Let’s face it: Teenagers spend hours texting, socializing on Facebook and playing video games. And it’s driving their parents nuts. Sure, there are real dangers associated with all this screen time – everything from cyberbullying to couch-potato obesity. Not to mention driving while texting, shortened attention spans and Internet porn.
But many of today’s parents spent hours as kids sitting in front of screens too – only they were TV screens. Which raises an interesting question: Is Facebook really worse for teenagers’ brains than the mindless reruns of “Gilligan’s Island” and “The Brady Bunch” that their parents consumed growing up?
According to the Washington Post, texting, Facebook and video games are not inherently bad. Nor are they inherently better or worse than watching TV, although they do pose different risks, such as cyberbullying, but the one thing research does highlight is that the more time kids spend in front of screens – whether it’s TV or instant-messaging – the worse their school performance.
A US study by the Kaiser Family Foundation published in January found that total media use among 8- to 18-year-olds, including TV, music, computers, video games, print and movies has increased from six hours, 21 minutes daily in 2004 to seven hours, 38 minutes in 2009.
The Kaiser study also found that the more time kids spend with media, the lower their grades and levels of personal contentment are.
The impact of screen time on school work however can be mitigated by what one psychologist refers to as “protective factors.” Those might include good teachers and a high-performing school, love of reading, coming from a family where education is valued, and exposure to experiences that are culturally and intellectually enriching.
Bottom line: Never mind that your kid is spending two hours on Facebook each night. As long as they do their homework without texting in between math problems, it’s probably no better or worse than the hours you spent watching “Star Trek.”
Learn more at the Washington Post.
