By Michaela Gordoni
Social psychologist Jonathan Haidt shared a video of actress Jameela Jamil and Romesh Ranganathan discussing how studios are simplifying scripts so that viewers can watch while they scroll.
“It’s staggering how much our collective mind — our ability to focus, to remain calm, to follow a train of thought — has been eroded since 2012, and especially in the last five years with the prevalence of short-form video,” Haidt shared.
“Second screen viewing. It’s a directive that’s being handed out by big studios to filmmakers,” Jamil explained. “You have to simplify the plot,” because people are “browsing on their phone.”
“TV shows, even with good actors, are saying really obvious things about what’s happening. They’re laying out the entire plotline,” she explained.
Related: Americans Spend a Fourth of Their Day Looking at Screens
This just shows how accepting culture is of excessive screen time.
“We have to delay giving them smartphones. No child should have their own tablet. Delay social media, though that’s hard for parents to control with meager smartphone parental controls,” Haidt said.
“Once your teenager has a smartphone — as late as possible — use family-friendly routers, don’t allow smartphones in bedrooms ever, especially overnight, and teach your kid about sextortion, dopamine, peer pressure, and addiction. Fill their lives as much as you can with real-life activities, and teach kids to be attentive to how social media makes them feel,” he shared.
Haidt’s mission is to redefine social norms regarding screens. He recently shared a quote that a Gen-Zer said: “Our generation will be the first generation to die with more memories of other people’s lives than our own lives.”
Everyone, adults and children especially, need to consider healthier alternatives. Life is fuller without screens.
Haidt cautioned, “Parents, right about now your kids are asking/begging/nagging you for new devices for the holidays. Say no! Get them low-tech devices instead, and explain that you want them to have fun in the real world, not in the virtual one.”
Read Next: Are Screens Wrecking Your Child’s Life?
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