Participants:
Series Code: TIJ
Program Code: TIJ003123S
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00:27 Screen time, it seems to be the buzz word in our 21st century
00:31 as more and more people are spending most of their work time 00:35 and leisure time on the screen. 00:38 But numerous research studies are revealing that there may be 00:42 a sinister side to technology and that it has become an 00:46 addiction for over 40% of children with adults not far 00:51 behind. Now there is a surprising finding in this 00:55 research. Apparently the creators of the world-famous 00:59 technology devices in Silicon Valley, the home of Apple, 01:03 Google, Facebook, Intel, Netflix, Oracle, and all things 01:08 tech are to find the trends and choosing to restrict 01:12 their technology time. 01:14 Why are they doing this and what is the impact of screen- 01:19 time overload? 01:20 Join me Gary Kent as we meet our guest and find out what 01:26 happens to our brains and how it affects us when we spend 01:30 too much time on screens. 01:56 The internet, it's our gateway to a world of knowledge 02:00 and social connection. From the invention of the 02:03 world-wide web in 1990 to the current day, technology 02:08 has taken our world by storm and we cannot imagine our world 02:13 without it. 02:14 Almost all teenagers and around 2/3's of all primary students 02:19 now have their own mobile screen based device spending as many 02:24 as five hours a day using social media, texting, video chatting, 02:30 watching YouTube videos, and playing video games. 02:34 Each successive generation believes that are becoming 02:38 more digitally savvy with generation Y and Z who have 02:43 not known a world without technology, believing that 02:46 they're the most informed generation and there is 02:50 no doubt that many of the kids today could teach mom and dad 02:54 a thing or two about technology. 02:57 But have things gotten a little out of hand? 03:00 Screen time predominantly on hand held devices but also 03:05 on laptops and television is dramatically on the rise. 03:10 2017 statistics from an Australian child health poll 03:16 on screen based media use in the home give cause for alarm. 03:21 Just listen to the following statistics. 03:24 Children under two years of age are now spending on average 03:28 2 hours of screen time a day. Two to six you year old kids 03:33 are spending 3.7 hours, 6 to 13-year-olds are averaging 03:38 4.5 hours, and 13 to 18 year old teens are spending 03:44 an unbelievable 6.2 hours of home-time a day on social media 03:49 gaming, watching TV and movies and video chat and perhaps 03:55 doing a smidgen of homework. 03:57 Research shows that over half of parents of teens allow their 04:04 children to access the internet unsupervised and with no limits 04:08 on time or type of content assessed. 04:12 Australia statistics report that children 8-18 years old 04:18 spend an average of nearly seven hours a day on screens. 04:23 And if are shocked and surprised with those statistics, 04:26 you may be interested to know, that the average screen time 04:30 for adults outside of work hours is nearly 6 hours per day 04:34 and perhaps you and I are modeling the behavior that is 04:39 so prevalent in our society today. 04:42 Having said that: 04:50 Yet rationalize it's just a part of today's society and 04:55 culture and they feel helpless to do anything about it. 04:59 But there is a group of people who are doing something 05:03 about it. It turns out that there is a group of parents 05:07 from Silicon Valley, the home of Google, Apple, Facebook, 05:11 and the other technology companies who are restricting 05:15 or outright banning screen time for their children 05:20 because they know firsthand the addictive nature of 05:23 technology and the highly damaging impact it can have 05:27 on children's brains. 05:29 It seems that they are following the pattern of long-standing 05:33 tech-giants such as Bill Gates, former CEO of Microsoft 05:38 and Steve Jobs, co-founder and former CEO of Apple, 05:43 who raised their children with very strict guidelines 05:46 surrounding the use of the very technology that they created. 05:51 Now, why would the creators of screen devices restrict 05:56 their children's use of technology? 05:58 Well, to find out, join me as we visit with Dr. Neil Nedley, 06:03 president of Weimar Institute and a medical doctor with a 06:07 special interest in mental health and lifestyle medicine. 06:11 Dr. Nedley, welcome to our program today. 06:14 It's good to be with you today Gary, thanks for having me. 06:17 What impact do you think technology and screen time 06:20 is having on our children today? 06:23 Technology and screen time is having a major impact 06:27 on our children, on their brain development and their brain's 06:30 capacity to actually work effectively. 06:34 What is happening with technology is that our devices 06:39 are setting ourselves up for distraction. 