Most teens ‘sick of their smartphones’ and want to ‘detox’
MOST teens are sick of their addiction to smartphones and would prefer if social media had never been invented, a recent study has revealed.
A damning report claims twothirds (63%) of 11 to 18-yearold’s say they are sick of their own social media dependency and two thirds would not even mind if the technology had never been invented.
It comes as the Irish Daily Mail campaigns to set a minimum age of consent for smartphone ownership
The poll of 5,000 secondary school children in Britain found many are becoming disillusioned with the negative aspects of smartphone apps, such as online abuse and fake news.
Meanwhile, Dr Georgia HenderInstagram son, a psychologist at the Priory Clinic in London, is urging parents to discover ‘JOMO’, the joy of missing out. ‘You wouldn’t give your children free access to junk food every day,’ she said.
‘Parents need to balance what they feel is the correct amount of social media time for the health of their children, and schools can help by giving lessons on JOMO.
‘It’s also important to recognise that many phone-based games provide concentrated hits of dopamine [the brain chemical associated with pleasure] as well as excitement which increases kids’ fight or flight reflexes, making them instantly feel stimulated, but later feel stressed-out, zonedout, fidgety or overwhelmed.
‘Time-based limits for these types of games is particularly important,’ she said.
Experts say a growing number of pupils are even adopting old-fashioned ‘brick’ mobiles with only rudimentary internet access to give them a break from Twitter and Facebook.
A growing number of pupils are shunning iPhones in favour of oldfashioned mobiles which simply allow them to text or call.
The survey of pupils at independent and state schools in England found 63% would not care if social media did not exist.
And even more pupils – 71% – said they had taken temporary ‘digital detoxes’ to escape it.
Research for Digital Awareness UK on behalf of the Headmasters’ and Headmistresses’ Conference (HMC), found a total of 57% said they had received abusive comments online, while 52% said social media made them feel less confident about their looks and life.
While many acknowledged they did not always enjoy their time online, 56% admitted to being ‘on the edge of addiction’ when it came to checking their accounts.
HMC, which represents top private schools, said many teachers are now working with pupils to introduce phone-free days or sessions.
Charlotte Robertson, co-founder of Digital Awareness UK, said: ‘We see them walking around with this tech almost attached to them – but they are now saying they are open to things like digital detoxing. They are starting to acknowledge that it is impacting their health and wellbeing in ways that they hadn’t recognised before.
‘We sometimes overestimate how much they are actually enjoying all of this time they are spending online.’
Interestingly, more than 60% of respondents believed friends showed a ‘fake version’ of themselves on social media, but only 15% said they did so themselves.
Asked to recommend improvements, students urged less advertising, less fake news, more creative content and greater privacy.
Ms Robertson said many teenagers had experienced the dark side of the internet with apps such as Sarahah, an anonymous messaging service which started as a workplace tool but is now being used by youngsters to bully each other. She said a growing number are using ‘brick phones’ – models from 15 years ago such as the Nokia 3310, which has been relaunched for people who do not want to be bothered by social media. Celebrities including Kim Kardashian have also influenced youngsters with their own highlypublicised ‘digital detoxes’.
‘Now they are saying they are using their brick phones at the weekend. It’s suddenly just a cool thing to do. It’s about going out and having the security that you can contact someone if you need them… but without the pressure to be responsive all the time,’ Ms Robertson said.
The survey was carried out in September 2017 among students at state-funded and independent schools in England.
‘Brick’ phones are becoming cool