The wide-open world of social media has spawned some rather nasty stuff, including apps that might be used for bullying, misinformation, and other horrors. What to do?

Some college administrators think that they should ban the bad stuff, thereby helping to protect students. Good idea or not? In today’s Martin Center article, Professor Jason Fertig argues that it is not.

He writes:

As this article is directed at people desiring to read about educational issues, we have to broach the subject of how this 24/7 culture affects the social lives of young people in the educational system. More specifically: how, in this case, it led to the UNC System’s plan to ban the social-media apps Yik Yak, Sidechat, Fizz, and Whisper due to those apps’ apparent disregard for cyberbullying.

Fertig argues that such a ban won’t work (banning things never works as desired), but he is sympathetic to some restraint on the almost incessant use of cell phones. Here’s his suggestion:

Within my sphere of influence (my classroom), I attempt to practice what I preach. Rather than “demanding students put their phones away,” I invest a few minutes at the beginning of my small- to mid-sized classes in what I term a “mental palate cleanser.” I essentially let students play for the first 10 minutes of class. Sometimes, I pass out a deck of cards. Other days, it’s a word puzzle. The traditionalists may scoff at this, but, given that students likely have a scrambled attention span from having their heads in their phones immediately before my class, I’d rather clear their minds for 10 minutes if it yields a greater focus for the remaining time.

Professor Fertig might be on to something.