06:43 And so what happens when a young person goes on their phone 06:47 to do homework...They are getting on technology in order 06:52 to do something useful. Studies show that within five minutes, 06:56 usually within three minutes, they are no longer doing 06:59 anything useful and they had no intention of going that way 07:03 but then their friend came in with a little text message, 07:07 then they got a Facebook notification, then they got 07:10 a little news notification saying that the President 07:14 said something else about some woman and they have to check 07:17 what he said. And then they have all of these pings goin on 07:21 and email notification of some friend about this or that 07:24 and they are driven to distraction. 07:27 In the area of our brain that requires focused attention 07:33 is identical to the area of our brain that is needed to 07:38 manage distressing emotions and so when they're driven to 07:43 distraction, they are never going to be able to manage 07:46 distressing emotions healthfully. 07:49 And so we have to totally look at the complications of 07:54 technology and not just the benefits because we are 07:59 suffering from the consequences of this and our young people 08:02 are suffering from the consequence because we only look 08:04 at the benefits without looking at the risks and the risks are 08:08 tremendous if we don't use these devices right. 08:10 Dr. Nedley, can you tell us the impact of screen time? 08:14 On brain development. Yes, this is one of the concerning 08:17 things, a lot of parents want to give their kids devices 08:21 and they think that somehow it's going to make them smarter 08:23 and they get very curious over, look, he can flip from this page 08:28 and look how he's doing this or that. 08:30 But what they don't realize is that when kids are on screens, 08:34 they're not moving in the normal ways in which kids were designed 08:40 to move. For instance, in infancy when you have 08:44 awake child laying there in the crib, the child is not 08:49 motionless, that infant has natural physical therapy 08:53 oh, you know those limbs are moving every ware 08:56 and that's important for brain development because the brain 09:00 triples in size the first two years in life. 09:03 And it's tripling in size due to all of the movement that 09:07 is going on even if you are not there with the kid. 09:09 That kid will sit there and just move around. 09:12 Now adults aren't that way, adults are lying awake, 09:16 they're motionless because brains have already developed. 09:19 But this is part of the needed development of brain 09:24 is lots of activities for kids, but when they are sitting 09:28 in front of a screen watching something of just interacting 09:31 with an IPad or with an iPhone, it actually stunts their 09:35 brain development and so we're actually lowering their 09:39 intelligence capacity by raising them on these screens. 09:44 And this is why many organizations 09:47 Many professional organizations that are now recognizing the 09:50 complication of these devices are actually recommending that 09:53 nobody under the age of 12 actually, be allowed to have 09:59 devices because of what it does to their brains. 10:02 So if children are using these devices, how is it impacting 10:06 their development? 10:08 If these children are utilizing these devices, it is impacting 10:12 their ability to learn, retain, and apply knowledge. 10:16 And that of course adversely affects their development 10:19 and this is why a study that was done in Australia, showed that 10:25 those entering into kindergarten actually have lower levels 10:29 of being able to learn, retain and apply knowledge 10:32 and come with less of a knowledge base to been with. 10:35 We think they are smart because they are on these devices, 10:38 but it's not registering and what happens is actually adversely 10:43 affects their ability to memorize things. 10:46 Because the art of remembering actually involves the art of 10:51 thinking, we have to associate it with something. 10:54 But they're not used to having to remember anything because 10:57 it's always on devices and so they're not used to having to 11:01 associate it with anything which means that they are not able 11:04 to think as well and this certainly adversely affects 11:08 their brain development. 11:10 And in what other areas are children affected by the use 11:14 of these devices? Other areas in which our children's health 11:19 and development can be affected actually involves physical 11:22 things. The obesity epidemic in children is at an all-time 11:25 high and when they are on devices, they can't really be 11:29 moving around and playing sports and being outside and those 11:33 types of things that are very healthy for their developing 11:36 brain, in addition, sleep deprivation is a major problem. 