Learning Forward B.C. is pleased to continue the  new online “Book/Podcast Club,” providing educators with the opportunity to come together to read or listen to topics of interest that are directly related to the B.C. context. These sessions will be one hour long, lightly facilitated, with a focus on the educators involved. Participants will have the choice of reading each selected book and /or listening to a podcast related to the book. Podcast links will be sent to registrants.

Session One: November 25th from 4:00-5:00 pm  Completed 

Session Two:   February 10th from 4:00-5:00 p.m. Content Update January 2025

Session Date:

Date: February 10th

Time: 4:00 - 5:00 p.m.

Featuring The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood is  Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness by Jonathan Haidt  (pub: 2024)

In the Anxious Generation, Jonathan Haidt examines the detrimental effect of excessive screen time and social media has on the healthy development of young minds. In the book he explores how it hampers crucial childhood experiences like unstructured play and face to face social interaction while amplifying harmful tendencies like cyberbullying and social comparisons. He lays out four points as being a starting point to address the problem:

• No smartphones before high school. ...
• No social media before age 16.
• Phone-free schools. ...
• More free play and responsibility in the real world.

In B.C., school districts and school personnel have been having beginning conversations about the use of cell phones in schools. This book offers collective strategies that parents, educators, and policymakers  can use to create healthier environments for children and young adults.

Participants will have the choice of reading each selected book from  this author  and /or listening to a podcast related to the book.