Students need a little gentle encouragement to put their smart phones away.Credit: Not for syndication
It's difficult to imagine a human invention that will ever supplant the personal phone. Many times more powerful than the computers that sent men to the moon 50 years ago, it has made such amazing advances that it is now an indispensible part of our lives. If only we could be so sure of comparable advances in human physiology.
At least we have been getting smarter. In fact, over the past century, the average Australian IQ has dramatically increased. Better nutrition, healthcare and habits, and the complexity of modern life has been good for our brains.
But as Liam Mannix reports today, that improvement has stopped in its tracks, and a mysterious trend has emerged. In Norway, Denmark, Finland, Britain and France, IQ scores that once kept rising now seem to be dropping. Australia is not part of this study, but there is no reason to believe we would be tracking any differently.
There is no definitive culprit, but the mobile phone is under suspicion. Clearly, a machine that ''thinks'' for us might, on the face of it, make us think less. As Mannix reports, there is a ''Google Effect'' and it has taken hold. How many of us still pull out a street directory, or even plot a unfamiliar journey by use of a map? Some old party tricks no longer carry the same potency. Sporting stats? The 45 US presidents? The computer makes a nerd of anyone who wants to be one, while saving countless nerd training hours.
But the evidence is a long way from being unequivocal. The strongest of a tentative set of conclusions about the IQ trends is that our brains are being changed by living in the modern world, not softened by technology.
These findings are unlikely to settle the debate about the influence of phone use on developing brains. With a number of prominent NSW schools having banned phones, the debate is a live one.
As Pallavi Singhal reports today, a new review of the evidence on the impact of phones in schools conducted by the NSW Department of Education highlights the difficulties in addressing the issue, noting that schools across Australia and around the world have taken opposing stances.
The review finds that the main concerns about devices relate to "cyberbullying, access to inappropriate material, social interaction, and distraction from school work". But it noted that other research has found that nearly two hours of device use on weekdays and about four hours on weekend days, which is classified as moderate screen time, is "unlikely to present a material risk to mental well-being".
Most students, by 21st century necessity, take their phone to school. The restrictions placed on its use and the time they spend with it can be weak or strong. Some schools require the phone to be silent and invisible during class time unless the teacher has given permission for it to appear. We believe the best policy for teachers, students (and their helicoptering parents) is that phones be left in lockers during class time, with their use permitted during recess and lunch.
Smartphones are simply the latest challenge that provides an opportunity for school leaders to engage with both parents and students.
Meanwhile, how much do we trust our devices? A machine will never offer us the definitive answer to that question.