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Children As Young As 13 Attending 'Smartphone Rehab' As Concerns Grow Over Screen Time (independent.co.uk)
An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Independent: Children refusing to put down their phones is a common flashpoint in many homes, with a third of British children aged 12 to 15 admitting they do not have a good balance between screen time and other activities. But in the U.S., the problem has become so severe for some families that children as young as 13 are being treated for digital technology addiction. One "smartphone rehab" center near Seattle has started offering residential "intensive recovery programs" for teenagers who have trouble controlling their use of electronic devices. The Restart Life Center says parents have been asking it to offer courses of treatment to their children for more than eight years. Hilarie Cash, the Center's founder, told Sky News smartphones, tablets and other mobile devices can be so stimulating and entertaining that they "override all those natural instincts that children actually have for movement and exploration and social interaction."
Sounds like their parents aren't parents, they are just the tallest people in the room.
If they think it's bad at 12-15, just wait until that endless stream of messages and emails is coming from management outside of normal work hours, and they'll be looking for another job if they don't answer it.
There's some very vested interest in keeping us hooked on these things.
It was called Summer Camp.
That was back when the only electrical devices allowed at camp were flashlights and cameras.
The problem is that the initial effort needed to engage in the internet is often far lower than the effort required to engage in non-internet interaction, not unlike certain native populations being exposed to a processed carbohydrate-rich diet.
I have a bit of internet addiction myself, which I noticed when I was an undergrad. After moving on my own, I decided not to get the internet at home or on my phone. I noticed a vast improvement in my life, and I fear the increasingly richer content and easier access will turn us all into zombies one day.
"What lies behind us, and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us." Ralph Waldo Emerson
I had problems with BBSing and later with Warcraft II.
When I was grounded from the family 486 I would dig out the Compaq Portable that I had in my bedroom, and use the 2400 baud modem to dial out to BBSes and to the public library so that I could get on Usenet, usually after everyone else went to bed. My parents knew I had the computer but didn't know that the old four prong telephone jack in my bedroom was actually live. Took a couple of years to get caught; I'd gotten careless and started using it earlier and earlier in the evening.
It's funny really. I used that 8088-clone with 128K RAM for essentially the same function as I use modern equipment for, which is reading and posting on other computer systems. We really haven't come as far as people would like to pretend.
Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
Yeah well you can only masturbate so many times before your junk goes numb.
This behavior really hasn't changed since I was a child. My Dad bitched about how much TV I watched, or how much time I spent outside, or this thing or the other thing that was my passion at the time. Too much sports ( Expensive ) Not enough sports ( anti-social ) This tired old argument and the argument for drugging children into submission boils down to to the need for a false sense of control when parents feel out of control of their own lives or when money is tight.
They need rehab from the Ritalin, Xanax and other psychotropic medication ( Drugs ). As a parent if I think the child has had too much 'device time' I will take it away. If they want it back they have to have their chores done. It works pretty well.
Additionally, don't fight the desire your child has, it may be the passion that fuels his income when they are adults. Ever have that conversation with your child "What do you want to do when you grow up?" They are showing you. If you tell them that's not viable because all you see is the money you spend on it, you fail to see the money that they could be making from it. Instead as a society their desires are beaten from them and can only answer when asked what they plan on doing with their lives: "I don't know" ( Because I was told the thing I love is worthless because it cost you money )
~ People that think they are better than anyone else for any reason are the cause of all the strife in the world.
Before 'Screen Time' became a thing with smart phones, it existed with The Internet, Game Consoles, and TV. Trying to arbitrarily reduce screen time is not really solving the right problem.
When this kind of issue starts to cause actual problems, you do not want to focus on minimizing screen time; You want to focus on maximizing activities that have either a social component, or that carries other benefits that contribute to general success in life.
Teens between 13 and 15 years old have a combination of a maximum amount of free time to pursue whatever interests they may have combined with minimal responsibilities. But when there is a lack of opportunity to pursue anything that can both engage their attention and benefit them in any meaningful way, there is no shortage of activities that can engage attention and provide nothing in return.
END COMMUNICATION
wtf is wrong with this world?
...Is all of these new things they're doing. Back in my day we did the current thing, and we were happy and well-adjusted. Sure, our parents believed the current thing to be bad for us, and that the old thing was far superior to the current thing, but we knew the current thing was just harmless fun, plus the old thing seemed boring and our parents obsession with it really highlighted how unhappy and poorly-adjusted they had become.
This new thing has gotten out of control though, and should be put to an end ASAP.
Really, if you don't want children using smartphones so often, then find something where the non-technology is better than technology.
This may be rather difficult nowadays, but is still possible.
This has nothing to do with the actual tech itself. This has everything to do with teaching a human that moderation is key to damn near everything in life.
Addiction is powerful and damaging no matter what causes it, and replacing one addiction for another is not the answer either. You should try and find many things to replace an addiction with. Also known as living life to the fullest.
Today it seems that everyone must rush to create an online identity in order to create a presence in the social media universe. Parents are often to blame for initiating this, finding it "cute" that their 4-year old has their own Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram accounts (yes, I'm talking to you too, Hollywood). Naturally, child social media stars don't merely shut their look-at-me channels down when they get to the ripe old age of 10 and get their own smartphone, which comes with the added bonus of also being able to surf hardcore porn. (Given the lack of concern regarding internet filtering, this apparently means porn is no longer damaging, illegal, or harmful to minors.)
