of a teenager certainly doesn’t make me
a specialist in cells or teens if
anything it makes me desperate
so everything you’ll hear today is
personal and probably wrong or is it
let’s remember for a minute of the
promise the promise that we used to call
the information superhighway that became
the worldwide web the promise for the
perfect tool for communication learning
and democratization we were promised
superpowers instead the promise grew
evolved some of it mutated it developed
a very dark side and eventually moved
into our phones we watch their cell
phones reinvent themselves from the
absolute communication devices into bad
dead time talk shows promoting and
answering sponsored reactions to
everything we need and everything we
don’t we also watch cell phones devour
package and sell our most precious
commodity or attention time this is how
cell phones became or pacifiers every
time they’re out of reach we get cranky
we throw fits until we get back or hands
into them only to be rewarded with a
healthy dose of dopamine this resulted
to the following problem orchids are
spending more and more time on their
devices addicted to living virtual lives
instead of real ones we also suspect
that many of the platforms and social
media software out there
is engineered designed and aimed to
develop to deliver addictive
multi-sensory experiences this is the
data
it’s ugly stuff but what we see and we
summarize is that we have a clear and
present danger of emotional and physical
peril now
what worries most the most is that
grown-ups are as addicted as teens if
not more so even though we have the
experience and they’re supposed to do
with them after all we are the last
generation of parents to know the world
without cell phones and the Internet so
why talk about teens and not talk about
ourselves well we are the grown-ups in
the room it’s simpler to project and
kids are easier targets so our cell
phones the devil come on we have to stay
positive and proactive about this in
order to have some effect because very
little else has proven to be a solution
now if you don’t understand how severe
the problem is let me put it this way if
I have to be the positive run around
here’s the idea the pitch cell phones
are sketchbooks but not in the sense
when we’re talking about the process of
art but the art of the process and why
take an artistic direction as a means to
correct the problem number one artistic
practice and process or the only things
I know number two artists or children to
we just want to make pictures all day
long even though no one asks for them
he’s paying for them or even likes them
number three we are addicted to we’re
addicted in making one thing after
another until it kills us
and then only hope there is some kind of
a studio lab or printmaking shop some
are in hell so we can continue what is a
sketchbook the etymology should be
helpful ancient Greek the words heaven
means almost or nearly it becomes
sharyland often plan or drawing in Latin
becomes scary ohm schizo in Italian and
eventually become sketch sketch book is
really a empty book a book of empty
pages not even lines to restrict mental
flow who uses them anyone that turns
thoughts into ideas drafts before making
visually brainstorms or is brave enough
to tackle up an empty page scribble by
scribble line by line to make something
happen why do we use them sketchbooks
are a place they’re a rare place where
we can get some creative productive
quality time with ourselves where we can
achieve deep REM thinking thinking we
can record edit further develop and
restructure in order to use in an
effective way when our idea gets exactly
where we want it to be against old
trends sketch first work with a method
that is based on slow gratification we
are so accustomed to be using instant
answers to be looking for instant
solutions that we instinctively go to
our phones to see what everybody else
has used this way
we skip on our original thinking and we
keep brainstorming out our process
eventually we end up having no process
at all we get used to puree or
food-for-thought to a degree where we’re
going to be left without teeth let me
give you an example a student of mine a
couple of years ago present a poster
featuring a large photograph of an egg a
bad egg low resolution and terrible
writing when asked why didn’t you use a
better picture of an egg for your poster
he said this is the best I could find on
the Internet
when I suggested why don’t you take an
egg from your refrigerator put it under
any lighting conditions you want turn
the high resolution function on your 12
megapixel telephone and take a picture
he said it never crossed his mind now it
sounds funny but it’s very sad to watch
a developing creative student struggle
without process to such a degree where
the tool actually takes the lead in the
let’s go back to the pitch now we have
to admit that calling cell phones
sketchbooks is a very antithetical
proposition it’s the perfect match of
obvious opposites one of them is high
tech the other one is no tech one has
everything the other nothing processed
raw public private loud quiet one about
outcome the other but method react act
instant delay dynamic stable 799 and I’m
being kind here to 7.99 one about profit
the other not one of them is the grid
the other is off grid addiction in one
paper cuts in the other
as the worst thing that can happen to
you if you use if you use sketchbooks
now no matter what teenagers are into
today or there will be tomorrow we still
know one thing about them they are
natural-born artists so here are some
ideas for four-issue in certain levels
of engagement number one on the
individual level because we know that as
babies we have to be able to entertain
ourselves in order to be self-sufficient
and individual now we have a problem
