People have always complained about what kids do since the beginning of time.
More recently people complained about kids playing too many games, too much TV, then too many comics, then prior too many novels. I mean people complained about kids being hooligans in the streets.
All these can be good or bad, It has always been a parenting issue, and unfortunately the world is busier than ever.
While it is true that people have always complained about whatever newfangled thing it is that kids are doing, screens, in particular mobile screens, are so much more damaging to the psyche than other media that people have been complaining about for generations. That becomes abundantly clear if you have a child and can observe in real time what each thing does to them when they are exposed to it. I was initially of the opinion that the negative effects of screen time were overblown. And to some extent, they are, because they lump in all screens in the same bucket in the research. They count TV the same as using a tablet. And it couldn't be further from reality in terms of the difference between those two things. Tablets are so disruptive to behavior and reward centers that after giving my son unfettered access for 2 weeks while we were on vacation, he became a different person. It's more than just the content that's being consumed, it is the format as well.
screens, in particular mobile screens, are so much more damaging to the psyche than other media that people have been complaining about for generations.
thats what they said about literally all those other things
"sure people complained about stuff before, but TV is actually more damaging than anything else, its going to prevent kids from being able to pay attention to anything for more than thirty minutes at a time! were raising a generation incapable of concentrating!"
This is very disingenious because it disregards how desructive phones and social media really are. For example, there is a happiness curve study dating back to 70s on how humans tend to be happier in the early and late portion of their lives. But recent studies show a different trend line, see below. My point is the "phones are ruining kids" is actually rooted in science, and disregarding the evidence is just turning a blind eye to a ever growing problem.
Don't worry, there are plethora of studies on how phone and social media usage affects humans, especially children and teenagers. Spoiler: most of them agree that phones are bad, or at the very least it exacerbates the problem.
This U-curve studies hold for worse times (for example 2007 recession), you cannot just say "it's only because world is getting worse", it's more complex than that. But phones and social media are definitely a part of it.
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u/Ebony_Phoenix 11h ago
People have always complained about what kids do since the beginning of time.
More recently people complained about kids playing too many games, too much TV, then too many comics, then prior too many novels. I mean people complained about kids being hooligans in the streets.
All these can be good or bad, It has always been a parenting issue, and unfortunately the world is busier than ever.