Says the All Kids Bike Panel: “Kids and teens age 8 to 18 spend an average of more than seven hours a day looking at screens. The new warning from the AHA recommends parents limit screen time for kids to a maximum of just two hours per day. For younger children, age 2 to 5, the recommended limit is one hour per day.”
That includes school-related screen time, so know that:
*** Says Global Market Insights: As of 2020, the e-learning market had raked in $250 billion. That figure is expected to hit $1 trillion in 2027 and includes academic, corporate, government use of e-learning.
*** Tom Denning, principal at Riley Elementary School in Oregon says: “All students have their earbuds in or are on their cellphones. They’ll send a text and not deal with anything face-to-face. There is a concern that they’re not learning how to deal with people. They don’t know how to deal with their emotions, and it’s not a good situation.
*** According to Common Sense Media:
- Up to 40% of children have been involved in a cyberbullying incident.
- 48% of teens spending more than 5 hours on electronic devices report at least one suicide-related outcome—feeling very lonely and considered, planned, or attempted suicide.
- 50% of teens feel addicted to their mobile devices; 78% of them check them at least hourly.
- 44% of our 10- to 18-year-olds say they can tell fake news stories from real ones.
- 45% of 12- to 15-year-olds have seen hate speech online.
*** Author of Glow Kids: How Screen Addiction Is Hijacking Our Kids—and How to Break the Trance Dr. Nicholas Kardaras says, “Tech in the classroom not only leads to worse educational outcomes for kids…, it can clinically hurt them. I’ve worked with over a thousand teens in the past fifteen years and have observed that students who have been raised on a high-tech diet not only appear to struggle more with attention and focus, but also seem to suffer from an adolescent malaise that appears to be a direct by-product of that digital immersion. Indeed, over 200 peer-reviewed studies point to screen time correlating to increased ADHD, screen addiction, increased aggression, depression, anxiety, and even psychosis.”
*** A Lurie Children’s Hospital poll of more than 2,900 parents found that…
- 50% believe social media has a negative impact on their children.
- 68% believe social media affects their teen’s ability to socialize normally.
- 56% believe their teen has an unhealthy desire for attention or approval via social media.
- 67% feel their teen is addicted to social media.
- 51% said their kid’s social media behavior is too sexual in nature; 25% cited bullying, and 24% cited hate speech.
P.S. An Education Week analysis of National Association of Educational Procurement (NAEP) background data found that, in both the 4th and 8th grades, “spending more time using a computer or digital device for English and language arts work is associated with lower reading proficiency on its National Assessment of Educational Progress,” often referred to as the nation’s report card.
P.P.S. In February, edCircuit.com found that “EdTech spending is expected to increase by $2.4 billion in 2021, up from $35.8 billion to $38.2 billion.”
~ With thanks, Carol