11:40 Studies show if they are on screens within three hours 11:44 of going to bed, it delays them getting restful sleep 11:48 it decreases their melatonin levels at night. 11:51 This is where they get their restful, rejuvenating sleep 11:55 where they are able to put into long term memory 11:58 the things that they have learned that day and they also 12:01 they also tend to want to get up later and later. 12:03 It delays their circadian rhythm aspect of things. 12:06 So especially we shouldn't be having them have access 12:11 to these devices, especially an hour before going to bed 12:15 but even the studies show three hours before going to bed 12:18 is not very good. And so if they have to be on those devices 12:23 earlier in the day, because it will adversely affect their 12:27 sleep patterns, and then finally, mental illness. 12:30 Mental illness is something that is skyrocketing among 12:34 our children today and among our teenagers and the focus 12:37 has been the devices. You know it wasn't too long ago 12:42 it was 2007 when the I-phone was first produced 12:46 and by 2012 over half of all Americans kids actually 12:53 had a device and that was the year that happiness plummeted 12:59 among our young people and mental illness began to 13:02 skyrocket and it's tied in to these devices. 13:07 You know specific mental illnesses that have been tied in 13:11 to technology in our children include Depression, Anxiety, 13:17 attachment disorder, which is an all-time high. 13:20 When kids attach to devices, they are de-attaching from their 13:24 parents and they are de-attaching from others 13:27 so they have all of these Attachment Disorder Aspects 13:30 Autism also has been linked to it, Bipolar Disorder, and Attention 13:36 Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, very much linked to these 13:40 devices because they cannot focus and concentrate. 13:43 These devices actually prevent them from being able to have 13:47 prolonged focus and concentration that most of our 13:50 kids were able to do without these devices being in their 13:55 life generations ago and so their minds were prepared 13:58 and ready for good education but as a result of that being 14:03 driven to distraction, they actually don't have the ability 14:05 to focus and concentrate for more than a few minutes. 14:08 Do parents and children recognize the problems 14:11 associated with these devices? 14:14 Some of the children and parents are beginning to recognize 14:18 the problems with these devices and their addictions. 14:21 In fact a study was done recently showing that those 14:26 in generation Z which is the young generation that was born 14:30 after 1995, 40% of them actually admit to being addicted to their 14:35 I phones or their electronic device. 14:39 In fact, they can't even imagine life without them 14:42 and so their life seems to be totally centered in these 14:46 devices but yet we recognize things are not going right 14:50 with these kids, other that way, they are not relating 14:53 right socially more inept, they don't have good strong 14:56 relationships with their parents, and their siblings, 14:59 their ability to learn is done and their ability to manage 15:02 their emotions and so some have intuitively put two and two 15:07 together but a good share of people do not recognize 15:11 what this is causing until they see the evidence 15:14 and then once they see the studies and the evidence 15:17 which are becoming abundant. Just look up complications 15:21 the risks of devices and you'll be able to see some of these 15:25 studies, then they realize, you know what? 15:28 A lot of my problems, I had no idea what was linked to this 15:31 gripping device I carry around in my pocket all the time 15:35 and I am having trouble staying off of it. 15:38 And so they need to be educated and that's why I'm glad for 15:41 shows like yours Gary that are getting the word out there. 15:45 Because the technology companies are not going to get the 15:48 word out there. 15:49 What other risks are associated with the use of these devices? 15:53 Yes, there are actually quite a few risks that have been 15:57 elucidated and developed and we now know are definite risks. 16:02 Our ability to be creative, our ingenuity aspect of things 16:08 goes down considerably. 16:10 Our ability to manage distressing emotions goes down 16:16 considerably. And it gets to the point where there is a 16:23 psychiatrist named Victoria Dunkley in Los Angeles, 16:27 she's actually one of the leaders in this field. 16:29 She's a child and adolescence psychiatrist and she says 16:33 she won't diagnose any mental disorder, autism, you name it, 16:36 she will not diagnose it until the child or adolescent is 16:41 screen free for six weeks. "No screens whatsoever." 16:45 And she said that often the mental illness will completely 16:49 resolve itself. 