Lake Superior high school offers co-op programmes that give students the opportunity to experience what it is like to work in different industries.

Ken Blackwood is the head of the co-op program at the high school. One of his students is Madeline Ford. Madeline was attracted to the library for her co-op as she liked the idea of hanging around the studio of the media centre in the basement of the Schreiber public library. During her time there she had spoke about how technology was used by the youth in her school for not only positive needs but says she has seen the negative side of things as well, especially when it comes to social media. Her generation has been hit hardest by the COVID outbreak as it literally forced schools how to rethink education.

Imagine coming from a world where the first big thing you receive as a young adult isn’t the keys to a car or a new bike or even a job. For many kids growing up in this new generation, the first thing they will ask a parent for when they reach a certain age is a cell phone. Getting a drivers license was always considered a right of passage, moving you up one step on the social ladder from a child to a young adult. The youth of today will be remembered for being always connected through technology. Social media plays a huge role in this ritual. No young person wants to feel out of the loop and peer pressure has evolved to the point where your cell phone and what you do with it plays a role in your identity.

As a society we have all had to learn to embrace technology and for the most part we can determine how much of it we bring into our lives. Older people may use a cellphone as merely an extension of an existing land line and it is only a means to receive calls. Now that a phone has replaced most other personal devices it’s hard to imagine life without one, but for youth there is a double edge to this sword of freedom. Being constantly connected has been linked to various mental health issues and it can be difficult to know when to seek help for this addiction. 

Madeline says she prefers in person learning and missed the social interaction at high school but she has also learned to use social media sparingly and encourages other kids to step away from the phone on occasion.