Ross Parker (Operations Management and Computer Science, 2001, Pendle) tells how his Lancaster degree gave him the options he needed to carve out his career in IT and teaching. He has recently published a book exploring the relationship that children have with technology and to encourage a healthier relationship between them and their screens.

Ross Parker arrived at Lancaster in 1998 entirely unsure what to do with his life, but somewhat hopeful that Operations Management might possibly be a good place to start. Lancaster's two-stage degree allowed Ross to also study Economics (same faculty) and Computer Science (different faculty). As it turns out, operations management was not what Ross expected, but in computer science he found an intellectual challenge that really captured his interest. By 2001, having learned the fundamentals of computing, Ross graduated and returned home to Hong Kong still fairly mystified as to what he should actually do. "As it turns out, Lancaster's unique degree programme set me up with a lot of options, as I graduated at a time when computers were really starting to appear in every area of our lives. Initially I worked in the back-office of an investment bank, and although lucrative, I found the work to be very sterile. A sideways move into sports and leisure introduced me to the pleasures of working with children, whilst giving me the time to run my own IT business on the side. Eventually, enough of my IT work was coming from schools that I moved full time into education, working on the tech side, before training to become a teacher."

Ross's first job in teaching was as IT Coordinator at ICHK Secondary, the school at which he still works. In this role he spent a lot of time working with students to teach them how to use digital technology effectively, whilst avoiding its pitfalls. The work was never dull, constantly evolving, and always challenging. What Ross did notice over time was the way that each generation of new Year 7 students that started their ICHK journey arrived with more and more IT exposure. Initially viewed as a good thing, it became apparent that much of what they had picked up was in fact inimical to learning and wellbeing. This process was massively accelerated by the arrival of smartphones, and further amplified by the Covid-19 pandemic. These observations have led Ross down an unusual path, in which he has come to question the place of digital technology in our lives, whilst still retaining responsibility for the school's IT systems and educational direction. In the course of rewriting ICHK's policy in response to these challenges, Ross was fortunate to read the work of a wide range of thinkers and experts, as well as to speak with the parents and students impacted by these unfolding trends. During the process, Ross's own world view began switching from a techo-utopian digital maximalism, towards something considerably more balanced and organic. "Sadly, the emancipatory human flourishing that the early Internet promised us has not arrived, and what we've been left with is a culture built on moving ever faster through a torrent of harmful and misleading information. Digital technology has shifted from a force of liberation to one of distraction and even enslavement. The impact of screens on all of us, but especially our children, is rarely considered, but already known to be profoundly negative. Tellingly, many Silicon Valley executives are keen to keep their own children away from the very thing they sell to us." Over the past two years Ross has worked to capture the lessons learned on this journey in Screens That Eat Children, a book that invites parents, educators and policy makers to ask what it means to have a computer in every pocket, to live in an always-on, 24/7, inescapable, money-driven popularity contest. Meanwhile, he continues to work with young people each day, understanding the evolving culture in which they swim, and nudging them towards healthier and more sustainable screen use where possible.