16:51 The ADHD that the person's been diagnosed with, 16:54 I mean you put on these drugs and all this stuff will just 16:56 completely go away by getting rid of the screens. 17:00 Now if it doesn't, there are things that she can do to help 17:02 out, but she's not going to help out that much until 17:06 the person goes screen-free. 17:08 And unfortunately a lot of parents Gary, they themselves 17:13 are attached to their devices and when they attach to their 17:16 devices, their kids attach doubly and triply to theirs 17:20 because they don't have access to their parents so 17:22 what are they going to do? They're going to attach to their 17:24 devices and so it often starts with the parents saying 17:27 you know what, if I am going to ask the kid to give up 17:29 the device. I should do that too and maybe we should have some 17:33 real-life experiences together and take the time to actually be 17:39 family with each other instead us both being in the same room 17:43 utilizing our devices. 17:45 What about the effects of social media on children? 17:49 You know social media's effect on children is to make them 17:54 anti-social. We used to love the idea of connectivity in 18:00 social media, but we have found out that although that draws 18:03 them in to be connected, they end up comparing 18:06 much more than they are connecting. 18:08 And comparing ourselves among ourselves is not wise, 18:12 I think there is even a Bible text that may go along 18:14 with something like that. But in addition to that comparison 18:19 and aspect of things, social media is often pretty 18:23 dis-ingenious. In other words, people what they want 18:28 others to see them be like but it is not actually them. 18:32 And they will post this nice picture of them maybe behind 18:35 a waterfall with their friend and the other person at school 18:39 is thinking, wow, why am I not out there in that environment 18:42 but they didn't see the bad fight that took place 18:45 among them in the argument right before they took the 18:48 picture and they didn't see them fighting afterwards. 18:50 And so this social media, studies have shown the more 18:55 kids and even adults are on social media, the less happy 18:59 they are and it just plummets significantly. 19:02 So for utilizing social media just for the connectivity part 19:06 of things and making it limited, it can be okay. 19:09 But if we are on social media more than once a day, 19:13 chances are, we are doing a lot more comparing 19:16 and we're getting a false world and in our comparison 19:20 we think we are worse off than all these other people 19:23 that are posting this one- sided view of themselves 19:26 and it leads to depression, anxiety, and particularly 19:32 social phobia as well. 19:33 You know, social media has made our children anti-social, 19:38 they would actually much more prefer texting somebody 19:42 on social media than actually talking to them in person, 19:45 and sometime even in the same room, 19:47 they'll be in the same room and they'll be texting 19:49 instead of actually going over there and talking to them. 19:52 And real social interaction has been demonstrated 19:55 to be very healthy for us. In fact the biggest punishment 19:59 that you can give a prisoner, is solitary confinement 20:01 for a reason. But these individuals are choosing 20:04 to be solitary confined but they don't recognize 20:07 the problems of it because they think they are actually 20:10 being social on social media. 20:12 But really the effects of it are as severe as solitary 20:16 confinement and so we need to replace social media as 20:20 much as we can with real live social interaction. 20:23 The highest rates of mental illnesses are not in the elderly 20:27 like they were when I was growing up, we used to see 20:30 depression rates high among the elderly, starting to rise 20:36 in middle age...very low among the low-age groups. 20:39 But now, it's the opposite, now the middle age and elderly 20:42 have more depression than they did when I was growing up. 20:45 But we have this huge bubble of mental illness occurring 20:49 in our young people and the focus has been, 20:53 what's the big difference? the focus is less-live social 20:57 interaction, more media time and our kids being driven 21:01 to distraction by these engaging smart-phones 21:05 that they're carrying around and interacting with 21:07 instead of real people and helpful, useful information. 21:12 So Dr. Nedley, what can parents do to help their children 21:16 in this situation? 