Project
2
Brittany Duncan
3 December 2017
IFSM 304 7985
Fall 2017
Can increased Screen-time for teenagers decrease their overall happiness, health and wellbeing?
Screens are all around us in today’s society. Studies show that teenagers are spending nearly all of their waking hours staring at screens (Willett, 2016). This could be using Facebook, news, apps, snapchat, Pinterest, Twitter, etc. The Washington Post recently wrote a piece on kids these days and their social media usage that showed a study by a non-profit group that found teens are spending nearly nine hours a day consuming media (Willett, 2016). In one study, researchers found evidence that when small children became addicted to tablets or smartphones, it could impede their ability to focus, concentrate, and build a large vocabulary (Margalit, 2016). In 2016, a study in the Journal of Anxiety Disorders Association of America found social media could be linked with increased depression in teens (Willett, 2016). Today’s teenagers are spending more and more time in front of laptops, tablets, PCs, and smart phones playing video games, texting, and engaging in social media sites. The following questions will be addressed below: Can this increased screen time lead to overall depression, anxiety, or more complicated mental health issues? Is there an ethical conundrum by allowing teens the ability to have unlimited screen-time? Is there a true link between the amount of screen time of high-school aged teenagers and their overall happiness, health and well-being? Can social media usage lead to increased drinking in adolescents? Can video games be potentially beneficial for some teenagers?
Ethically speaking, does allowing teens the ability to have unlimited screen time pose a problem? The answer to that question would be different depending on who you ask. According to the teen, there would not be an ethical problem with allowing them unlimited time. If you ask the parents, they might say there is no problem, but they might say there is. If you ask the doctors, they would tell you that increased screen time has been proven in studies to lead to increased health problems.
As mentioned above, increased screen time has been proven, in certain studies, to lead to increased risk of depression and anxiety. Mental health disorders are a leading cause of disability and are shown to typically develop in childhood or adolescence. Anxiety and depression are the most common mental disorders in youth today (Gunnell, 2016). Increased screen time leads to decreased physical activity, which leads to increased feelings of depression and anxiety. Increasing physical activity and decreasing screen time can alleviate or prevent symptoms of mental health disorders such as anxiety and depression (Gunnell, 2016).
Social media plays a large role in the amount of screen usage that teens engage in. 94% of teens aged 13-17 use one or more social networking sites and most teens have access to smartphones, which facilitate constant access to social apps (Weinstein, 2017). Social media can support well-being via social connectedness, opportunities for identity expression and interest-driven learning, however, heavier social media use predicts decline in life satisfaction and self-esteem (Weinstein, 2017). Weinstein suggests that “active” uses of social media (connecting, expressing, exploring), lead to the beneficial functions whereas “passive” uses of social media often disrupts wellbeing.
Social media is used by many different companies to promote their brands. Alcohol and tobacco companies are not exempt from this list. The presence of these ads has led to young people being exposed to pro-alcohol messages and images through online portrayals of drinking on personal pages as well as unregulated alcohol marketing on social media sites that may reach them. Such online displays of alcohol related behavior have been correlated with offline alcohol behavior and risky drinking (Megan Moreno, 2014). Advertising isn’t the only means of exposure for teens. Peer alcohol behavior plays a large role in exposure as well, if not a larger role than advertising because of peer-pressure. Several studies have illustrated that adolescents’ displays on social media frequently include portrayal of health-risk behaviors related to alcohol, other substances, and sexual behaviors. Alcohol related displays may include texts, photographs depicting alcohol consumptions or links to alcohol related groups or companies (Megan Moreno, 2014).
On the contrary, video games and screen time have proven beneficial to some teenagers with certain developmental disabilities such as autism or Asperger’s spectrum disorder. Certain video games can allow teens with ASD to cope with their disability better than if they were forced into spending time outside, or away from their screens. Due to the ability to take away the “face-to-face” aspect that some teens with ASD face, the video games allow them an “escape” from real life for a little while to better cope.
In conclusion, increased screen time in teens and adolescents proves to be an ethical issue because of the potential mental health ramifications that can ensue. Increased risk for anxiety and depression, potential alcohol usage, increased risky health-behaviors, and obesity are all problems that have shown an increase in studies on social media.
Bibliography Grontved, S. F. (2015). A prospective study of screen time in adolescence and depression symptoms in young adulthood. In Preventative Medicine, pp. 108-113. Gunnell, F. B. (2016). Examining the bidirectional relationship between physical activity, screen time, and symptoms of anxitey and depression over time during adolescence. In Preventative Medicine, pp. 147-152. Margalit, L. P. (2016, April 17). What Screen Time Can Really do to Kids' Brains. Retrieved from psychology today: https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/behind-online-behavior/201604/what-screen-time-can-really-do-kids-brains Megan Moreno, J. W. (2014). Influence of Social Media on Alcohol Use in Adolescents and Yound Adults. Alcohol Research: Current Reviews, pp. 91-100. Retrieved from ARCR: Alcohol Research Current Reviews. Weinstein, E. (2017, November). Full Length Article: Adolescents' differential responses to social media browsing: Exploring caues and consequences for intervention. Computers in Human Behavior, pp. 396-405. Willett, M. (2016, May 26). A study says teens are spending nearly all their waking hours staring at screens. Retrieved from Business Insider: http://www.businessinsider.com/teens-average-phone-screen-usage-2016-5