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Finding the Balance…
Adapted from an article by Debra Bradley Ruder on Harvard Medical School site:
https://hms.harvard.edu/news/screen-time-brain
Whether we like it or not, digital devices are very much a part of our lives. In so many ways they make our lives so much easier and have advanced communication by light years and while these devices can enhance learning and build community, they can also interfere with everything from sleep to creativity. But read on, it’s not all bad, there are quite a few positives to be gained from device time. We just have to find the balance.
Paediatrician Michael Rich, wants to understand how—and help children and parents manage their online behaviour in this ever-changing digital landscape. “It’s not how long we’re using screens that really matters; it’s how we’re using them and what’s happening in our
brains in response,” says Rich, director of the Centre on Media and Child Health at Boston Children’s Hospital, associate professor of paediatrics at HMS, and associate professor of social and behavioural
sciences at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
Children need a diverse menu of online and offline experiences.
Much of what happens on screen provides “impoverished” stimulation
of the developing brain compared to reality. Children need a diverse menu of online and offline experiences, including the chance to let their minds wander.
Many teens who stay up late texting are not only getting less shut-eye, they’re also lacking the deep REM sleep essential for processing and storing information from that day into memory. “So even if they stay awake in algebra class,” Rich says, “they may not remember what happened in class yesterday.” Rich says these seductive digital pursuits
appear to activate the brain’s reward system.
“Virtually all games and social media work on what’s called a variable reward system, which is exactly what you get when you go to the casino and pull a lever on a slot machine. It balances the hope that you’re going to make it big with a little bit of frustration, and unlike the slot machine, a sense of skill needed to improve.”
A young person’s brain lacks a fully developed self-control system to help them with stopping this kind of obsessive behaviour.
The experience of growing up today, as youth move seamlessly between online and offline environments, is the focus of an international research project that Rich is leading. The Growing Up Digital (GUD) Study is now underway in Canada. The investigators plan to follow 3,000 to 5,000 youths over 10 years, examining the impact of digital technology on their physical, mental, and social well-being.
How can we enhance the positive and reduce the negative?
“We have to be flexible enough to evolve with the technology but choose how to use it right. Fire was a great discovery to cook our food, but we had to learn it could hurt and kill as well,” he says. “We don’t want to be in a moral panic because kids are staring at smartphones.
We need to be asking, what’s happening when they’re staring
at their smartphones in terms of their cognitive, social, and emotional
development? As with most things, it will probably be a mix of positive and negative. Going forward with our eyes open, how can we enhance the positive and mitigate the negative? ”It’s not that difficult, just lay down some rules and stick to them.
Here are some pointers:
Balance screentime and outdoor activity time. You will be surprised at
how much they enjoy it when they find the right sport to suit them.
Not all children enjoy team sport, but some kind of outdoor activity can be found to suit any child:
• Hockey
• Golf
• Tennis
• Cycling
• Hiking
• Soccer
• Swimming
Some kind of outdoor activity can be found to suit any child.
Have regular sit-downs; screen-free meals with your children. Put down your device when someone, especially your child, is talking to you. Be present with others. Observe the world around you. Let your mind wander. Avoid blue light-emitting screen use before bedtime.
Play online games with your children rather than forbidding them. Learn how to play from them and, as you play, help them think about what they’re seeing and doing on screen. Help your children plan how to spend their time, focusing on important and favourite activities to avoid sliding into the screen abyss.