John Zurn
Educational Author- School Consultant
Suzanne signed into TikTok at nine, following several of her friends. Her parents had no reason to suspect that Suzanne was using the social network, so disguising her online activity was not difficult. In fact, Suzanne felt some adventure in the cat-and- mouse game of hiding the information from her parents. She learned to spend time on her family computer between the afternoon hours of 4:00 and 5:30 while her mother cooked dinner before her father returned from work. After lobbying for a phone in fourth grade (“Only in case of an emergency at school, Mom!”), she started leaving early at night for bed, where she typically spent three hours staring at her phone screen under the sheets.
Suzanne was caught one night at the age of ten and then again at twelve, but both times, her parents admonished her lightly by taking her phone away for three days. On day four, Suzanne was back to her undercover assignments, albeit with a little more care about listening to the light footsteps of her parents checking in. Suzanne’s parents could not get past the idea that Instagram and TikTok could somehow get in the way of Suzanne’s love and respect for them. If they said “no,” they were certain Suzanne would respond appropriately.
By the time Suzanne turned 13, she had convinced her parents to open a credit card in her name (“Only in the case of an emergency at school, Mom!”) and soon became adept at using PayPal and Venmo. While she successfully ordered and safely secured several small toys and stuffed animals online, she eventually made the mistake of forgetting that she had ordered a glassy device that the online ad said would look cool by her bedside. When the bong arrived the next day, Suzanne’s mother was at the door shortly before erupting into tears.
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Coming Next Week: Our Children Are Being Influenced by the Wrong People
John Zurn began his educational career teaching fourth graders and other aged children in K through 8th grade independent school settings. He went on to serve as Head of School for three independent schools over a 28 year period. John has written a book on a comprehensive school-wide character education program, “Traits for Success”. He is currently working on a book directed towards teaching “Traits for Success” to students in grades 4 through 8.
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