Children who are so "digital" that they risk becoming stupid. The interview with a neuroscientist highlights some key points.
Don't store avocado like this: it's dangerousIt was digital, smart, hyper-connected. On everything we have few but very confused ideas, catapulted as we are every second into a reality as bewitching as it is unknown. Yes, because we have tools in hand that we do not know how to use, whose damages, limits, effects or benefits we still do not understand. We, who are adults, are not able to do it, let alone i children who are so "digital" that they risk becoming stupid.
The French neuroscientist Michel Desmurget says it clearly and in his bestseller "The digital fool" tries to warn of the real dangers that our children run while spending their days in front of a screen.
"There is simply no excuse for what we are doing to our children and how we are endangering their future and development," warns Desmurget in a lengthy interview with BBC Mundo.
If over time it has been observed that IQ in many parts of the world has increased from generation to generation ("Flynn effect”, Named after the American psychologist who described this phenomenon), recently this trend has started to reverse in several countries.
Our IQ is getting smaller from generation to generation
It is true that the IQ is heavily influenced by factors such as the health system, the school system, nutrition, but if we take countries where socioeconomic factors have remained stable enough for decades, the Flynn effect has started to diminish.
In these countries, digital natives are the first children to have a lower IQ than their parents. This trend is unfortunately documented in Norway, Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands and France.
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But what is causing this decrease in IQ?
Unfortunately, it is not yet possible to determine the specific role of each factor, including for example pollution (especially early exposure to pesticides) or constant exposure to a screen. What we do know for sure is that while screen time isn't the only culprit, it does have a significant effect on IQ.
Several studies have shown that when television or video game use increases, IQ and cognitive development decrease. And this is because the main foundations of our intelligence are concerned: language, concentration, memory, culture (defined as a set of knowledge that helps us organize and understand the world).
Ultimately, these impacts lead to a significant drop in academic performance.
Why does the use of digital devices cause all this?
Simple, with them:
- the quality and quantity of intra-family interactions, essential for the development of language and emotional development, decrease
- the time spent on other more enriching activities (homework, music, art, reading, etc.) is reduced
- there is an overstimulation of attention, leading to impaired concentration, learning and impulsivity, and an intellectual under-stimulation, which prevents the brain from unfolding its full potential
- an excessive sedentary lifestyle is followed which, in addition to the development of the body, influences the maturation of the brain
What exactly do the screens do to the neurological system?
The brain is not a "stable" organ. Its "final" characteristics depend on experience, so much so that the world we live in, the challenges we face, modify both its structure and its functioning, and some brain regions specialize, some networks are created and strengthened, others become forgiveness, some become thicker and others thinner.
Too much time in front of cell phones, tablets and TVs radically changes children's brains, the study
So, while activities related to school, intellectual work, reading, music, art, sport, have a much greater structuring and nourishing power for the brain, the time spent in front of a screen for recreational reasons delays the anatomical and functional maturation of the brain itself within various cognitive networks related to language and attention. The potential for brain plasticity is extreme during childhood and adolescence. Subsequently, it begins to fade. It doesn't go away, but it becomes much less efficient.
How much time do children and young people usually spend in front of screens?
On average, nearly three hours a day for 2-year-olds, about five hours for 8-year-olds, and more than seven hours for teenagers. This means that by the time our children reach the age of 18, they will have spent the equivalent of 30 school years in front of recreational screens or 16 years working full time.
"It is simply crazy and irresponsible", says the scientist, who has clear ideas about the age at which we can give a screen to our children: "the sooner they are exposed, the greater are the negative impacts and the risk of consequent excessive consumption ".
How much time should children spend on the devices then?
Well, hear hear before the age of 6 the ideal is not to have screensthunders Desmurget. From 6 years of age, if the contents are adapted and sleep is maintained, it can go up to half an hour a day, even an hour. And then other relevant rules
- no devices in the morning before school
- nothing in the evening before going to bed or when you are with other people (how many times do we see children dazed in front of a smartphone screen at a restaurant?)
- no screens in the bedroom
Beware of your smartphone before sleeping: that's why it hurts your mind and body
Is all this really that complicated for us adults? No, let's be honest. But it will be difficult to tell our children that smartphones are a problem when we, as parents, are constantly connected.
Source: BBC World
Read also:
- Are smartphones destroying an entire generation?
- Smartphone: so parents forget their children
- 10 reasons why kids shouldn't abuse smartphones and tablets