Chances are we're not solving for some odd addiction to artificial light or "screen time" here. When looking at the real reason behind smartphone addiction, I'm willing to bet a lot of it is tied to an addiction to social media, and the narcissism it creates. Tie the YOLO mentality to the FOMO concept, and it creates that constant need to be attached, online, and updating all the fucking time.
The true addiction to cure for many, is an addiction to narcissism. The kind that social media has created. Perhaps it's time to re-think the religion of social media, and realize just how damaging it can be.
If my father felt I was spending too much time on my Commodore 64, he would take it from me. But he didn't take away my programming books and notebooks. When I got my Commodore 64 back, I already had a debug program ready to type in and save to cassette.
They tried to do that to me in middle school. Until they found out that I was meditating in the corner. Punishment wasn't punishment if you're not suffering from it.
It's a transitional year between being children and teenagers. When I turned 13-years-old, my 26-year-old brother called to wish me a happy birthday and informed me that I was a teenager. He no longer felt obligated to attend my birthday parties because I was no longer a child and he was too busy being married to be my "big brother" again. Prick.
Our kids were getting distracted at school because of their phones. We tried to limit their use by not allowing them to take them to school. Not only does this totally defeat the purpose of why we bought them phones in the first place (to contact them when we need to pick them up etc), but the school will actually do things that require phones, and ask them to do research on their phones in class. So they have to have their phones and get distracted.
Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
Back in my day this was applied by being sent to the corner, with the outside of the palm to the cheeks or with a belt to the behind. Rarely needed more than single application to be fully recovered. Parents these days are soft
Whenever I had the choice, I'd take the hitting. Gets it over with quickly. Now nonviolent methods like grounding, damn, those pissed me off.
If assaulting your children worked, it would only need done once or twice. The parents I know that like to assault their kids seem to have to do it several times a day.
The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
And when the school requires them to have a phone?
Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
Just like every new technology changes culture, the smartphone era has its positive and negative changes in how people behave. We went from computers being nerd toys and business machines, to absolutely everyone having a computer in their pockets 24 hours a day, and it's only been about 9 or 10 years. Those of us working from the higher side of the tech spectrum have had to deal with apps that are dumbed down far enough that a non-computer user can mash the screen and use them, and of course we have kids using them as the new TV. I know my kids are heavily into YouTube, etc. The positives in my mind are this -- it's super-easy to find information when you need it now, and even though 99.99999% of the communication is junk, it does provide limited opportunities to connect with others. Another negative is that people are expecting insanely complex business applications to act exactly like their consumer phone apps, making life in IT extra-fun.
As for "smartphone addiction" I have seen tantrums, etc. but I don't know about withdrawal symptoms. My kids love watching YouTube videos and playing games, but they know that when it's time to shut it of, it's time, and complaints get the phone put away for a while. I'm sure there are parents who don't care and park their kids in front of phones whenever they're not doing something. I've felt guilty lately because we're in the middle of moving and renovating a house, eating almost all our non-working lives -- and yes, I've been relying on it more as a tool so I can get some of the work done. (The kids are 3 and 6, their version of "helping" doesn't help at this stage.) But, I would hope most parents are remembering back to their days of being in front of the TV, or the Atari/Intellivision//NES/PlayStation. My poison was Intellivision and the VIC-20 back in the day -- I showed my older son some games in an emulator and he was...not impressed. :-) My mom and dad would just take it away when I'd had enough and make me go outside or do something non-tech related. I think most phone usage can be controlled in this way -- you're the parent, and you're paying the phone bills. Even if it's the kid's phone, it's still "yours" and they should remember that.
Just like everything, there has to be a balance. I'm not sure how much I like the narcissistic social media crap, but we're not at that stage yet. They don't get Facebook for quite a while. I'm sure YOLO/FOMO have something to so with why people are reporting addiction symptoms though. I've seen adults who can't wait on a train platform for 10 minutes without instinctively picking up their phones. Actually, try 10 seconds -- nobody talks anymore, or stares out into space daydreaming, or god forbid has a conversation with a stranger.
You should suggest intercourse instead.
No, this is Slashdot.
Kids get accustomed to physical abuse :/
Kids get accustomed to physical abuse :/
Sure they do. My father could kick my ass, and I'd go back outside to do whatever I wanted to do. That's not just getting used to it, it's taking the easiest route. I wasn't really in what wold be called a physically abusive family at the time. Walloping kids wasn't that unusual. though.
In a effort to break the stupid cycle, I made certain not to ever hit my kid. Worked out just fine. Turned out he hated sitting on a couch in the living room with nothing to do except read a book.
Some folks say this won't work, and no doubt there are some children with impulse control issues built in. But for most kids, understanding that they will be treated to a few hours of boredom works a lot better than repeatedly hitting them.
The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
The problem is indeed a lack of moderation, but it's on the parts of the parents and the rest of the society. If you want the kids to find something better than the smartphone you have to actually let them leave the house and congregate somewhere else with their friends. When you have child services freaking out if they see a child without a parent and in the UK you have shops emitting a painful mosquito like whine while in the U.S. you have legal curfews and unaccompanied teens banned from the mall. The woods were mostly cut down and paved over. The bit that's left is called a park and guess what? With parks come police that don't much enjoy unaccompanied teens and children running about. All they have left is the smartphone.
You might think the grown-ups could figure that out, but apparently not.
And two out of three of those things require cellphones!
...All they have left is the smartphone.
How ironic society is so worried about kids getting into trouble while blindly handing them this addictive weapon of decay.