Latest news with #screenTime
Daily Mail
a day ago
- Health
- Daily Mail
Parents warned to limit their children's screen time, as research finds youngsters glued to smartphones and tablets have smaller brains and lower IQs
Parents are being warned to limit children's screen time after a study found it could lead to them having smaller brains and lower intelligence. Scientists found children who watched television and used smartphones, tablets and computers had, on average, lower IQs and less intracranial volume (ICV) – a marker for brain size. In contrast, children who exercised in their spare time were likely to be more intelligent and had a larger brain volume, according to the research. The study used databases from across Europe that contained information from thousands of children on IQ, screen use and physical exercise. This was analysed to establish whether there was any link between leisure time habits, intelligence and ICV – the total space within the skull which is used as a proxy for the maximum size of the brain. Larger ICV has been linked to superior intelligence. The researchers, based in China, say their results provide further evidence that excessive screen time has a lifelong impact on children's brain development. 'These findings highlight the critical need to manage and regulate children's media use while also promoting increased physical activity,' they wrote in the journal Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience. The study comes as children's screen time use has rocketed in recent years. The average amount of time British children aged five to 15 spend on screens rose from nine hours a week in 2009 to 15 hours a week in 2018, according to a House of Commons education committee report from last year. While there can be benefits, including building friendships and improving learning, negative effects include online bullying, exposure to violence and pornography, lower levels of physical activity and eye strain. Sir Cary Cooper, a psychology professor at the University of Manchester, said: 'Children are using these devices and they are not learning social and non-verbal skills that we pick up from interacting, face-to-face, with other people.'
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Michelle Obama says good parenting involves knowing that your kids are 'not your friends'
Michelle Obama says good parenting means understanding "that your children are not your friends." Parents must hold firm on their boundaries since kids will always test how far they can push. "All they have time for is to outlast you, to wear you down," the former first lady said. Michelle Obama says parents shouldn't give in too easily to their kids' demands. On Wednesday's episode of the "IMO" podcast, which she cohosts with her brother, Craig Robinson, Obama spoke about how parents can enforce rules around screen time and social media use for their kids. The episode featured guest Jonathan Haidt, a social psychologist and author of "The Anxious Generation." In response to a listener's question about the challenges she faced in managing her daughters' digital habits, Obama said that parents should "understand that your children are not your friends." She said it's important for parents to set clear boundaries that they believe in and that they stick to "all the time," since kids are always testing how far they can push before adults cave. "They're waiting for you to go back on your word. They're waiting to see how long it will take. How many times can I outlast you? Because, as I say, they've got time on their hands. Kids don't have jobs. They have no responsibility. They are not paying bills. All they have time for is to outlast you, to wear you down," the former first lady said. Reflecting on their upbringing, Robinson added that their mother believed saying no wasn't enough. "I was just thinking about how our parents parented and what my mom would say about saying 'No' is that it's not just saying 'No,' it's holding your 'No' accountable," Robinson said. "It is explaining why you're saying 'No,' and it's outlasting your kids." That's why parents need to be steadfast in their willingness to do the hard things needed to keep their kids safe, Obama said. "You will be disappointing them, and scaring them, and making them hurt, and arguing with them, and doing all the things that you don't wanna do with your best friends," Obama said. "But in the end, as parents, we are responsible for securing the safety and the health of the children we bring into this world." Drawing on his experience working with Gen Z, Haidt said that many of those in their 20s often say they're grateful their parents delayed giving them phones or social media access. "What you'll never hear is a 23-year-old Gen Z saying, 'I wish my parents had given me a smartphone and social media in middle school,'" Haidt said. Even though it may be difficult to keep kids off social media, it'll be worth it in the end, he said. Obama and Robinson aren't the only ones who have spoken up about the impact of social media and screen use on kids. In a January 2024 interview, Penélope Cruz called social media "a cruel experiment on children, on teenagers." "It's so easy to be manipulated, especially if you have a brain that is still forming," Cruz told Elle. In May, Kate Winslet's Gen Z daughter, Mia Threapleton, said she has "never had" social media and doesn't want it, adding that her mom encouraged her to make a list of pros and cons for joining Instagram when she was 14. "The cons completely outweighed the pros for me," Threapleton said. This comes as several countries around the world — including Australia and Norway — are exploring ways to implement stricter controls on social media use for kids. A representative for Obama and Robinson did not immediately respond to a request for comment sent by Business Insider outside regular hours. Read the original article on Business Insider
The Independent
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Independent
Adolescence star reveals Netflix show impacted his own parenting
Ashley Walters, star of the Netflix series Adolescence, has reduced his son's screen time after the show highlighted the importance of internet safety. The actor, who plays DI Luke Bascombe in the series examining incel culture and online misogyny, became more conscious of his own son's online content. Ashley Walters now limits his son's device access for half the week and actively introduces new activities to encourage different interests. Walters aims to avoid being an 'ogre parent' by fostering new hobbies rather than simply banning screen time. He believes the show has empowered parents globally to initiate important conversations about online safety with their children.
