November 2022: School Administrator
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Editor's Note
Hope for Technology’s Better Uses
When it comes to the place of smartphones and social media in society, it’s impossible to restore the genie to the bottle. Yet educators have a duty to limit the havoc these forces can exact on schools and their students and staff.
Technology empowers us all, yet it’s individuals who hold the power to shape the world of education. Making our schools healthier and more productive places requires better policies and practices — the message that I hope emerges from our coverage of cellphone use in schools and social media use in school systems in this month’s issue.
As more school districts begin to limit cellphone use in schools, Delaney Ruston’s article, “Containing Cellphone Harm,” and Matthew Burnham’s companion piece, “Distractions Are Gone Along With Our Phones,” are especially timely. So too is the writing by superintendents Mark Benigni and David Schuler on their districts’ uses of social media.
But if we need any further reminders about the harmful downsides of these forces, I commend your attention to the article by Hana O’Looney, who spent last year as the student member of a school board, and the call for action at major social media firms by leaders of two national organizations.
Remember, educators do hold the power in their hands.
Jay P. Goldman
Editor, School Administrator
703-875-0745
jgoldman@aasa.org
@JPGoldman
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