For the children's sake put down that smartphone

BECA 487 Lecture 3

Mediatization: the media and the institutions that run them are understood to infiltrate all aspects and levels of out personal and social lives. (p. 2)

Home-based media: socio-cultural, economic and environmental differences may interact to create different amounts and different types of media usage. (p. 13)

Get to know each other What are your favorite shows/programs to watch/listen to?

When do you watch/listen to them?

Do you sleep with a phone, computer, TV, tablet, in your room?

What type of media did you use most as a child? What were your favorite programs, games, etc?

Do you have designated screen-free time?

Do you find that you use electronic media therapeutically?

What influenced/influences your amount of screen time/media usage?

Screen Time ● Television ● Streaming/DVDs ● Video Games ● Computer ● Tablets ● Cell phones ● Movie Theaters ● In the classroom ● What/where else?

Screen Time Questions we can ask:

1. How much screen time is ok? 2. How much screen time is being used? 3. When are screens being used? 4. What kind of content is being viewed? 5. What external factors influence screen time? 6. What are the impacts of prolonged screen use? 7. How can we manage screen time? 8. What are the benefits of screen use?

Screen Time American Association of Pediatrics (AAP) recommendations:

● For children younger than 18 months, avoid use of screen media other than video-chatting. Parents of children 18 to 24 months of age who want to introduce digital media should choose high-quality programming, and watch it with their children to help them understand what they're seeing.

Screen Time AAP recommendations:

● For children ages 2 to 5 years, limit screen use to 1 hour per day of high-quality programs. Parents should co-view media with children to help them understand what they are seeing and apply it to the world around them.

Screen Time AAP recommendations:

● For children ages 6 and older, place consistent limits on the time spent using media, and the types of media, and make sure media does not take the place of adequate sleep, physical activity and other behaviors essential to health.

● Designate media-free times together, such as dinner or driving, as well as media-free locations at home, such as bedrooms.

Screen Time ● New research indicates that screen time before bed is associated

with less sleep, poor quality sleep, and a higher BMI. ● Parents of 234 children, ages 8 to 17 years, were surveyed to

quantify hours of technology use (computer, video games, cell phone, and television), hours of sleep, and inattentive behaviors.

● Kids who used a computer or a phone before bed lost an average of one hour of sleep.

● Kids who watched TV or played video games before bed got 30 minutes less sleep a night than those kids who didn’t.

● Kids who used all four before bed lost even more sleep.

Screen Time ● A 2014 study explored whether nighttime cell phone use had an

impact on sleep quality of adolescents 12 to 20 years of age. ● The study found that 62% of patients took their phones to bed

with them. ● 37% texted after “lights out”. ● 1 out of 12 adolescents were woken by a text in the middle of the

night at least 2 or more times each week.

Screen Time ● Multiple Hours of television use has been linked with adverse

health effects in children and adults. ● A recent study of children ages 4 to 11 found that increased

screen time was associated with increased sleep anxiety, increased night waking, and increased total sleep disturbance.

Screen Time ● The health implications of technology use are not well studied

in very young children. ● However, new research that followed 894 children ages 6

months to 2 years found that screen use could lead to speech delays.

● Results showed that 20% of the kids in the study were on a screen an average of 28 minutes a day.

Screen Time ● Media use before bed has been shown to increase

physiological, emotional, or mental arousal. ● Light emissions of screens from electronic media may be

affecting sleep. ● Lack of sleep in adolescents has been associated with lack of

productivity, depression, lack of energy, and poor school performance.

● Sleep is fundamental to optimal functioning during childhood, including health, development, cognition, and behavior.

Screen Time ● Numerous studies have established that poor sleep is

associated with behavioral and emotional problems in childhood and adolescence.

● Poor sleep quality is highly prevalent in children with behavioral or emotional problems such as anxiety, depression, or attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

Screen Time

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WCT5JcCXMPw
Screen Time ● According to a survey of U.S. parents and caregivers by Gallup, the

average child spends the largest share of their free time on screen-based activities.

● When looking at 2 to 10 year olds, parents reported that their kids spend 18.6 hours on screen-based play in a usual week.

● This is four more hours than screen-free indoor play. ● A 2016 survey found that three-quarters of UK children spend less

time outside than prison inmates. ● A fifth of the UK children did not play outside at all on an average day.

Suggestions for “digital citizenship”:

Digital Citizenship is a concept which helps teachers, technology leaders and parents understand what students/children should know to use technology appropriately. Digital Citizenship is more than just a teaching tool -- it is a way to prepare children/technology users for a technology saturated society.

Suggestions for “digital citizenship”: 1. Convince. First, kids must be convinced that too much screen time can be harmful for them.

2. Agree. Come up with a magic number of a minutes or hours for sanctioned screen time, on which parents and kids agree. Yes, two hours a day is a good number to shoot for. But whatever you agree, be specific: no phones at the dinner table, for example; or no screens for an hour before bedtime.

3. Give and take. The agreement should be mutual. Kids can also be bothered when parents are constantly checking their mobiles. Parents should agree to limit their screen time around their kids, especially when they get home from work.

Screen Time 4. Gamify. Make it fun and rewarding. Give proper incentives, as well as penalties for not following agreed rules. That goes for parents too: which penalties will you agree to if you fail in your own self-control? Hint: the penalties should not be to have less screen time.

5. Exercise your mind. Self-control is something that takes practice. It’s possible to teach kids to exercise it, just like athletes exercise their bodies. Before kids turn to their screen, remind them of the agreed time limit. Have them set an alarm and encourage them to plan out their schedule, including wrapping up and shutting down on time without drama or panic.

Screen Time 6. Be persistent. Keep track of family performance. If both parents are working, it can be difficult to keep track of the children’s media use. There are apps that help parents monitor children’s screen time.

7. Alternative activities. Try to find hobbies or sports that are as fun as digital media. Parents can set a one-to-one matching rule, for example, where if kids play video games for one hour, they also play outdoors for one hour.

*List created by Yuhyun Park is the head of iZ HERO digital citizenship initiative for children and a researcher on digital media and online child protection.

Screen Time Impacts of screen use are not just limited to children using electronic media:

● When Parents Are The Ones Too Distracted By Devices (NPR)

● For The Children's Sake, Put Down That Smartphone (NPR)

https://www.npr.org/sections/alltechconsidered/2014/04/16/303749247/when-parents-are-the-ones-too-distracted-by-devices
https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2014/04/21/304196338/for-the-childrens-sake-put-down-that-smartphone
Screen Time What are some benefits of screen use?

● Video games have a multiplicity of uses. ● “Digital tools” allow easy access to academics and

can make learning fun. ● Connects kids and adolescents to other cultures

and concepts. ● Can support family connections.

Attention Span

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tiANn5PZ4BI