Daily Mail
5 days ago
- Health
- Daily Mail
Students will spend 25 years glued to their phones if current screen habits don't change, study shows
Students will spend 25 years glued to their phones if they don't change their screen habits, a study has found. The average school, college, or university student spends five and a half hours on their phone per day, which could amount to 25 years of their lives. And the four per cent who spend nine hours or more on their phone could see themselves wasting 41 years of their lives locked into a screen. The research, which was conducted by Fluid Focus over the first five months of the year, highlights rates of smartphone usage, the negative impact it has on learning and attention span, and student's desire to reduce it. Their figures are based on a waking day of 16 hours and 72 years of smartphone use from the age of 11 to 83. To get their figures, they tracked the screen times of 1,346 middle school/junior high pupils, 198 university students, and 1,296 people at further education colleges. App genres which dominated the screens were social media, messaging, and streaming. Screen time averages increased with age - from five hours and 12 minutes for middle school/junior high students to six hours and 12 minutes for university students. For many students, their phone was the first thing they check when they wake up and the last thing they look at before bed. Worryingly, 68 per cent of students believe their academic performance is impacted by their phone use. Despite this self-awareness, around 40 per cent admitted to constantly checking their phone while studying. Checking your phone seems like a harmless habit, but another study found it can take 20 minutes to regain focus afterwards. Dr Paul Redmond, who studies generational change, called the findings 'quite stark'. He was director of student experience and enhancement at Liverpool University in England, one of 18 institutions involved in the research. He said: 'I think what's powerful is how students feel that it's damaging their academic performance. That awareness that "I could do so much better if I manage this".' Nearly half of students (47 per cent) said their sleep is disturbed because of late-night phone usage, a figure that rose to 66 per cent for those at university. Dr Redmond said it was helpful to talk with young people about strategies to manage screen time. He explained how one new technique they tried out was to put elastic bands around their phones so when they took them out to go on them 'they were made to stop and think about why'. Lisa Humphries is associate principal at Chichester College Group in England, where some of the 11,000 students across its seven constituent colleges participated. She said: 'By the time we see them in college, they've had five, six, seven years of living inside their phone. The levels of social anxiety are crippling in the young people we're seeing, and it comes from that whole thing. 'Everyone's living in their bedroom on their phone, and they're not outside, and they're not socializing, communicating. They're not developing those skills to build relationships.' The report's authors urge schools, colleges, and universities to make digital well-being part of their curriculum and strategic plans. They even encouraged them to reward students who display healthy digital behaviors. Another suggestion was to cut university lectures from 60 or 90 minutes to blocks of 30 minutes in order to cater to the new generations short attention spans. They added the single biggest change a student can make is leaving their phone outside the bedroom up to 45 minutes before they want to go to sleep. The authors also called for ministers to treat technology overuse as a public health problem and want their to be a public health campaign targeted at Gen Z. Glenn Stephenson, co-founder of Fluid Focus, said: 'This research is a mirror. It forces us, as a society, to confront an uncomfortable truth: we unknowingly handed powerful, addictive technologies to children during their most formative years - without fully understanding the risks in doing so. 'However, what was great to see, and what should give us all hope, is that students aren't oblivious to the impact - far from it. They're aware, reflective, and increasingly motivated to change. 'Many are already trying. They just need to be met with the right education, the right tools and the belief that change is possible.' Another study found three quarters of Gen Zs admitted struggling to maintain concentration while interacting with someone and 39 per cent feel a strong urge to look at their device. Social events (28 per cent), speaking with friends (18 per cent) and parents (17 per cent) are some of the scenarios where the younger generation stop paying attention. And 28 per cent said they are even switching off at work, affecting their productivity. The study of 2,000 18 to 28-year-olds found that Gen Z will reach for their phone after just two minutes and 15 seconds of talking to someone. The biggest temptations when chatting face-to-face with someone include checking messages (48 per cent), scrolling social media (44 per cent) and even opening YouTube (18 per cent). Calls (32 per cent), text messages (23 per cent), and social media mentions (14 per cent) are deemed hardest to ignore. The research, commissioned by AXA UK as part of the annual Mind Health Report, found 63 per cent admit they struggle with real-life interaction - and 77 per cent use their phone as a form of escape.
