It’s not too late to change your teen’s terrible tech habits

WE all want what’s best for our kids. But when we see them constantly on their phones during study, we know in our gut that something is wrong.

Now science is proving right every parent’s fears – that constantly being on your smartphone is actually very dumb.

Social media has become an addiction – a sort of digital nicotine – and it is rewiring your teenager’s brain in all the wrong ways. Here are 5 things every parent should know.

1 Your teenager thinks they can study and do Facebook at the same time

Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University found that the majority believed they could text while studying without it affecting their grades. When asked to study for just 15 minutes without checking their phone, the majority of students lasted only three minutes. But one study found that just one glance at Facebook during a study period can effectively ruin the rest of the study session. It’s called Attention Residue.

2 Constant interruptions destroy study

When you interrupt study the results can be even more catastrophic. It’s called the Zeigarnik effect. You are enjoying a relaxing weekend when, against your better judgment, you check your email. There is an email from a work colleague unfairly laying the blame for a job, poorly done, at your feet. The email floods your mind with worry and stress and effectively wrecks the rest of your weekend.

3 Why distraction is so bad for study

A chemical found in the brain called myelin coats neurons in a fatty layer that insulates them and allows them to recall particular information. But if the subject is distracted the myelin can’t form and the person can’t fully absorb the information. This has been dubbed ‘shallow learning’ and it bodes ill for any teenager sitting exams.

4 Teenagers need to embrace new learning technologies

Instead of a smartphone obsession, students should have a focus on ‘smart learning’. Modern study techniques such as correct mind mapping and online revision systems have seen grades improve by 32% and retention rates triple.

Technology can be of great benefit to students and spending less time on social media and more time researching these techniques could yield big dividends.

5 What Facebook, Snapchat and all the other social networks don’t want you to know

Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram and the latest kid-on-the-social media-block have brainwashed us all into thinking that they are cool, hip and trendy. But the terrible digital truth i s that Mark Zuckerberg is not trying to make your social life cooler – he is a businessman whose main business is collecting your personal dataa and selling it. The irony y is that we are all willing to fall for the honey trap, and often wasting our time in the process.

THE SOLUTION – Deep Study

What students need, the experimenters found, is the myelin-endowed ‘deep study’, but this can only happen if study is carried out in the absence of distraction. The neurons are fired over and over again, and like a muscle being worked out, the neurons develop speed. Distract the person studying and the myelin cannot form – the information cannot become imprinted into the brain. I have studied many ways to help teenagers grasp back their precious focus.

The first step to changing habits

Changing bad habits takes discipline but your teenager has enough time to make significant changes before the exams kick in. There are also many hidden benefits of you as a family changing your relationship with your phone and social media. You may soon be able to sit down and eat a meal together without distraction. Or have a meal out without everyone being glued to his or her phones. Now wouldn’t that be a nice start?