HI-TECH GADGETS DAMAGE GIRLS’ HEALTH
SMARTPHONES and tablets are being blamed for an epidemic of hyperactivity in girls.
A generation of youngsters is being raised with technology at their fingertips at all hours of the day, seven days a week.
But newly published official figures suggest that the it age may be starting to change the way in which children – particularly girls – act.
the number of scottish girls displaying fidgety behaviour and an inability to concentrate has soared in only four years.
in some cases the figure has increased by more than 50 per cent, with the sharpest rises among those children from the wealthiest neighbourhoods.
As many as one in five in their
early years of primary school is exhibiting signs of hyperactivity, which has always been predominant among boys.
Last week, it was disclosed that a third of under-fives have their own tablet, while recent research found that 79.9 per cent of Scottish girls aged 11 to 15 spend at least two hours a day glued to phone and computer screens – more time than any of their European peers.
Yesterday, Dr Michael Sinclair, clinical director of the London-based City Psychology Group, said: ‘These figures are a concern because the inevitable knock-on effect for many of these girls is that they will underachieve at school and their trajectory in life will be affected.
‘It’s not just function that’s harmed, it’s mood too. People are happier when they can concentrate on one thing and less so when the mind is wandering, even to pleasant thoughts.’
He added: ‘The human brain has evolved to soak up information from what is around us but with household technology, it just keeps coming. In the end, the mind is trying to keep up and is switching from one thing to another and ends up overloaded.’
Hyperactivity is widely measured using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ), which gives points for five behaviours: restlessness, fidgeting, lack of concentration, thinking before acting and seeing through tasks to the end.
Every year, the Scottish Government’s Scottish Health Survey invites parents of hundreds of youngsters aged between four to 12 to assess their children using the scale. A score of seven or more out of ten is deemed ‘abnormal’ hyperactive behaviour, while a rating of six is ‘borderline’.
The latest figures show that the proportion of girls falling into those categories has risen from 9 per cent to 14 per cent since 2012 while, at the same time, the rate for boys has eased slightly, from 25 per cent to 24 per cent.
But hyperactivity has grown faster among the youngest girls – from 11 per cent to 19 per cent in the four to six age range and has doubled from 7 per cent to 14 per cent among the seven to nine age group.
Among those living in the most well-to-do neighbourhoods, the rate more than trebled from 3 per cent to 10 per cent, though it remains highest in the most deprived areas, at 21 per cent.
Glasgow-based health and developmental psychologist Dr Cynthia McVey said: ‘Spending a vast amount of time on one device will lead to a child losing the ability to entertain themselves and use their imagination. Their boredom threshold will be lowered.
‘Also, boys have always been expected to be more boisterous, but the trend for children to be encouraged not to conform to sex stereotypes may have allowed girls to feel freer in exhibiting loud behaviour.’
Research shows that the latest computerised devices hijack the brain’s reward centre, training it to seek out continuous stimulation, which affects concentration and the ability to think without distraction.
Government statistics have shown that girls are twice as likely as boys to spend three or more hours a day on websites such as Facebook and Instagram.
tRoUBLiNG news from a survey that indicates parents feel their children’s mental health – and especially that of girls – is being adversely affected by the rise of internetconnected so-called smart devices.
this is the first generation to be immersed so utterly in the world of hi-tech, and signs that problems such as short attention span and hyperactivity are on the rise is an alarming portent.
it is also an issue no previous generation of parents has faced and the case for gathering more information to help families find solutions is now unarguable.
What must be resisted is that information being fashioned into a club with which the Nanny State can beat parents, as we have seen with the shambolic Named Person scheme and the pending draconian smacking ban.