Are Smartphones Making Our Children Mentally Ill?

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This lady believes that smartphones are making our children mentally ill.

She is pointing a finger of accusation at the smartphones - “pocket rockets” as she calls them – which are now routinely in the hands of over 80 per cent of secondary school age children. Their arrival has been, she notes, a key change since 2010. “It’s a simplistic view, but I think it is the ubiquity of broadband and smartphones that has changed the pace and the power and the drama of mental illness in young people.”
 
No, no, no its the vaccines. Jenny McCarthy told me so, so it must be true.

Also, pocket rocket? Really? :D
 
All I have to say to this is:

HEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHE!!!
*DROOL!*
 
I can't take her seriously when she calls a phone a 'pocket rocket.'

She is keen to point out that this isn’t happening to all children, and that there are other potential causes for the current crisis – “results-driven school programmes”, busy parents and the recession are three she quotes, not to mention “organic” mental health such as schizophrenia.

Then why jump to blaming phones and the internet? :confused: Sounds a lot like people blaming rock-and-roll or video games for social ills in decades past. Fuck old people.
 
I can't take her seriously when she calls a phone a 'pocket rocket.'
After struggling for several minutes to get it out of a boy's right pocket, he told her that was enough and to stop tugging on his pocket rocket, so she assumed that was the new hip slang the kids were using these days for the cellphone she was after. *shrugs*
 
Its 24/7 Peer Pressure without relent. Young A-holes are taking advantage of a prevailing system that will eventually use to enforce hyper political correctness via public shaming not long from now.
 
If you're worried about this sort of thing you need to commission a study, not just tell a bunch of people some totally unsubstantiated hearsay information. The only thing this does is make the idea LESS credible and if there is an actual problem sweeps it under the rug.

It's more annoying that anyone gives these people a soapbox to stand on, because this sort of junk information is not beneficial to anyone. This sort of constant crap information really confuses the stupid and gullible.
 
Yes, let's blame phones for our problems instead of trying to encourage the people who did decide to make more of themselves to try to be effective parents. :(
 
I do think that a freakin 6 year old is not old enough to be given a damn iphone.... Definitely makes me wonder when I see that shit. Times are different now understandably but I would not be giving my elementary school child if I had one a smart phone or tablet to own as their own. Having a family tablet or whatever that they would have to be given to use a limited amount of time during the day would be ideal. Gotta make those kids go play and socialize in person with other kids. I think once a child gets to the middle school age a cell phone is reasonable.
 
Nope, It could go both ways! You could say smartphones are making us smarter too :)
 
Very interesting article that I agree with.

What worries me, though, are the kinds of responses on this comments section...it's almost like she's talking about many of the responders here...

Guys, she clearly stated that she's not against the internet, but warns about complete alienation and the kinds of problems it can induce, with which I totally agree.

I support what Converge wrote above. There needs to be a balance and limited use time, because these things can easily start consuming entire free time and have a negative impact on social aspects of life. There's no immediate need for an elementary school kid to have a data plan, or even a cellphone for that matter.
 
This all comes down to bad parenting. Just as it's always been with this "issues". They're just finding something new to put the blame on. I'm sure even radio was blamed way back in the day....
 
This all comes down to bad parenting. Just as it's always been with this "issues". They're just finding something new to put the blame on. I'm sure even radio was blamed way back in the day....

Yes, you're right. That's what she advocates, that parents take more control of the net usage time of their kids, a frontier that is still new to many and that many do not handle properly.
 
This all comes down to bad parenting. Just as it's always been with this "issues". They're just finding something new to put the blame on. I'm sure even radio was blamed way back in the day....

I somewhat agree with the bad parenting, but in may ways it's much more difficult today due what's available on TV, Cable and the internet. And I think it's the junk on the internet that was her point.
 
It’s (sic) has to be about balance, not banning.
If you read the article, she's clearly advocating better parenting, not scapegoating problems onto some evil electronic demon she doesn't understand.
 
Yes, you're right. That's what she advocates, that parents take more control of the net usage time of their kids, a frontier that is still new to many and that many do not handle properly.

