Michael Mercier, President of Screen Education, today met with Dave McMahon, Principal of Crestwood High School in Mantua, OH, to learn how Crestwood's smartphone ban had been faring 2 months after implementation.  
Crestwood had instituted the phone ban for the first time during this 2019/2020 school year.  In an effort to make the launch of the ban as smooth as possible, Crestwood had invited SCreen Education to deliver seminars to students, parents and teachers at the beginning of the school year. 
Crestwood reported that the ban was going quite smoothly, with very little disruption and ready compliance by students.  Teachers reported finding that student behavior, engagement, social climate, and academic focus had all improved as a result of the ban.  

Michael Mercier, President of Screen Education, spoke to the October Loveland Educating Against Alcohol and Drugs (LEAAD) Coalition Meeting today about tech addiction --- its causes and consequences.  The LEAAD Coalition is comprised of a team of teachers, staff, administrators, and resource officers.  The meeting was held at Loveland Middle School in Loveland, OH.

This weekend Screen Education partnered with Hiram College to provide Hiram College students with a digital detox retreat experience. 
The retreat took the form of a camping trip to Ohiopyle State Park in Ohiopyle, PA.  The retreat began on Thursday, October 2, and lasted through Sunday, October 6.  Twelve Hiram College students participated in the retreat.  
On Friday participants went white water rafting, and on Saturday participants took a tour of Frank Lloyd Wright's iconic Fallingwater, a home he designed in the 1930's for the Kaufman family of Pittsburgh.  
During the retreat students were required to spend some time each day doing individual written reflection exercises, and to participate in group discussions in which they reflected on their experience of being without their phones, and the implications this had for their relationship to information technology in their daily lives.
This is the second digital detox retreat Screen Education and Hiram College have partnered on, and they will use insights gained from these events to refine their digital detox model.