where we cannot match time with tasks so
when we cannot entertain ourselves and
be self sufficient we can be crying for
attention while jumping into the social
media vortex every time we’re bored we
can be bored inner lines instead of be
bored out of our minds so how can we do
this we can use and develop a think list
and maintain it on our phone and here’s
a little paradox to actually illustrate
this on one hand we all have assignments
projects or issues to resolve that
require thinking in order to have that
solution on the other we all have even a
little bit amount of downtime
miraculously these two never meet so
whenever we have issues to result we
have to resolve them under time
restraint and when we have time to kill
we really that’s what we do we jump on
their phones and we actually burn it if
we learn to combine through a list that
we can activate every time we have
available time we can actually make them
work for each other now this is a dad’s
think list for a teenager ways to give
what to give a friend for a present
Halloween costume ideas
finally Costa fundraise for
word-of-the-day ideas for a theme party
proposing a Chan change in school
regulation or a new lunch menu item in
the cafeteria so they can be funny or
serious that can be complex or simple
they can be long-term or not now the
natural connection between our concept
and education would be art class
that’s where students along with their
other projects and their painting and
their sculpting they can actually be
taught by short workshops on shooting
properly and visual writing this way
this combination could help them to
actually digitize save and present their
work on a very different level we know
very well that in elementary school
media literacy class is the class for
digital learning if we extend this class
to middle school into social media
literacy class built around devices yes
of course will help students utilize in
a productive and creative way their
platforms their apps and everything else
the extend the toolbox of our cellphone
has but it can also provide within that
class with the support and methods to
deal with feedback criticism and
negativity on the web this is what we
call cell defense on a more serious
aspect it could also develop the
strategies to protect against predators
and online trafficking let’s move away
from this and go into history history
classes could benefit from photo
scavenger trips directly linked to
regular curriculum this way students
will go and provide imagery and roads
taken on site in order to have a way
more personal
approach to history this way for example
American Revolution at Bear Mountain
based on a personal approach in
personality artifacts place patterns and
details other than training a thinking
eye
this would also teach history in a very
engaging active interesting and
memorable way after-school is always
looking for interesting ideas to offer
so other than how to take better selfies
or how to design custom-made emojis it
could really provide classes that have
to do with advanced writing and studio
classes for better photography so we
have better posting and more advanced
blogging now this would also empower
students to be able to reach out and
also help fellow teens that are
struggling with painful issues by
developing positive and inspiring peer
to peer relevant content that others can
I reach out for help help
that actually grown-ups never are able
to to provide on the institutional level
museums Botanical Gardens aquariums
could benefit from turning their space
into a photo game participants we would
be collecting specimens documenting them
resolving riddles and also providing
ideas with an entire reward system that
would be that someone would be able to
go to the gift shop and get their award
now the same institution could also
develop publications anthologies but
also online and offline content that
would be based on all the materials that
came in in that fashion I think the
benefits would be obvious
confidence awareness processing real
improved proactive preserving restraint
creative so the message is is fairly
simple use your cell phone as a tool
before it turns you into one but
mastering or cell phones is not exactly
only for a way to control or over
texting or addiction to social media is
about being able to cope with every
single new technology coming our way it
has to do with choosing to have private
lives and being the ones that really
decide what percentage of those lives is
occupied by technology artificial
intelligence virtual reality augmented
reality or here to push us forward but
how great would that be if we’re not
really there can this work could we
effectively develop social media
etiquette it would take initiatives it
would take partnerships and it would
take determination yes it will also
would take bribing but we will call it
rewards it’s going to be in candy slime
or even frequent flyer mileage anything
that it takes but deep inside me
something tells me that our kids are
going to be so much better at this than
we are they will know from not walking
around like cell zombies were devices
stuck to their noses all the way to
mobilizing to what’s really important
and resolving global issues in ways we
never could think to imagine after all I
was invited here by 16 year old and I
think this is a sign now let’s be honest
my theory has more holes than a
spaghetti strainer
but just like in pasta we don’t care
about what flows out but what remains in
my experience young people will flourish
if given the opportunity to develop the
real voice in sketchbooks or cell phones
now if this is not true let’s all bask
into this glorious light that comes out
of our cell phones and lose ourselves in
someone else’s exotic vacation photos as soon as the sentence is over thank you