21:18 What parent can do to help their children in this situation 21:21 is loving take their devices away and explain to them why. 21:25 Go over the evidence with them if they are able to understand, 21:30 if they are under the age of two, just take them away. 21:33 Yeah, the kids going to cry at first and there will be some 21:37 withdraw symptoms, but the enhancement that will take place 21:41 from real exercise outside, from outdoor activities, from sports, 21:47 from real-live social interactions with siblings 21:52 and parents and others, will be far worth the effort and 21:56 the ability of the brain will actually start to come back. 21:59 The wonderful thing about our brains Gary is they can change 22:03 for the better, they can change for the worse, yes, these 22:06 devices...and if I might just say this Gary, these devices 22:11 were thrust upon society where we only looked at the benefits 22:15 and we didn't look at the risks. 22:17 Imagine if a drug company came up with a drug where the study 22:21 was only looking at the benefits but not the side effects. 22:24 That's what happened with technology and it was thrust 22:29 upon society, we only looked at the benefits and there's 22:31 this huge risk pattern that we now recognize is real and 22:37 problematic. And so we need to do as parents what needs 22:42 to be done. Yes, they are going to be sad on the front end, 22:45 but they will be happy on the back end and their productivity 22:49 and success, will be exponentially raised by either 22:53 taking their devices away completely or limiting it 22:57 to certainly less than one hour a day. 22:59 Dr. Nedley, what message would you have for people caught up 23:04 in screens and social media? 23:06 Yeah, my message to those that are on social media on these 23:10 devices comparing themselves among themselves is to recognize 23:14 that God loves you the way you are without comparing 23:19 you with others. And so don't get in the trap of comparing 23:24 yourselves among yourselves because that is a dead end trap 23:29 that leads to dissatisfaction and problems. 23:32 Recognize that you are of infinite value, 23:36 that Christ would have died for just you alone 23:39 and you don't need this type of comparison to help you 23:45 in any way, it's not going to help, it's going to hurt. 23:48 God loves you regardless of how you stack up to others 23:53 or how you think you stack up to others. 23:55 Dr. Nedley, thank you for being on our program today 23:59 and for the valuable information you've shared. 24:02 Thank you, Gary. Thanks very much for having me, 24:04 I hope it's helpful to your viewers. 24:06 What amazing information, it really makes us think about 24:12 what is happening in our homes. 24:14 If you would like to take positive steps towards a happier 24:19 more fulfilling life, here is a promise to encourage you. 24:32 So often, we spend precious moments on things that 24:36 don't support our goals in life. 24:38 We swipe away moments that could be filled with Joy 24:42 and happiness and trade them for things that really 24:45 don't matter. We look for love and fulfillment in all the 24:49 wrong places. What are the things that make you truly 24:53 happy in life? 24:55 For most of us, the answer would be relationships 24:59 and meaningful connections with family and the people 25:03 we care about the most. Your children your marriage 25:07 partner, your siblings, your parents and your grand-parents. 25:11 But there is someone else who loves you, God made you 25:16 and wants to share His promises with you. 25:19 The Bible says that His love for you is immense. 25:34 If you like to form a new Wi-Fi connection through 25:38 prayer with Jesus, and instead of spending time on Facebook, 25:43 spend time with your face in the book, 25:47 your life will be richer for it. 25:49 If you would like a step by step guide on how to implement 25:55 positive change into your family life, then I'd like to recommend 25:59 the free booklet that we have for all our Incredible Journey 26:03 viewers today. 26:04 It's the booklet "Media on the Brain." 26:08 This book is our gift to you and is absolutely free. 26:13 I guarantee there are no costs or obligations whatsoever. 26:17 So make the most of this wonderful opportunity 26:21 to receive the gift we have for you today. 26:26 Phone or text us at 0436333555 in Australia, 26:32 or 0204222042 in New Zealand 26:37 or visit our website tij.tv to request today's free offer 26:43 and we'll send it to you totally free of charge and with 26:46 no obligation. Write to us at GPO Box 274, Sydney, NSW 2001, 26:53 Australia. Or PO Box 76673 Manukau, Auckland 2241, 27:00 New Zealand. Don't delay, call or text us now. 27:08 If you've enjoyed our journey into the modern world 27:10 with Dr. Neil Nedley and our discussions on technology 27:14 and its impact on our lives, then be sure to join us again 27:18 next week when we will share another of life's journey's 27:22 together. And now I'd like to invite you to join me 27:27 as we pray. 27:28 Dear Heavenly Father, We sense the amazing love 27:32 you have for us personally it is immense and deep, 27:37 we want to respond and give you our hearts to be filled by 27:41 the God who knows how to truly make us happy. 27:45 Please keep our eyes focused on you and what matters most, 27:50 In Jesus name, we pray. Amen |
Revised 2021-04-06