Is Congress is Working to Combat Addictive Technology?
By Movieguide® Contributor
Recent studies have revealed staggering data about how many teenagers are constantly online and Congress is now working to pass laws making technology less addictive.
A Pew study from December found that 46% of U.S. teens are “constantly online” while a different study from Pew revealed teens spend an average of 4.8 hours on social media every day. These studies contribute to a variety of research which has shown that teens are tending to use more and more technology every year.
While the addictiveness of technology, and especially social media, has been not only allowed but enabled to run rampant by lawmakers for decades, those in charge are now making an effort to stem technology’s hold on the youth. The Senate recently held a committee to strengthen legal protections against the addictiveness of technology while also addressing gaps in the law that companies exploit.
Meanwhile, at the state level of the government, many lawmakers are working to regulate how children interact with their devices. Last September, California Governor Gavin Newsom passed a law heavily regulating how social media sites could operate during the school day. For example, under the law social media apps cannot send school-aged users any notifications during regular school operating hours. This law is similar to a New York law passed last June which, among other things, bars social media apps from sending young users notifications in the late hours and also disables the algorithm on platforms that helps keep users addicted.
These laws, and many others like them, come after years of research have revealed a strong link between high social media use and a negative impact on mental health. The link has become so apparent that last June, Vivek Murthy, the U.S. Surgeon General, called for a U.S. Surgeon General’s warning to be placed on social media, informing users of the negative affect these sites have on developing brains.
While state lawmakers were quick to act after this was announced, Federal lawmakers were much slower to do so, however, it appears that they have taken this problem seriously and are now working to stem the hold technology has on the youth of our nation.
Movieguide® previously reported on the negative effect of screen time:
In a recent study, researchers found that limiting screen time has a significant positive effect on mental health, equivalent to the impact of antidepressants.
The researchers restricted the “smart” abilities of participants’ smartphones, cutting them off from the internet, while still allowing calling and texting. Furthermore, participants were still allowed to access the internet through non-phone means such as desktops and laptop computers. Participants were also encouraged to replace their now-inaccessible screen time habits with worthwhile substitutes such as reading, exercise or face-to-face interaction.
Related: 5 Tips to Help Your Child Manage Their Screen Time
The results were impressive, as 91% of participants reported a positive impact on their mental health, such as the well-being of their mental state or their attention span.
“What we found was that people had better mental health, better subjective well-being and better sustained attention,” said Adrian Ward, a psychologist at the University of Texas at Austin and an author on the paper, per Relevant.
While evidence proving the negative effects of high screen time has been building for years, this is one of the first studies that specifically links the impact on mental health to connectivity to the internet. While the participants were encouraged to spend less time on their screens overall, the only change that was actually enacted on their lives was limiting their access to the internet, essentially only changing their access to social media.
Questions or comments? Please write to us here.
- Content: +2Share:
- Content: +3