A PRINCIPAL AT A WASHINGTON, D.C., PUBLIC SCHOOL HAS PLEDGED TO PAY HER STUDENTS US$100 EACH OUT OF HER OWN POCKET, IF THEY FORGO ELECTRONICS AND VIDEO SCREENS EACH TUESDAY OVER THE SUMMER.
1 BINGE FEARS
A school principal in the U.S. is worried that with the school year over, countless students will binge on movies, television and video games during their summer break. Many will also have endless access to cellphones that would be off-limits if they were in class. So, Diana Smith, principal at Washington Latin Public Charter School, has pledged to pay her students US$100 each out of her own pocket if they forgo electronics and video screens each Tuesday until school resumes at the end of August.
2 VERIFICATION
That’s 11 whole days of no phones, computers, tablets, video games or television. If the students are not at home, they’ll have to figure out how to contact their parents. At the end of the summer, two adults over the age of 21 will have to send a letter to Smith certifying that Tuesdays were tech-free.
3 BRIBE
“I don’t like when teachers bribe their students with food, so I am breaking my own rules,” Smith said. “But I do think they need help with this particular relationship.”
4 ADDICTED
Smith, who has led the D.C. charter school since 2008, is concerned that teenagers are addicted to their phones. They are losing sleep because they are texting in the middle of the night. Social media has intensified middle and high school drama. “I have become increasingly uncomfortable with the ubiquity of the phones in their lives,” she said. When Smith told students and parents about the pledge at an assembly, parents cheered, she said. But there was also some grumbling as students realized what it would take to earn the money.
5 THE COST
Seventh- and eighth-grade students are eligible — about 160 pupils — so Smith could be out more than $16,000. But Smith she doesn’t think it’ll cost her that much. “I think only 50 of them can do it,” Smith said. “I have seen kids who can’t go an hour without touching a phone.”