Parent Forum Analyzes Teen Cellphone Use

Around 50 concerned parents and their children attended a showing of the documentary film “Screenagers” inside the media center last Thursday as a part of this year’s parent forum. The forum also included a seminar hosted by a family therapist after the film to discuss the impacts of the internet on the audience’s family dynamic.

The film is told from the perspective of director and physician Delaney Ruston as she explores the larger ramifications of cell phone usage on children while at the same time trying to figure out how to manage her own children’s online lives. Ruston is conflicted on whether to let her children discover the cyber world on their own or to guide them through it.

Ruston traveled across the U.S. interviewing students, parents and children in order to build off their experiences in order to ensure her children would grow up with technology responsibly.

One of the families Ruston talked to described their son’s videogame addiction that converted him from an A+ student to a failing one. Following dropping out of high school, the son decided to move out of his parent’s home and run away to a friend’s house.

The purpose of the showing was to start a discussion that families could identify with.  “It’s probably not a conversation that’s ever going to end and I don’t think we’ll solve anything but I think the intent is to bring up the conversation…” said a member of the SDA foundation before beginning the seminar.

Many parents spoke of their families’ experiences with internet technology. One parent shared an account of how they questioned the safety of online communication among kids when they found their child texting another person who was seeking to sell drugs. Other parent asked when the appropriate time is to use personal devices and to what extent should parents monitor their children’s internet use.

No specific complaints towards the school’s cell phone policies came up at the seminar.