Forwards and occasionally sidewards – everyday musings of life

Following on from my last post about real life outside of screens, last night we watched a programme about the affects smart phones and devices are having on young people. I feel that I’m quite well connected to the modern world and I certainly enjoy using and learning about technology. In the past I would have said that I’d consider myself to be…

down with the kids…

however, I’ve since discovered that phrase is a clear indication that you’re exactly the opposite…

I wasn’t shocked to hear how young people (9+ year olds) are totally addicted to social media on their smartphones – you can see that when you’re out or with friends who are having battles with their kids and their phones. I was shocked to hear about the long-term damage this addiction is doing to their brains. The reseacher showed real physical damage being done to brain cells in a similar way to other addictions e.g. drugs and alcohol .

The programme is conducting an experiment with a small selection of children in a school in the UK who have volunteered to give up all their devices – including gaming and smart watches – for 21 days and be part of a research programme to measure the affects of over exposure to these devices.

Their teachers have given up their smart phones for the duration of the trial too. This made me think how I would fair without my phone for 21 days. I don’t consider myself addicted to my phone or technology and I rarely go on social media these days, that’s another blog, but I probably do spend more time on it than is healthy.

I only watched the first episode last night – that was quite enough shock for one evening. I’m interested to see how the young volunteers get on.

The programme is called ‘Swiped’ on Channel 4

Coincidently – or not, the Oxford dictionary word of the year is…..

Brain-rot…a term used to capture concerns about the impact of consuming excessive amounts of low-quality online content, especially on social media.