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As a school, we made the call at the beginning of this year to ‘unplug’ our students – that is, take away devices and replace these with pencil, exercise books and rulers.
The research is very clear – that while digital technologies are a fact of twenty-first century life, the challenges are considerable. While Health authorities recommend that children should spend no more than 2 hours a day on screens, Kiwi kids spend on average 7 hours a day playing video games, scrolling, on social media sites and watching youtube clips – and that is outside of school time. The vast majority of these activities have questionable educational value.
Worse, there is a strong link between excessive screen time and increased anxiety and depression levels in young people; poor sleep patterns, exposure to inappropriate content , harmful messaging from social media sites and inability to focus for long periods of time are all problematic.
Unplugging our children comes with a shift in the rhythm of our school day, enriched with the experiences of being a country kid.
Inside the classroom, pencils scratch across pages, settling into the quiet sound of concentration as letters are carefully shaped, stories are written, sums are solved and extended reading takes place.
At break times, the field and bush become a stage for endless games. Rules are invented, adapted, and sometimes forgotten. The sound of running feet, shouted calls, and bursts of laughter carry across the paddocks. We are about “Good People, Working Hard” – unplugging our children is helping to make that happen.
– By Kaihere School principal Ngaire Harris
