Dear Members of the Mount Lilydale Mercy College community
This week I had the rare occasion to sit in a staff meeting and be a part of the teaching staff to whom a range of presenters directed their data and ideas. One of the agenda items was student mobile phones, which immediately gained my attention because I thought we had discussed the use of mobile phones at length, a new policy created and implemented.
And that is the truth of it.
What surprised me was the agenda was a vote of thanks by Deputy Principal – Pastoral Care Mr John Rodgers to the teaching staff for a thorough and committed implementation. John provided some points of clarification and some data about phone confiscation over the term thus far and I thought the data quite reasonable.
I understand that although there has been a small number of recidivist students who have undergone the confiscation process and a small number of parents who have expressed dissatisfaction at having to visit the College to pick up their child’s phone, on the whole the implementation has been well-received and embraced by all involved. There were some other data that interested me far more:
- The anecdotal data of the student who did not want to visit the quad because the conversations were now too loud
- The students running around playing chasey
- The increased activity on the basketball courts and ovals
In short there has been a change, and change for the better.
We have seen that students can survive quite well without access to technology 24/7 and once technology is no longer an option, other forms of social interaction, which I believe are much preferred, are taken up.
I remember a question about the boredom factor and that without access to technology our students would become bored. In some ways boredom can become a gift. Recently, I read an article “The Gift of Boredom” by John Spencer in Educational Leadership, December 2018
The gift of boredom
There are two kinds of boredom:
Mind-wandering: a lack of stimulus when completing tasks that require very little mental attention, like taking a shower or a long walk;
Tedious: when one is required to focus cognitively on uninteresting or meaningless tasks.
Researchers have found that both can increase creativity. Emerging from being bored, people often engage in more divergent thinking, make connections between seemingly unrelated topics and generate creative ideas. Unusual and unexpected thoughts arise. One problem in today’s world is that we’ve succeeded in reducing boredom through constant digital stimulation. It is not that people are unable to do deeply creative work, but that they don’t experience the mental rest of mind-wandering boredom that may be necessary to engage in such work.
So in some ways giving our children technology-free time allows them to be far more creative and let the imagination explore. Surely that is a gift.
The introduction of our mobile phone at school policy change has been implemented extremely well and I am grateful to all who have supported it, parents, teachers and students.
Whilst considering technology, in conversation with a senior student recently, I was surprised that they were surprised, that as a part of the employment process, I google search the name of prospective employees to ensure any posts they have made public are in keeping with the values that I would want within our community. Whilst it is true that very rarely do I find anything of concern, it is also true that in the past I have had to have conversations with young staff about posts made while they were at university or even at school.
Our young people need to understand that once they post in any online type forum, the information is no longer controlled by them and is in the public arena, and these are great conversations to continue to have with our children. An article “Rated ‘R’ Social Media” by Daphne Donaldson in Education Week, April 14, 2019 explains it as:
Think before posting
Before posting anything online, people should ask themselves the following questions:
- Do I have the right to share this?
- Is this the right thing to do?
- Am I willing to take responsibility if this post goes viral or is shared without my permission?
- Will I regret this tomorrow when I’m not angry or upset?
- Is the risk worth the reward of 15 minutes of fame or shame?
- Am I ready for the social, emotional, verbal or legal battle that may ensue?
This week I had the absolute pleasure in attending the Year 9 regional final of D grade debating where a team consisting Kahlia Dewar, Baxter Lill and Millie Barker travelled to Northcote to debate against Sacred Heart College Newtown on the negative side of a topic related to “automation at work”. It was such a delight to see the presentation and preparation of the MLMC team, that although they might not have won the debate, witnessing them made me proud to be present.
Debating is such a fantastic learning experience that provides so many opportunities for learning in a team context. Congratulations and thank you to all our debaters. Thank you too, to the parents who drive them off site to participate and to staff members Mrs Alison Schlueter and Miss Emily Whitehouse who support them.
Next Week is Mercy week, when we celebrate our Mercy Heritage, remember, pray for and celebrate all those who came before us. I am looking forward to a great Mercy Day next Friday.
This past week we learned of the passing of several community members:
Sabina Parrella, grandmother to Anthonu Centracchio (Year 11 Purple), and George Grebe, grandfather to Tea (Year 12 White) and Alec (Year 10 Blue).
Let us pray for the repose of the souls of Sabina and George. May they along with all the faithfully departed, rest in peace.
God bless
