Michael HornThought leader creating a world where all individuals can build passions & fulfill their human potential. Author of the national bestseller Job Moves: 9 Steps for Making Progress in Your Career

How to Rejuvenate In-Person Interactions and 'the Commons' in Schools… Through an App

Name: How to Rejuvenate In-Person Interactions and 'the Commons' in Schools… Through an App
Uploaded: 2026-02-23T16:45:10+00:00
Duration: 1 min 8 s
Channel: Michael Horn
Description: In this excerpt, the speaker argues that simply banning or ignoring cell phones, social media, and gaming in schools is ineffective. Drawing on a…

23 Feb 2026 · 1 min

Watch on YouTube

1:08

In this excerpt, the speaker argues that simply banning or ignoring cell phones, social media, and gaming in schools is ineffective. Drawing on a public‑health perspective, they compare digital media to substance use, sex education, and mental‑health initiatives, which historically shifted from abstinence‑only approaches to comprehensive education. The speaker advocates for consistent guardrails combined with explicit instruction, so students develop the knowledge and skills needed to make responsible choices about technology. This educational model, rather than prohibition, is presented as the missing piece for integrating cell phones into the school environment responsibly.

Chapters

Locking phones away or pretending they don't exist is not really the solution here. It's how do we have more consistent guardrails on things while also having the education around it. And I think that's a huge thing that's missing right now is that when you treat something that. Treat something as that it's scary or shouldn't be accessed. We're just pushing it to the side and we're not educating around it. And I'm just folding this all into my public health experience. When you think about substance use, sex education and mental health, those are all things that initially started out as abstinence based or just say no or pretend it doesn't exist. And now schools have adopted them around education models so that when faced with these bigger decisions or choices that they need to make or situations in the future, that students are equipped with the skills and knowledge in their toolbox in order to make the right choice. And cell phones are now getting pushed into that equation and most specifically around social media apps and gaming applications.