Screens addiction like drugs

We’re raising a generation of screen addicts and it’s being encouraged in the most unlikely of places – schools.

An Ivy League-educated expert in addiction says modern classrooms where kids under 10 use portable devices are most at risk.

American psychologist Dr Nicholas Kardaras wants screen addiction recognised as a clinical disorder akin to substance addiction.

He says it’s easier to treat a heroin addict than a screen addict and education content has been ‘‘gamified’’.

In July, the former National Government proposed a digitally oriented school curriculum.

However, Kardaras says there is no compelling research to show technology in classrooms is fruitful.

‘‘We’ve unleashed the hounds of digital technology on an unsuspecting generation without fully vetting these devices.’’

Kardaras says people are now increasingly aware about the impacts of too much screen time.

‘‘The younger and more vulnerable the person is, the more significant the neurological impacts are.’’

‘‘These devices are like digital drugs – they have very similar effects to the frontal cortex that drug addiction was having.’’

And the effects are non-reversible, he says.

Technology companies have used a false narrative that screens in education are educational, Kardaras adds.

‘‘It’s the soothing rationale that a lot of parents have convinced themselves of, to rely on a digital babysitter, that screens are educational.’’