Daily Mail
6 days ago
- Health
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Pediatric nurse reveals the most dangerous thing parents can do... and millions are guilty of it
A pediatric nurse has revealed the most dangerous thing parents can do... and millions are guilty of it. Have you ever handed your child an iPad to keep them distracted while you're trying to get things done around the house? Or let them watch YouTube unattended while you're cooking or cleaning? Well, according to mother-of-two and pediatric nurse Mary Catherine, 36, from Louisville, Kentucky, who has had over 13 years of experience working with children in the medical field, that can be extremely detrimental to young kids. She told the Daily Mail during a recent exclusive chat that 'unsupervised screen time' is one of the worst things parents can let youngsters do. 'I think using screens to pacify kids' boredom is a huge issue,' she said. 'I constantly see kids scrolling their parents' phones on TikTok or YouTube in my clinic and it pains me. 'These apps are not made for kids and there can be some very dangerous imagery and topics that children should not be exposed to.' Mary noted that she herself was guilty of the practice when she was trying to balance having a newborn and a toddler following the birth of her second child. But one eye-opening moment showed her just how bad excessive screen-time could be. 'I remember when my second child was born, we used the iPad A LOT with my oldest, who was about 2.5 years old at the time, to "help" us distract her while we needed to do things with the baby,' she admitted. 'One day I was watching her scroll through the YouTube Kids app and she was watching maybe 30 seconds of a kids show clip, then scrolling to the next. 'It is training young minds to need quick dopamine hits. I immediately deleted the YouTube Kids app and realized how much I needed to cut her screen time and quit relying on it to help me parent.' She revealed that after they completely cut-out screens for her daughter during the week, the toddler started 'sleeping and eating better,' and had less 'tantrums.' 'It was all tied to the screens. They have a very big impact on young developing minds and we've got to stop utilizing screens as a daily parenting tool,' said the expert. The pediatric nurse also warned against letting older kids use electronics unsupervised - especially when it comes to social media. 'Social media is the gateway to their childhood ending,' she pointed out. 'I fully support no smart phones until at least eighth grade and no social media until at least 16.' Mary has dedicated her social media accounts to educating parents on how to keep their family healthy. She said the key is to focus on a healthy diet, restful sleep, and daily play. She recommended limiting packaged snacks and instead, giving kids healthier options like fruits and vegetables. 'Also, water should be the primary drink for everyone!' Mary urged. She also stressed the importance of implementing a 'consistent bed time' as well as a 'consistent routine' before kids go to sleep. 'This helps kids learn how to slow down their mind and body and get their body to naturally wind down for bed,' she shared. 'This can be a simple - bath, brush teeth, read a book, good night. And try to aim for the same 30 minute window for bedtime.' The mom-of-two added that healthy playtime is vital because it helps with 'social, emotional, and physical development.' 'Unstructured play and free-time gets out energy, stabilizes cortisol and regulates their appetite and supports healthy sleep cycles,' she concluded.
