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Frequent Smart Phone, Internet Use Linked To Symptoms Of ADHD in Teens (npr.org)
Most teens today own a smartphone and go online every day, and about a quarter of them use the internet "almost constantly," according to a 2015 report by the Pew Research Center. Now a study published this week in JAMA suggests that such frequent use of digital media by adolescents might increase their odds of developing symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. From a report: "It's one of the first studies to look at modern digital media and ADHD risk," says psychologist Adam Leventhal, an associate professor of preventive medicine at the University of Southern California and an author of the study. When considered with previous research showing that greater social media use is associated with depression in teens, the new study suggests that "excessive digital media use doesn't seem to be great for [their] mental health," he adds. Previous research has shown that watching television or playing video games on a console put teenagers at a slightly higher risk of developing ADHD behaviors. But less is known about the impact of computers, tablets and smartphones.
TL;DR
My son is a phone addict. And he is struggling at school because he can't sit down and study for a few hours. Smartphones should be treated like asbestos.
Too bad his parents don't put limits on his use and behavior.
Being able to multitask, which is now required for success in many cases, is also an ADHD behavior. Maybe we shouldn't judge people in the present based on how pre-technology people existed.
No-one can "multitask". Some people can serially mono-task, switching from one to the other frequently. But you cannot convince your brain to do two tasks that are not pure repetition at the same time, and even when that works, the error rate goes up considerably.
No, smarphones should not be handed out like candy to keep kids occupied, try actually being a parent instead of farming off that responsibility to a chunk of silicone. As for the over diagnoses of ADHD, just because a kid in a class room of 30 students has trouble focusing does not mean he has ADHD and needs to be drugged up to the eyeballs. Try looking at changing the environment before drugging the child. Most likely the problem is the teacher, and not the child. I have met millennial's who were proud of the fact that they have never ever read a book from cover to cover. That's fucked up.
There are three kinds of falsehood: the first is a 'fib,' the second is a downright lie, and the third is statistics.
or just a beneficial adaptation to the massively parallel disconnected-information inputs we have today?
I mean, if you have a lot of flowers to explore right in front of you, shouldn't you act like a bumblebee?
I know that attention switching leads to reduced ability to focus and go deep, but day-to-day survival and optimization these days don't require those skills from most people. The more important skill is knowing from your phone and text-friends what's up right now and just next, and how not to miss it.
Where are we going and why are we in a handbasket?
From the study: "further research is needed to assess whether this association is causal."
Also, I didn't know there was a definition for "excessive digital media use."
Smartphones should be treated like asbestos.
.... in that you don't give them to your children to play with? I agree. You also probably shouldn't eat or breathe cell phones, either.
I don't respond to AC's.
If it only were that easy.
Yeah, maybe YOU were successful, it doesn't mean your methods (whichever they were) can be applied to every child out there. There will always be objective factors which would prevent your methods from being successful.
...gis sdrawkcab (usually not responding to ACs; don't bother posting as AC)
What about adults? :P
Ant(Dude) @ Quality Foraged Links (AQFL.net) & The Ant Farm (antfarm.ma.cx / antfarm.home.dhs.org).
I read: 1) there was a divorce, 2) the guy dislikes a certain quack and a certain self help organization (and who doesn't hate quacks and self help), and 3) he took his daughter's phone away, though we don't know whether she was 3 or 13.
Can you elaborate on why you strongly suspect he is abusive?
A cat can't teach a dog to bark.
I have met millennial's who were proud of the fact that they have never ever read a book from cover to cover.
That person was an outlier. The median 18-29 year old reads more books than any other demographic. The mean 18-29 year old reads the same or more than all but the over-65s. (source: Pew book reading survey appendix A).
It IS that easy. You are not his friend. You are his parent. You decide what he can and can not do till he is 18.
And kids NEVER could sit still for the whole day. I bet you he is sitting pretty still when he uses his phone and not running around. Kids need to run around and have time NOT to sit still. By using his phone, that time not sitting still will be done at other moments, like when you HAVE to do something you do not like. Eating sprouts or doing homework come to mind.
Althou I am sure, your kid is special. Your kid is the execpetion, like all the other kids.
Don't fight for your country, if your country does not fight for you.