TCP Episode 118 -- The Pandemic, Technology, and the Mental Well-Being of Children

Listen to this episode on Cybertraps.com, Apple Podcast, or your podcast platform of choice.

Show Notes

Increased Use of Technology

• A Global Issue
• Explosion in the Use of Technology for Remote Learning
• General Increase in Screen Time
• Algorithmic Rabbit Holes

Scope of the Problem

• 90% of Kids Are Regular Social Media Users
• Impact of Pandemic on Mental Well-Being of Children in General -- Almost Certainly Bad
  ** Some Disagreement as to Role of Technology and Social Media
• Particular Challenges for Girls
• Rise in Loneliness and Suicide Attempts

Issues and Concerns

• Access to Inappropriate Materials on Poorly Set-Up School Devices (or Personal Devices)
• Impact on Student Privacy
  ** What Are the Search Terms Used by the School to Flag Messages or Searches?
• Emerging Technologies: Virtual Reality, Artificial Intelligence

Responses

• Reasonable Limits on Screen Time for Children
• Possible legislation by U.S. Congress and EU to force tech companies to do a better job protecting children
• Increased surveillance of children by schools?
• Better training of school employees to recognize symptoms and warning signs
• More effective education regarding mental health; destigmatize
• Encourage students to seek help for themselves or their classmates
• Mental health days?
  ** Not going to school may not be the best answer

Resources

General

• 21 March 2022 -- Kids, teens and mental health: Parents report challenges in screening, getting care
  ** "Even before the pandemic, mental health disorders in adolescents, such as depression and anxiety, were prevalent,” said Mott Poll co-director and Mott pediatrician Gary L. Freed, M.D., M.P.H."
  ** "The pandemic caused significant stress and social disruption for kids that likely exacerbated these problems, as we’re seeing a growing number of young people face mental health concerns. This places a heavier burden on parents, health providers and other trusted adults in their lives to be aware of potential warning signs."
• 21 March 2022 -- The pandemic has changed the way we perceive technology — and how we resist it
• 21 March 2022 -- Social media is turning 25. Let’s take a mental health checkup
  ** First social media site: sixdegrees.com in 1997
• 15 February 2022 -- Social anxiety in teens higher during pandemic; speaker gives ways to cope
• 8 February 2022 -- Clues Your Teen May Be Facing a Mental Health Challenge
• 2 February 2022 -- AHA News: Amid a National Mental Health Crisis For Kids, Here's How Parents Can Help
• 1 February 2022 -- In pandemic’s isolation, an alarming number of teenage girls are attempting suicide
• 18 November 2021 -- US states investigate Instagram for ‘wreaking havoc’ on teens’ mental health
  Use of Technology
• 20 March 2022 -- Lawmaker Seeks to Ban Students’ Cell Phones From Nebraska Classrooms
• 17 March 2022 -- COVID-19 and Edtech for Schools: The apps are here to stay
• 16 March 2022 -- Social Media and Kids’ Mental Health: Q&A with Jean Twenge
  ** "Among teens, heavy users of social media (five-plus hours a day) are twice as likely to be depressed as non-users. Facebook's own research found that using Instagram led to body image issues for many teen girls. Screen time in general (TV, gaming, texting) is also linked to depression, but not as strongly."
• 16 March 2022 -- Wake may be spying on your child’s school computer to look for dangerous behavior
• 15 March 2022 -- AI in Ed Tech: Privacy Considerations for AI-powered Ed Tech tools
• 14 March 2022 -- Study: Social Media Didn’t Cause Teens’ Pandemic Stress
  ** "A new study did not find evidence of a direct link between teens’ increased use of social technology during the COVID-19 pandemic and changes to their well-being."
  ** "Although the teens showed more problematic social technology behaviors overall, these behaviors were not necessarily linked to increased social anxiety, loneliness, or depression."
  ** "Social technology can have a negative impact on any person’s well-being, but it can also be beneficial. The outcome depends on many factors and can’t be predicted just by looking at how often a person uses social media."
• 8 March 2022 -- Staff Editorial: Our dependence on technology is dangerous
• 8 March 2022 -- Study: Too much screen time harmful on molecular level
• 7 March 2022 -- Parents, help your teens protect their mental health with tech limits
• 7 March 2022 -- What we know now about screen time for kids
• 2 March 2022 -- How digital wellbeing tools can help teens
• 25 February 2022 -- Linewize Webinar Stresses Need for K-12 Safety Monitoring
• 24 February 2022 -- Is virtual reality bad for our mental health?
  ** "Simulation sickness"
  ** Feeling of unreality
• 24 February 2022 -- Remote Learning Accidentally Introduced a New Danger for LGBTQ Students
• 23 February 2022 -- City leaders sign off on contract to surveil students’ technology usage during school day
• 21 February 2022 -- Parents: 70% of kids spending more time in front of a screen than before coronavirus pandemic
  Non-Tech Solutions
• 14 March 2022 -- MacPhee: Schools and Educators Are Uniquely Positioned to Support Students’ Mental Health. Here Are 7 Things They Can Do
• 8 March 2022 -- More States Are Allowing Students to Take ‘Mental Health Days.’ But Could the Practice Backfire?