2 . Thirteen-year-old Kaylee has a lot of friends — 532, actually, if you count up her online friends. And she spends a lot of time with them.

But is it possible that Kaylee’s online friendships could be making her lonely? That’s what some experts believe. Connecting online is a great way to stay in touch, they say. However, some experts worry that many kids are so busy connecting online that they might be missing out on true friendships.

Could this be true? During your parents’ childhoods, connecting with friends usually meant spending time with them in the flesh. Kids played Scrabble around a table, not Words With Friends on their phones. When friends missed each other, they picked up the telephone. Friends might even write letters to each other.

Today, most communication takes place online. A typical teen sends 2,000 texts a month and spends more than 44 hours per week in front of a screen. Much of this time is spent on social media platforms (平台).

In fact, in many ways, online communication can make friendships stronger, “There’s definitely a positive influence. Kids can stay in constant contact, which means they can share more of their feelings with each other,” says Katie Davis, co-author of The App Generation.

Other experts, however, warn that too much online communication can get in the way of forming deep friendships. “If we are constantly checking in with our virtual words, we will have little time for our real-world friendships.” says Larry Rosen, a professor at California State University. Rosen also worries that today’s kids might mistake the “friends” on the social media for true friends in life. However, in tough times, you don’t need someone to like your picture or share your blogs. You need someone who will keep your secrets and hold your hand. You would like to talk face to face.

3 . We are losing valuable time to our devices (设备) every minute, every hour, every day. Technology has taken over much of our lives, especially over the last two years as school and work went online during the COVID-19 pandemic.

    1     No, sadly. But there are things that you can do to make sure you don’t waste your time scrolling (滚屏)in the future.

    2     This is called social economizing, which means you choose how to use your time. You know exactly what you want to do, what brings you joy or closer to your goals, so choose to do those things.

If you feel an urge to jump on social media or scroll websites when you have a few spare minutes, don’t feel bad. This is normal.     3     This can include cleaning your room, organizing your closet or even replying to important messages.

Another great way to help reduce the desire to check your device is to turn off notifications (通知模式). In the 1890s, Russian scientist Ivan Pavlov conducted experiments to measure the build-up of saliva (唾液) in the mouths of dogs under a variety of conditions. Like the dogs in the experiments, people are conditioned to respond each time they hear a ping.     4    

As the saying goes, out of sight, out of mind.     5     Simply put your phone, tablet or computer in another room or away in a desk so that it can’t be seen.

4 . Every year around August, millions of teens take their parents to stores to buy new clothes for the start of the school year. Not every parent can afford this, and some teens are forced to go to school in the same clothes they wore last year. The obvious differences in clothes cause differences among students. There is a simple solution to this problem; school uniforms (校服).

I know from personal experience and surveys that wearing uniforms creates a sense of equality among peers (同龄人).

From sixth grade until I graduated from senior high school, I attended a school that required students to wear uniforms. The uniform was very simple: dark brown shoes, green-brown pants, and a white shirt. The uniform left little room for any kind of self-expression, especially through clothes.

However, I learned how to stand out by expressing myself through my personality, art, and sports. I did not know I could draw until the sixth grade. I also would never have learned of my musical abilities if it hadn’t been for my desire to find ways to express myself. Uniforms taught me that I was myself, except what I wore.

Uniforms also contribute to a much safer learning environment. I remember a particular event that happened in my junior high school. A man ran away from prison and wanted to hide in the gym of our school. Luckily, cameras all over the school quickly found the stranger before any danger could ever happen as he was out of place. School officials kept the man locked inside our gym until the police came to take him back to prison.

Uniforms help provide a better educational experience for all students no matter what race, culture, or economic class (经济阶层). In closing, wearing uniforms is good for both schools and students.

7 . Jackhorn Kentucky, a small village in the Appalachian Mountains, is deep in coal country. But with coal jobs disappearing and unemployment at record highs, this community has found a reason to hope. A bakeshop with an unusual name, Black Sheep Brick Oven Bakery, is providing steady employment and job training skills to local residents.

The bakery is a community-owned social enterprise that is focused on providing jobs for workers displaced (免职) by the coal mining industry, people in recovery, and others who need a new start in life. It started as a volunteer driven initiative (倡议) as part of the successful “Back to Our Appalachian Roots” project. Through the project, workers can learn traditional mountain skills like blacksmithing, quilting, and mountain cooking.

“There is nothing like bread baked in the hearth,” Gwen Johnson, the co-founder and manager of the bakery said. “It feeds the body and seems familiar even if you have never before tasted it.” The name of the bakery and catering company was borrowed from a local shop according to Johnson. But the shop didn’t mind being an inspiration.

The reasons why the community needs the social enterprise go back to the beginning of coal mining in America. Generations of Appalachian residents worked in the coal mines and it was a source of pride as well as the primary employer in the area. But coal mining is back-breaking work with a huge amount of injuries, accidents and diseases like black lung. Today, there are very few coal jobs left in the area due to automation and the reduction of power plants that are coal-fed. Poverty has become a major problem in the area.

The Black Sheep Brick Oven Bakery is working to turn this around. It is a model of giving people second chances and has become a successful business. Johnson said, “We have created an inclusive place of love and belonging for whoever wants to come. I was always a black sheep in my family, which gave me a heart for others.”

9 . Video conferencing has been around for more than 20 years. Until the COVID-19 pandemic, though, you would find that many people needing to attend a meeting remotely would be call g from a real conference room full of their teammates. Today, were routinely holding videoconferences that are 100% virtual. And this is creating a problem that technology can’t fix.

The problem is us, specifically the fact that we haven’t evolved socially to the point where we can bear much separation. So much of our well-being and work productivity is decided on how close we are physically. The removal of that for any period of time can be severely damaging. One surprising victim of social distancing is laughter.

Normally people laugh about 18 times per day. And 97% of that time we’re laughing with others -we are 30 times more likely to laugh with others than to laugh alone. Think about it: how often when you and your friends laugh at something that is actually funny? Research shows that 80% of what people laugh at is really not that funny. They laugh in order to laugh with others. Just as everyone starts yawning (打哈欠) when just one person yawns, most people can’t help but laugh when those around them do. This is why TV comedy shows often use prerecorded laugh tracks.

Laughing in response to other people’s laughing is not just a behavioral phenomenon. When we laugh, our body produces two key chemicals: endorphin which helps relieve pain and sets off feelings of pleasure, and dopamine which can improve learning, motivation and attention. In fact, studies show that people can stand 15% more pain simply by laughing for a few minutes beforehand. Laughter is also associated with higher motivation and productivity at work.

In today’s home-alone, virtual-team world, this is exactly what you as a team leader should be doing: for your team members to stay healthy and productive, you need to get them to laugh more and stress less.