity and must sit at my laptop to look up something. More cumbersome to haul around, I must adopt reading the news in discrete batches in discrete times, and inclined to long form reading (electronically, or in ancient paper forms) of articles from magazines and journals. In airport terminals and planes, which I find myself in more frequently than most, I observe people, rest, read a bit, write, think, meditate. If you read this news about the Kentucky high school ban on mobile devices and the wondrous novelty of an increase in book reading and conversation, imagine what a more disciplined relationship with your device might mean as an adult. Making meaning of the world. Figuring things out. Paying attention to the actual world around you. Re-forming the evolutionary culture. (See previous post) Just a thought. Now put down that smart-$*% mobile device and take a walk. 😊