TECH4GOOD
When we were kids, baby boomers like me spent most of our time in outdoor activities such as patintero, agawanpreso, and basketball. We were always getting our daily dose of whole-body exercise with those activities. Today, studies featured last year on the Headphones Addict website claimed that an average teenager spent around 7.5 hours on the phone. And I guess the most exercised body part of these kids is their forefinger. Screen addiction driven by social media apps and online games is fast becoming a global pandemic and has resulted in a new mental condition called Screen Dependency Disorder.
The same website says that recommended screen time is usually set at two hours maximum. It also said that even tweens or pre-teens used their smartphones too much at four hours and 44 minutes per day. If we include adults up to the age of 64, an Elite Content Marketer stated that the average screen time across social media and other apps was six hours and 37 minutes per day. It seems like every one of us has become part of the problem without even realizing it. And the social media giants love it because, for their advertisers, the number of eyeballs glued to the apps is all that matters.
We cannot deny the benefits that we get from screen time, such as learning, social connectedness, creativity, and entertainment. Learning something is just a click away and we do not need to go to Belgium just to learn why their chocolates are the best in the world. Watching our favorite shows or blockbuster movies can be done anywhere where there is a signal. Most of the new skills I have developed in the last two decades were mostly learned through online learning platforms.
If you are now in a public place, take a minute to look around you. It will not take you long to see a kid with eyes glued to the screen of a smartphone or another device. How did this pandemic start? We can attribute the situation to several triggers but many parents have realized that handing a child their smartphone is a convenient solution for boredom and temper tantrums. A study by Pew Research Center found that among 60 percent of parents who said their child younger than 12 has used a smartphone, 6-in-10 said their child began engaging with a smartphone before the age of five! They find out too late that the screen time solution has brought behavioral problems to their kids.
What are supposed to be innovations to allow young kids and adults alike to establish and strengthen relationships have instead become digital anti-social tools that make everyone “screen stoned” – spacey and despondent, irritable, aggressive, and easily fall for fake news from social connections. We consume so much content from our digital screens that it has become easy to forget the negative side effects of too much screen time.
Research shows that excessive screen time, especially on social media, can have negative impacts on our mental and physical health. The blue light from digital screens interferes with the production of melatonin, a hormone that regulates our sleep cycle making it harder for us to fall asleep and affecting our sleep quality. It can impair brain development, especially among young kids. The more kids use social media, the lower their happiness, and the higher their loneliness and depression. Active SG Circle website also says that too much screen time can affect the ability to register and process emotions making kids more prone to violent content and behavior such as bullying.
The most worrisome consequence of excessive screen time for kids is its effect on mental development. Too much of it alters the very structure of the brain that is responsible for developing cognitive and learning abilities. Limiting them can help kids focus better, learn faster, think creatively, and solve problems effectively. It will also improve their abilities to connect more with others, be more present and aware of their surroundings, and develop positive relationships with family and friends. We cannot overemphasize the fact that the passive, sedentary nature of senseless scrolling means we are depriving ourselves of physical activity and exercise.
There is no one-solution-fits-all approach to mitigating screen time addiction. But by monitoring and limiting screen time for kids, we parents can help them be more healthy, happy, and successful in life. They become more active and engage in outdoor activities that can improve their fitness, coordination, and increase immunity.
It is time to stop ignoring the negative consequences of screen time addiction. Digital devices and social media have become indispensable parts of our daily lives. Minimizing the time we spend on our screens would allow us to have more quality time with our friends and family. As far as our kids are concerned, we simply have to set an example for them. ([email protected])
(The author is an executive member of the National Innovation Council, lead convenor of the Alliance for Technology Innovators for the Nation (ATIN), vice president of the Analytics and AI Association of the Philippines, and vice president, UP System Information Technology Foundation.)