A new state law in Florida, called House Bill 1467, has caused controversy in some public schools this month. The law mandates that books in schools must be appropriate for the students’ age, free from porn, and suited to their needs. The law applies not just to the school’s library but also to the teachers’ personal classroom libraries. The law took effect in July 2022 and requires a school media specialist to approve all books. The new law came after an older law which made distributing harmful materials to minors, including porn, a third-degree felony, with the possibility of a teacher facing up to five years in prison and a $5,000 fine.

Due to the uncertainty of enforcement and what books might be outlawed, school officials in Manatee and Duval counties ordered teachers to remove or wrap their bookshelves in paper. The move has upset educators and parents who shared images of empty shelves or books covered with paper. The removals are only temporary and are in place until the books can be reviewed and determined to meet the standards set by Florida law.

Michelle Jarrett, president of the Florida Association of Supervisors of Media, said that hiding books won’t help students achieve reading success. Marie Masferrer, a board member of the Florida Association for Media in Education and a former school librarian, said that students are struggling with the removals and are crying and writing letters to the principal to ask them not to take away their books.

A spokesman for Manatee County said the district is following all laws and the guidance of the Florida Department of Education. A spokeswoman for Duval County Public Schools said they are following Florida law and have almost 800 approved titles, with more being added each day.

Classroom libraries have been traditionally overseen by teachers, who picked and stocked books they believed would interest students. The new rule, which was approved on January 18th, clarifies that a media specialist must now approve all books. During a hearing on January 25th, Education Department Chancellor Paul Burns was asked if the department’s guidance could have unintended consequences, but he said he was unaware of any.

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Gloria Mark is Chancellor’s professor in the Department of Informatics at the University of California, Irvine. Her new book covers her research from over the last two decades about how our attention and our minds have changed in the digital age.

In this article, Gloria shares 5 key insights from her new book, Attention Span: A Groundbreaking Way to Restore Balance, Happiness, and Productivity.  The five insights are:

1. Use precious attentional resources wisely
2. We can leverage different types of attention to our benefit
3. We interrupt ourselves half the time
4. You can develop agency to manage your attention
5. Set a goal to maintain your well-being when you using devices

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The post Attention Span: Restore Balance, Happiness, and Productivity first appeared on Sevenelles.