On Thursday, November 15, 2018, Immanuel Lutheran School was pleased to host Dr. Mark Bauerlein, Senior Editor at First Things and Professor of English at Emory University, for a conversation on Screen Time versus Book Time.
In addition to serving for two years as the Director of the Office of Research and Analysis at the National Endowment for the Arts (2003-05), Dr. Bauerlein is the author of several books, including Literary Criticism: An Autopsy (1997), The Pragmatic Mind: Explorations in the Psychology of Belief (1997), and The Dumbest Generation: How the Digital Age Stupefies Young Americans and Jeopardizes Our Future (2008). His writings have been published in the Wall Street Journal, the Weekly Standard, The Guardian, the Washington Post, the Boston Globe, and the Chronicle of Higher Education, among other national publications.
With much talk these days about kids acquiring "digital literacy," Dr. Bauerlein urges parents to not to be misled. In his program, Dr. Bauerlein explained why the more children and teens read books and limit screen time, the better their prospects will be in college and at work.
"Thanks to Dr. Bauerlein, we are looking forward to continuing conversations on technology among the school community," commented Ms. Katherine Kramer, ILS Assistant Headmaster. "What a challenging topic: our world increasingly is non-functioning without the aids of technology and our culture promotes the use of technology as a good in every aspect of our lives, perhaps almost unquestioningly. At ILS, we are hoping to be far more "questioning" in our approach to technology. By intentionally limiting student exposure to monitors and screens, students are being granted a rare freedom from the world of technology during the day. We want students to gain the ability to look beyond themselves, their own times, their own culture, and think more broadly about the world. And then, just thinking is of course not enough. For here too, we want to train our students to discuss, read, and write. All these good things can be enhanced and helped by the resources of the internet, but not when the tool becomes the master. At ILS, our hope is to put first things first: learn how to think, learn how to discuss, THEN learn how use technology to that end."
Screen Time versus Book Time with Dr. Mark Bauerlein. Thursday, November 15, 2018.
Posted by Immanuel Lutheran School - Alexandria, VA on Thursday, November 15, 2018