Technology Dependency Dr Aric Sigman

Published in TESpro June 8 2012

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As teachers are increasingly courted and bedazzled by the promise that ICT in the classroom and home will enhance learning and prepare children for the future, an entirely different effect of ICT is becoming the subject of concern amongst adolescent health professionals: technology overuse and dependency. The recent international study The World Unplugged asked students in 10 countries to abstain from using electronic media, excluding landline phones, for a full day. A clear majority in every country failed. The researchers noted that many students employed the rhetoric of addiction, dependency and depression when reporting their reactions to the lack of media, with many also reporting both mental and physical symptoms of distress. In April, the Ministry of National Education hosted the First International Congress of Technology Addiction in Istanbul. While scientists disentangle the semantics of addiction, dependence and habit-formation, one thing is clear, whether children are formally addicted to screen technology or not, many of them overuse technology and have developed an unhealthy dependency on it. This is bad for their health, wellbeing and education, both now and years from now. Teachers have been led to believe that provided what children are viewing on a screen is educational or appropriate, children wont be subject to any negative effects of too much screen time (ST). This is entirely untrue. While purveyors of software and technology and the researchers funded by them stress the distinctions between various products, the childs brain and body do not: heavy exposure to the medium has effects that transcend the quality of the message on the screen. High levels of early ST appear to be more likely to lead to a long-term lifestyle of higher ST, which is increasingly considered an independent risk factor for disease irrespective of the educational value or appropriate/inappropriate content of what is on the screen. Level of Exposure The U.S Department of Health now cites reducing ST as one of its key health improvement priorities, the Australian Department of Health, and the American Academy of Pediatrics and others all strongly advise parents to limit out of school discretionary ST to a maximum of 2 hours per day for children aged 2 -18yrs. It isnt a coincidence that these medical bodies are not funded by the technology/software industries.

In Britain, children by the age of 10 have regular access to an average of five different screens at home, regularly engaging in two or more forms of screenviewing at the same time. Children of all ages are watching more screen media than ever before. Excluding any ST outside the home such as hand-held screen activities, the average ST in the home for young British adolescents is now 6.1 hours per day and rising significantly. Altering Brain Reward Circuitry The neurotransmitter dopamine is released in response to the novelty and stimulation of what is seen on the screen, e.g. rising quickly in the brain while playing computer games. But dopamine is also a key component of the brains reward system and heavily implicated in the formation and maintenance of addictions. While genes play a role in the way dopamine is produced or used, thereby influencing a persons susceptibility to dependency or addiction, there are now concerns that extensive computer game playing in children may lead to long-term changes in the brains reward circuitry that resemble the effects of substance dependence. Increasing daily dopamine release in reaction to hours of computer games and other screen media to which children are exposed is becoming a real possibility with important potential consequences. Ofcoms (2011) most recent report states that children aged 8 to 11 are spending more time playing on games players/ consoles compared with 2010 (an increase of nearly 2 hours). Seven in ten play computer and video games almost every day, up from 59 per cent in 2010. Beyond excessive computer game use, young screen viewing begets more viewing and unlike other sedentary behaviours, most of the criteria of substance dependence can apply to people with higher levels of ST. Managing screen time ICT should be a tool not a burden or health risk. Excessive screen time in the home affects the child in school and so a joined up approach is necessary to get a handle on the excessive levels of discretionary ST children are currently enjoying. By the age of 7 the average child born today will have watched a full year of 24-hour days watching screen media; by the age of 80 they will have spent 17.6 years. Someone must take responsibility for these numbers. Passive parenting in the face of the new media environment is a form of benign neglect and not in the best interests of children. Parents must regain control of their own households and schools must encourage and support them. Schools must consider how much screen time is actually necessary for lessons and home work and reflect upon the growing trend of pupils watching films in class. Preventing dependency The age, frequency, amount of exposure along with the ease of access and the effects of parental role modeling in their own excessive use of technology at home in front of their children, all strongly contribute to a total daily

exposure to, or consumption of, technology. And all are prerequisite factors that contribute to the risk of dependent overuse of technology. Preventing or reducing the risk of screen overuse or dependency now requires a simple reduction in the level of total screen exposure for children. There is good evidence that childrens ST can be reduced through simple obvious measures: raising parental awareness, child education, school-based education for pupils and teachers. Reduce frequency of exposure Reduce of each exposure Reduce availability of screens especially in bedrooms Parents must be made aware that their own level of viewing may indeed influence their childrens level of exposure.

Research by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention along with many other studies has found parental rules and limits on ST effectively reduce ST as does not having screens in bedrooms: common sense. Dr Aric Sigman is a PSHE lecturer, fellow of the Society of Biology, and associate fellow of the British Psychological Society. www.aricsigman.com References Sigman, A. (2012) The Impact of Screen Media on Children: A Eurovision for Parliament. In: Clouder C, et al, eds. Improving the Quality of Childhood in Europe 2012, Volume 3; European Parliament Working Group on the Quality of Childhood in the European Union: 88-121. ICMPA (2011) The World Unplugged. http://theworldunplugged.wordpress.com/