#WhyNot
Tamra S. Davis, Ph.D.
I go by many titles:
Mom, Grandma, Daughter, Sister, College Professor, Friend, and Companion.
The people in my life make me who I am.
I go by many titles:
Mom, Grandma, Daughter, Sister, College Professor, Friend, and Companion.
The people in my life make me who I am.
I was walking across a Midwestern college campus recently. As I walked from one building to the location of a meeting I was attending three buildings away, I started counting the number of college students who were attached to technology. What I saw was distressing. Even the kids who appeared to be walking together were still separated by technology. Two out of every three college students walking down that sidewalk had earbuds and/or were looking down at the phone in their hand. Not a single student out of the 75 students I saw on that short walk was looking at the beautiful campus or talking to the person walking with them. At a restaurant recently, a late-teenage boy was sitting at the table with two adults; I assume they were his parents. He had his phone in his lap with a video game on the screen. As he used one hand to play the game, he attempted to shovel food into his mouth as fast as possible (making a bit of a mess as he did so) with the other hand. The mother reminded him that phones were not allowed at the table. With a quick angry look up and an unintelligible grunt, the boy ignored her and continued to look at the phone in his lap. With a hurt, bewildered look, she left the table for a few minutes. To this outsider who loves to watch the interactions of people, I was saddened and alarmed. Not because this was an isolated incident, but one that I am seeing more and more when in public. Or worse, a care-giver handing the child a device so they will "be quiet". As a teacher, I am seeing the same thing in my classroom. Even in my classroom that is located in a computer lab, most of my students bring their own laptops, tablets, or phones for participating in the online portions of the class. The technology is ubiquitous. Since I teach with web-based tools, I allow technology; however, as a I walk around my university classroom, the students are often on non-classroom pages. Worse, they are not even trying to hide it. In a Pew Research Study released August 22, 2018, reported that "56% of teens associate the absence of their cellphone with at least one of these three emotions: Loneliness, being upset or feeling anxious" and that 57% of parents have attempted to restrict screen time for their teens. While attending a professional conference last fall, one of the sessions discussed the growing problems overuse of technology is having on the health of today's youth. Research is also available on issues such as text neck syndrome and SMS thumb. One study by Shah and Sheth (2018) concluded that musculoskeletal problems can be seen in the neck and hands that can lead to long-term disability. Shahar and Sayers (2018) also conducted a study into the effects of phone/tablet use. Their study led them to ask, "what the future holds for the young adult populations in our study, when development of a degenerative process is evident in such an early stage of their lives?" I don't have any answers, only questions. #WhyNot ask the hard questions. Can we, as a society, bring back the dinner table conversations? I would love to hear your comments below. References: Jiang, J. (2018, August 22). How teens and parents navigate screen time and device distractions. Pew Research Center. Shah, P. P. and Sheth, M. S. (2018). Correlation of smartphone use addiction with text neck suyndrome and SMS thumb in physiotherapy students. International Journal of Community Medicine and Public Health, 5(6). doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.18203/2394-6040.ijcmph20182187 Shahar, D. and Sayers, M. G. L. (2018). Prominent exostosis projecting from the occipital squama more substantial and prevalent in young adult than older age groups. Scientific Reports 8, Article : 3354.
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