Family

Less Time in Front of a Smartphone Means Happier Children

The use of computers, smartphones, and tablets have become the great debate of the 21st century. In this blog post, I will share with you information about how the use of smartphones affects the happiness of children. I will also offer some recommendations to break the habit and address the issue.

Background

It is a fact, the smartphone has become a device that has overwhelmed everyone, specially children. Many parents and experts are concerned about how these devices affects the developing brains of children and adolescents.

As children mature and get constantly exposed to the various elements of social media, parents become more concerned about how their happiness is affected by the dynamics of this environment.

Currently it is not very clear how the use of smartphones influences that happiness since it is the not the device itself, but instead the exposure to social media, that becomes an issue.

Below is a video from the CBS This Morning YouTube Channel that will set the tone for my blog post. The description is as follows: “A new study in the journal Child Development shows nighttime usage of a cell phone can increase anxiety and depression in teenagers and reduce self-esteem. This is the first study that shows a direct link between screen time and mental health. Psychologist and CBS News contributor Lisa Damour joins “CBS This Morning” to discuss tips for parents who want to decrease their teens’ cell phone usage and how screen time affects important sleep habits.”

A Formal Study on the Subject

In a study from the journal Emotion, psychologists from San Diego State University and the University of Georgia Experts have investigated this phenomena. They found that teenagers who spend less time in the electronic devices are happier than those who spend a lot of time in them.

The study is based on surveys done over a period of several years. This surveys were conducted annually on adolescents of 14, 16 and 18 years old from the mid 1990s.

The study found an increase in adolescent self-esteem in the 1990s, which decreases drastically by 2018, when 50% of the population of the United States owned or have access to a smartphone.

This study also identified a decrease in the psychological well-being of adolescents which is inversely proportional to the time spend with the smartphone per week.

Effects of the Amount of Time Using the Smartphone

It is important to note that the large amount of time using the smartphone also leads to a reduction in the number of hours of sleep. This presents a compound problem since it causes a lack of concentration, poor time management, which is directly reflected in a lack-luster performance in school.

The lack of sleep is also reflected in short tempered behavior and adolescents that constantly take refuge in social networks.

Correlation Between Happiness and Time Spent on the Smartphone

It is difficult not to accept the need for the use of smartphones. After all, just about everything that we do is tied to an app. However, without applying the appropriate controls, what is a convenience can turn into a dangerous weapon for our children.

The study referenced above finds a correlation between the happiness of adolescents and the amount of time they spend on their smart phone.

How and Where the Children Spend Their Time

The activities in which the children spend most of their time online include the Internet, social networks, all kinds of text messaging, combined with video games and video chat. On the other hand, there are activities that do not require the children to be online.

These activities include sports, interpersonal social interaction, religious services, print media, and homework. The study shows a positive correlation for activities that do not required the adolescents to be online and a negative one for the ones online.

How is the Time Spent

An interesting point is that the study also found that adolescents who consume between one and five hours a week of time in their electronic devices are happier than those who do not consume anything. Granted, these are the few and mainly the use of the electronic devices is heavily monitored by the parents.

From my perspective, this may be because those who do not consume anything (or do not own or use an electronic device with the same frequency as those who do) are found not to fit with the social environment of their classmates.

Who Are the Unhappiest Teenagers?

The study makes it clear that the unhappiest teenagers are those who spend more than twenty hours of screens time on their smartphones a week. On the other hand, the happiest ones are those who are above average in face-to-face interaction and below in the use of social networks.

The biggest challenge that parents face is how to limit the use of the use of the smartphones and electronic devices by adolescents. This is more important now since schools have started using tablets, instead of books and require their students to do part of their homework online.

Correlation Between Happiness and Time Spent on The Smartphone

This particular study shows only the correlation between happiness experienced by the adolescent and the amount of time they spent in their electronic devices. There are other studies, which I do not reference in this posting, that have shown that an increase in the use of social networks leads to unhappiness.

However, it is important to note that in these studies unhappiness does not necessarily leads to an increase of the use of social networks.

Conclusion

In this blog post I used the results of a study from the journal Emotion to discuss the effect that the use of the smartphone has on children. I discussed the correlation of the time spent in the device and the level of happiness that they experience.

Therefore, my recommendation to you is simple…take action. Make a strong effort to monitor the level of happiness of their children. Pay attention to mood swings, isolation tendencies, and encourage their children to socialize more face to face, instead of through electronic means to build real friendships and grow in happiness.

In your opinion, do you believe the conclusion of this study that the happier children are those that spend less time on their smartphones? I would love to hear your experiences in dealing with this great challenge.

Jorge