The post below is by guest blogger Mike Goldstein.

By now you’ve seen “Have Smartphones Destroyed A Generation?” and similar articles, based on the new research by Jean Twenge.

Dan Meyer points to Tony Riehl’s in-class cell phone policy as his favorite.  Interesting comments, too.

Becky, a friend of mine, writes on FB:

<<I’m a school psychologist who works with middle schoolers. This article articulated what I see every single day and the worries I have about it 1000%. The word “destroyed” in the headline is a little over the top, but the concerns are pervasive, real, and supported by generational data trends in addition to my everyday experience. 

I can only hope that as those of us in my generation begin and continue to raise our own young children, we will be increasingly aware of and educated about these trends, and the unintended effects of ubiquitous smartphone/social media use on the social skills and mental health of our kids.>>

I share her concern.  I wonder: is there way where middle school teachers could join with parents to create some sort of opt-in-but-teacher-supported “at home cell phone policy” – one that makes it easier for parents to limit smartphone use?  My half-thought is parents might set firmer limits if they could say “Lots of kids in your school follow this exact cell phone policy at home.”