Recently, I’ve read stories about people swapping out their smartphones for “dumb” ones to try and curb their addiction to social media apps. Personally, since I’ve lived through the era of having to type my texts using number keys (#2 = ABC) into a mini blue Nokia when I was in grad school, I don’t think I’ll be going back to that. But I know the possibility of addiction is real. Many of us are over-connected to our phones. This holds true whether you are a “digital native” — born into technology or a digital immigrant. It’s hard enough to resist the draw of the smartphone as an adult, but the pull is even harder to resist for children.

Research shows social media apps are designed to entrap children who are even more susceptible to its harms. Plus, technologies are not neutral: They’re embedded with and actively reinforce structures of racism. A recent survey of Canadian children in grades 7 to 11 found nearly half of participants reported seeing racist or sexist content online, and youth from marginalized groups were more likely than others to encounter this type of content. So, what’s to be done?

Five school boards in Ontario have recently sued four major social media platforms. The Ontario premier has called the lawsuit a waste of time and money, and announced its government is doubling down on a 2019 ban on cell phones in schools as a way to address the problem. It also pledged $30 million to a surveillance program they think will help solve problems in schools, like cell phone and vape addictions.

On this week’s Don’t Call Me Resilient podcast, two education researchers, Beyhan Farhadi of the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto and Kisha McPherson of Toronto Metropolitan University get into it. The two former teachers say social media is here to stay and instead of banning phones and spending money to monitor what children are doing, their role as educators should be to help students learn to live with — and beneficially use — technology in a healthy way. They give listeners much to think about.

Also today:

• Global auditions are changing the ‘K’ in K-pop
• To make AI safe, governments must regulate data collection
• Lessons from COVID-19: Preparing for future pandemics means looking beyond the health data
• Meaningful engagement is the key to achieving Bill C-226’s goal of ending environmental racism in Canada
• What students protesting Israel’s Gaza siege want − and how their demands on divestment fit into the BDS movement

All the best.