Perspectives on Childhood, Education and Parenting Staying Tech Connected, to a Point
By Tom Northrup
“H
igh tech” and “high touch” are terms introduced by John Naisbitt in his prescient and thoughtprovoking book Megatrends (1982). In 1999, he co-authored a follow-up work entitled High Tech, High Touch. Naisbitt’s thesis is that with the rapid and inevitable advances in technology (“high tech”), people would increasingly need and seek avenues for human activity and connection (“high touch”). His insight continues to offer a simple and elegant framework to reflect on how we balance these two in our homes and workplaces. I acknowledge and appreciate the many ways that technological advances have helped to make us healthier, safer, and more easily connected to family and friends. I’d also like to explore how school leaders and parents can evaluate whether the reliance on technology is beneficial in two areas. The first is the use of email to conduct parentteacher “conferences” about a child’s academic or social struggles or challenges. Email offers many advantages (free, quick, paperless). It’s terrific for scheduling appointments or providing logistical information. For several reasons it’s also an ineffective medium on which to have important home-school conversations. For both parties, composing thoughtful on-line responses is time-consuming, and such exchanges lack the opportunity for non-verbal communication, as well as the spontaneity which an in-person
“The two biggest markets in the United States are consumer technology and the escape from consumer technology.” –John Naisbitt, Author
conference offers. Additionally, these email conversations require teachers to spend time and energy (both finite resources) that would be better allocated in preparing lessons, meeting with students individually, and having personal time. Using email exclusively to schedule a day and time and to define the topics for discussion at the conference is preferable. Such “high touch” meetings between teachers and parents promote understanding, partnership, and trust, and are usually more satisfying to both. A second use of technology which some schools are employing, is a system that tracks a student’s grades and test results on a daily basis. Parents can access this information in real time. While there are a few children who would benefit from this close electronic monitoring by parents, it’s not helpful to most. A fundamental parenting principle, in my view, is that each year children should be afforded an increasing amount of latitude (opportunities to make independent decisions, and to learn from successes and missteps without adult intervention). Therefore, in their later school years, students should
be managing their academic, extracurricular, and social responsibilities without excessive adult oversight. Certainly, parents should be informed by periodic reporting from the school, and even better, from conversations initiated by their child. But hourTom Northrup by-hour information is intrusive and potentially harmful to the child’s long-term growth. In rare circumstances, daily communication between school and home may be in the child’s best interests, but the need for such monitoring should be carefully evaluated and agreed to by both teachers and parents. Naisbitt’s books continue to be relevant, and they encourage thinking about maintaining a healthy balance between technology and human connection. While the sophistication of technology grows daily and exponentially, we now have enough experience with its benefits and drawbacks to be better positioned to make more informed decisions in balancing these competing demands. We all know that periodic unplugging often restores the soul, and ironically, some of the most creative “high tech” thinkers are designing ways to do this. Tom Northrup, a long-time educator, is Head of School Emeritus at The Hill School in Middleburg.
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