I HAVE read “The case against students having smart phones” by Kevin McGeary and thought it was very insightful, thought out, and on the money. I was eating lunch near my office Wednesday with my Chinese colleague and as the high-school students nearby sat playing on their phones or sending messages, he said “you can tell they are terrible students because all they do during their free time is bury their heads in their phones!”

    It is a great point he made and one that educators and parents in every country should beware of. The proliferation of young people’s activities with social media and more importantly, the use of such media via smart phones, could cause their academic performances to drop drastically.

    On another somewhat related note, I do not have a twitter account, and almost never look at Facebook or YouTube! Instead I read Shenzhen Daily, novels, and get my news from conventional sources such as Yahoo. I guess I am a bit of a “dinosaur” but I am happy to be so!  Jeff Olyniec via e-mail