Thats the problem with stupid click-bait headlines such as this though. Most people will just see this as an attack on technology and smart-phones rather than a parenting issue. It would have been more effective with a title such as "Are too many parents allowing unfettered access to smartphones?". Put the onus on the parents right from the start.
 
http://mobile.pcmag.com/news/54709-...aking-iphone?origref=https://news.google.com/

^ It isn't the phones doing this, it is the breakdown of parenting and society.
But, since we need a scapegoat, dat evil technology... :rolleyes:

I thought it was the fact that middle school age girls are pretty much the most horrible people on earth. This is just what you get with 24-7 exposure to them.

Went to school and had friends who were targeted with 24-7-365 bullying. It was bad. It was also pretty damn unusual. Like one or two targets per 400-500 students. With social media and always being connected, being subjected to that behavior is more common now.

Are we minting more awful people or is it the same number of awful people with easier access to be awful? Because trust me, in the late 80s, the constant harassment took a lot of work and a bit of a team effort and was susceptible to the target trying to hide. These days, the targets seem ot be obliged to walk back into the lion's den more.
 
Smartphones do affect children, but it's a problem that extends from parenting. Studies show that overstimulating the brain of a child has very negative consequences on the developing brain.
 
Studies show that overstimulating the brain of a child has very negative consequences on the developing brain.
We need to ban studies then if they're going to keep overstimulating child brains to the point of negative consequence.
 
It’s a simplistic view, but I think it is the ubiquity of broadband and smartphones that has changed the pace and the power of drama in young people

Fixed.
 
I am preparing for this upcoming generation of child adults with:

"No."


All they've ever heard/seen/experienced in their complicated and unique little lives is "Yes"... so i'll be at least one person who bucks that trend.
 
I am preparing for this upcoming generation of child adults with:

"No."


All they've ever heard/seen/experienced in their complicated and unique little lives is "Yes"... so i'll be at least one person who bucks that trend.

Said the prior generation as it lamented the rise of your generation. One thing you can be certain of with people is that every group of has at least a few in it that thinks that, "Those darned kids these days are going to be the ruin of the world." Weirdly enough, they've always turned out to be wrong because they fail to understand that the foundation of humanity and what it means to be a person hasn't actually changed significantly in recorded history.
 
Do you know how I know that this lady is an idiot? She used the term "Pocket Rocket".
 
Said the prior generation as it lamented the rise of your generation. One thing you can be certain of with people is that every group of has at least a few in it that thinks that, "Those darned kids these days are going to be the ruin of the world." Weirdly enough, they've always turned out to be wrong because they fail to understand that the foundation of humanity and what it means to be a person hasn't actually changed significantly in recorded history.

Disagree.
While individual people with no social constrains may not have changed much over time, it's society that is supposed to keep the worse behaviors in check.
That check is being actively destroyed by people who think they know better and refuse to learn from history, and kids are being exposed to it via the internet.
That combined with the ability for these bullies to use social media to target more kids (instead of being limited to the few they can physically harass in school) makes this even worse.
 
I am preparing for this upcoming generation of child adults with:

"No."


All they've ever heard/seen/experienced in their complicated and unique little lives is "Yes"... so i'll be at least one person who bucks that trend.

Ok Plato.
 
Disagree.
While individual people with no social constrains may not have changed much over time, it's society that is supposed to keep the worse behaviors in check.
That check is being actively destroyed by people who think they know better and refuse to learn from history, and kids are being exposed to it via the internet.
That combined with the ability for these bullies to use social media to target more kids (instead of being limited to the few they can physically harass in school) makes this even worse.

I think a tech forum's population is more likely to make the mistake of giving greater than necessary significance to the transport medium of human stupidity rather than realizing that the same stupid stuff has persisted across many thousands of years with most of that history exposing children to far, far worse stuff than they're subjected to now.
 
Ok Plato.

59501899.jpg


Just say no. :D
 
as I watch people on their smart phones the devices look more like shackles to me.
 
Kids should not have smartphones. and should be very limited using tablets and even PCs.
They need to learn how to THINK.

As for mental illness, it is on the rise because it is a great money maker for the pharms and society as a whole is fucking crazy and getting worse every day.
 
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