England Prohibits Phones in Schools, But Will It Help?

Recently, England’s Department of Education has confirmed plans to ban the use of mobile phones in English schools during the school day, including break times. The guidance offers schools a variety of ways to implement (实施) the ban, ranging from an order to leave all phones at home, to handing them in on arrival or keeping them in inaccessible lockers.

England’s response to the growing frustration with students’ cellphone use during school time is not unfounded. The United Nations this past summer published a report issuing a strong warning regarding technology use in schools around the globe. Some countries had already implemented strict “no-cellphone” policies. For example, France prohibited students in elementary and middle schools from using cellphones while on campus. Meanwhile, it is reported that most teens use their phones for an average of 43 minutes during school hours, with some students reaching six hours on the high end. These addictive devices often lead to distraction and social anxiety. Worse still, almost one-third of secondary school teachers said that their lessons were interrupted by students’ mobile phones.

However, some people don’t believe that banning mobile phones in England’s schools will fundamentally address the harm that mobile phones do to children. “We work with children daily. We understand that a phone is a device to pay for a bus, contact your mum, and find information,” Kidron, a secondary school teacher, said. “So the device is not the issue; it is the persistent irresponsible content provided by online tech platforms that is to blame. Companies that engage with children, therefore, should offer content that is suitable for their age and development capacity.” Ghey, a concerned mother, also raised her voice on this matter, but with a different perspective. She argued for the phone manufacturers to make specific products for under-18s that prevent them from accessing harmful content.

Complaining: The Happiness Killer

In 15th-century Germany, there was an expression: Greiner, Zanner, which can be translated as “a chronic (长期的) complainer.” Are you a bit of a Greiner, Zanner? If so, you’re not alone. Survey data show that customers today are more than twice as likely to complain about a product or service as they were in 1976. A U. K.-based survey also observed a rise in job dissatisfaction over a two-year period before autumn 2022.

Complaints can be grouped into different categories. As is reported, 45 percent of complaints concern the behavior of others. For instance, parents repeatedly criticize their children for small issues like messy bedrooms or dirty clothes. Another 29 percent focus on personal discomfort. A common complaint in this category might be about feeling too hot in a room without air conditioner. The remaining 26 percent involve unpleasant obligations like unnecessary work meetings people are forced to attend.

The problem with all of these complaints is that it can feel helpful — but it typically isn’t . Although complaining might offer temporary relief, it’s bad for your happiness in the long run. Researchers who measured people’s mood before and after they complained found that those complainers’ mood was significantly worsening. Besides, complaining can also lower the happiness of the people around you. In some relationships, the negative effect can pass like a virus to those exposed. In other words, when people see others’ complaints expressing anger, disgust and sadness, they can, in turn, feel similar emotions.

As the 20th-century Bulgarian philosopher Archimandrite Seraphim Aleksiev observed, “Complaining is like the winter frost which, when it falls, destroys all the labors of the gardeners.”

Digital Nomads (游牧人)

How would you like to answer your work emails from a beachfront café in Thailand or a coffee shop in Portugal? If that appeals to you, being a digital nomad might be for you. Digital nomads can literally work from anywhere as their jobs are online. Digital nomads rely on portable devices with wireless Internet capabilities such as laptops, tablets and smartphones. Typically, they work from coffee shops, restaurants, co-working spaces, apartments or internet cafés — places with an Internet connection.

Worldwide, statistics show the number of digital nomads hit 35 million in 2021. So what is it that makes the lifestyle of digital nomads so fascinating? First and foremost, digital nomads get to live in different countries and cultures while they work, providing them with opportunities to have adventures and experience new things. These folks have also found the most flexible means of online incomes, allowing them to head out at a moment’ notice and go where they please. “I’m free,” says Nimisha Walji, “I can go where the wind takes me and live any place I choose! If I feel like a change, I can pursue that in a matter of days, sometimes hours.”

You may think that being a digital nomad is all sunshine and rainbows. It is not necessarily so. Job finding is one of the hardest tasks for the digital nomad, given that they have no permanent home, no office address, and no one knows them. To apply for a job, they need to find the employer and persuade him to hire them. Most of the employers hire from their own city, and that’s why it’s so hard for a nomad to find a job. Access to stable Wi-Fi and adequate workspace can be difficult. If someone struggles to stay focused at home, there can’t be a worse place than a fascinating holiday location. Few people can manage to be productive faced with the temptations and distractions. It seems that living the life of a digital nomad isn’t for everyone.       

Housework, Our Responsibility

Teens and Screens

Forced by parent protesters citing to research into the links between adolescent social-media habits and risk factors for suicide, such as depression, two large investors in Apple have agreed that the technology company must help parents limit their children’s smart phone use. On social media, parents are constantly complaining about phones’ addictive properties. On the school run, parents compare strategies for limiting screen time.

Before going for the off switch, parents should ask a question. Does cutting down on their kids’ use of iPhones, Instagram and so on do much good in solving adolescents’ problems? On the available evidence, the answer may be no. Some studies of Britain and America, which conduct large surveys of young people, have found correlations (相关性) between heavy technology use and unhappiness. Correlation is not causation, however, it could be that unhappy people seek refuge online. And the correlations are very weak. Only about 1% of the variability in young people’s mental well being can be explained by social-media or smartphone use. One British study suggests that eating breakfast regularly is more than three times as important.

Parents who worry about their teenage kids can do something, however. Drive them out of the house. There is plenty of evidence for the cheering effects of hanging out with friends. Yet youngsters are doing less of this. Social pressure is one reason. According to broader attitudes in Britain, “teenagers hanging out on the streets” is a standard measure of anti-social behaviour. The authoritative Crime Survey of England asks people whether adolescent hanging-out should be regarded as a social problem. Most respondents said yes. That the rate of adolescent hanging-out has dropped from 33% to 16% in ten years may please criminologists, but it is unlikely to signal happier teenagers.