This article is featured in the Herald Sun and is republished with permission.
The social and behavioural impacts of digital screens and our continuous connectivity are only now starting to be properly understood.
The modern smart phone and its online access provides a limitless library and portal to the world able to be carried around in one’s pocket, used to engage and to learn.
It’s a device for keeping connected with family and friends, for reaching out to the community, for joining interest groups, for following news and sport, and a means to be entertained.
But it is also a platform for toxic, unfiltered content, for disinformation designed to mislead or divide; for misinformation designed to exploit and scam.
Left unchecked, a tide of unregulated dross, infected by deep fakes and the malevolent use of artificial intelligence can even threaten our security, law and order, the foundations of democracy and our notions of fact and truth.
The digital era is as powerful as it is pervasive. It presents an opportunity on a vast scale for good, and also, at its worst, for harm and evil.
Everywhere, walking on footpaths, on the bus or tram, around kitchen or restaurant tables, on the way to or from school or work, at the office or (despite the bans) in class, it seems everyone is glued to a mobile phone or device.
If the smart phone is misplaced, or fails to charge overnight, panic sets in. A paper from the Australian Psychological Society called it a social experiment and posed the question: “Does the age you begin using social media influence your self-esteem?”
Digitisation and access to screens has also heralded an explosion in gaming, with all its genres, from the educational, playful and escapist to the more dark and brutal.
Today, the Herald Sun reports on a new cumulative study that assessed how early exposure to screen time is having generational impacts.
The work by the Australian Catholic University, which analysed 117 studies covering 292,000 children globally, revealed excessive screen time was increasing children’s chances of developing social and emotional problems, with video games a big culprit.
The report found children who turned to screens as a coping mechanism could be increasing their risk of developing aggression, anxiety and depression.
For parents, that probably comes as no huge surprise as many see the link between screen time and a deterioration in behaviour, interaction or mood. ACU Institute for Positive Psychology and Education PhD candidate Roberta Vasconcellos said schoolchildren were particularly vulnerable, as they were more likely to exceed screen time guidelines and rely on screens to manage hyperactivity and other emotional challenges.
“Children who are already struggling with emotional or social issues tend to resort to screens as a way to cope or escape,” she said.
The Australian Institute of Family Studies guidelines recommends no screen time for children younger than two years and no more than one hour per day for children aged two to five.
For kids and young people aged 5-17, the recommended amount of sedentary recreational screen time is still no more than two hours per day – a level many teenagers readily breach.
Social media platforms have become expert at deploying algorithms to capture audiences by pushing addictive content. There is almost always a commercial, and sometimes an exploitative, aspect to the online experience, especially when developing adolescents’ minds are involved.
It’s another reason why the Albanese government’s social media ban for kids under 16, due to take effect from December, is needed and why the online world should be compelled to adopt the same lawful and decent standards on content as traditional platforms.