Teachers Talk: The Truth About Screens at School (with Kathleen Barlow)

Welcome to Teachers Talk, a series on Scrolling 2 Death featuring candid discussions with teachers. Parents are going to get the real deal on what's happening with screens at school, how tech is affecting students' learning and teachers' jobs. Today's episode features former middle and high school French teacher, Kathleen Barlow. Kathleen discusses the challenges of screens in schools and the impact on students' learning and behavior. She shares her experiences as a teacher and highlights the issues of smartphone and school-issued device use in the classroom. Kathleen emphasizes the importance of foundational knowledge and critical thinking, which she believes are hindered by excessive screen time. She suggests implementing policies such as a bell-to-bell phone ban and using phone lockers to address these challenges. Kathleen also shares her experience pulling back from screens within her own family, including switching her twin 17-year-olds from smartphones to the Pinwheel phone, stating "I could not keep supplying this drug to my children." Don't miss the literal earthquake that interrupted our discussion 12.5 minutes in! This episode is sponsored by Bark Technologies. Learn about the Bark App for iPhones and Androids . *Use code SCROLLING2DEATH FOR 10% OFF Check out the Bark Phone . About Kathleen Barlow: Kathleen Barlow is a mother of 6 kids and grandmother of 3. She is a former middle school and high school French teacher, and she taught for about a decade in New Hampshire and Utah. During the 2023-2024 school year, Kathleen was teaching at a middle school in Utah and was struggling to motivate and connect with her students. In continuing to observe the negative impact of phones in school firsthand, she eventually felt compelled to leave her teaching career, in the hopes of finding a way to help schools develop better cell phone policies. Kathleen has since become a member of the Smartphone Free Childhood movement that began in the UK. She has also aligned herself with several other amazing organizations that all have the common goal of helping kids and families become more intentional about their screen time, as well as their time spent in real life connection. Kathleen is in the process of developing her own organization, SOS (Screens Out of Schools), that will be offering services to help in this endeavor. She believes that in order to back up this “digital boat,” we need to be focused “upstream.” Many have found themselves in an exhaustive loop of trying to put out the fires that inevitably arise from being immersed in a dangerous virtual world. By greatly reducing screen time, especially during the school day, many of the problems that are currently plaguing our kids will also be reduced and even eliminated. In her spare time, Kathleen is crazy about mountain biking with her family, and also loves hiking, Bikram yoga, journaling, and reading. She was thrilled to recently finish her second sprint triathlon. Kathleen tries daily (yet sometimes fails!) at practicing the art of being present in each moment.