Educators, mental health experts sound alarm about time youth spend on their screens
Educators and mental health experts are sounding the alarm about too much time spent in front of cell phone screens.
It's been a month since the Quebec government banned cell phones in classrooms. While it's too early to see if the ban is working, Parti Québécois (PQ) leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon says it's time to take a look beyond just the classroom as studies increasingly show there's a parallel between screen time and mental health.
"The issues are global and a lot of democracies are asking themselves how do we protect the health of our kids. Interesting answers will come from around the world," Plamondon said in Quebec City.
He's not alone in thinking this way. Jean-Francois Harvey is a sports medicine expert who co-authored a book with renowned Quebec outdoors sports promoter Pierre Lavoie, called Faut que ça Bouge.
"85 per cent of the time, [for] a teenager, now is spent on screens, so there's less time spent on important things like social relationships, like physical activities, less time sleeping," Harvey told CTV News.
Researchers have already linked the increase in obesity to time spent playing video games or using their cell phones and tablets. And too much screen time can also affect their mental health.
"There are studies that show that for kids who are in elementary schools if they spend three hours in front of a screen versus one hour on the screen, there will be a 30 per cent more chance to have depression. And if you go five hours and above, it's 71 per cent more likely to have a depression," said Dr. Perry Adler, a professor of psychology at McGill University's Department of Family Medicine.
The biggest culprit, says Adler, who also specializes in childhood depression, is social media.
"People engage in what's called upper-comparison where they see curated images of what reality really is. What catches eyeballs is people seeing interesting things that as a result the observers says, 'Wow, I'm not as interesting, talented or pretty or smarter as these people,' and they consequently feeling diminished," Adler said.
In some cases, young people glued to their screens might not be able to develop the social skills needed when they move into adulthood. According to Stephane Villeneuve, who teaches at the faculty of education at the Univesité du Québec à Montreal, the lack of interpersonal contacts can place young adults in awkward situations if they haven't spent enough time interacting with real people face-to-face.
"When they interact with people, it gets really complicated, and it's harder for them to communicate adequately," Villeneuve said.
Most experts agree that parents have to set strict rules and an example.
Harvey says a good start is for parents to put down their own devices and turn off their home Wi-Fi during family time, at the dinner table, or even past a specific time.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'A beautiful soul': Funeral held for baby boy killed in wrong-way crash on Highway 401
A funeral was held on Wednesday for a three-month-old boy who died after being involved in a wrong-way crash on Highway 401 in Whitby last week.
Police handcuff man trying to enter Drake's Toronto mansion
Toronto police say a man was taken into custody outside Drake's Bridle Path mansion Wednesday afternoon after he tried to gain access to the residence.
Biden says he will stop sending bombs and artillery shells to Israel if they launch major invasion of Rafah
U.S. President Joe Biden said for the first time Wednesday he would halt shipments of American weapons to Israel, which he acknowledged have been used to kill civilians in Gaza, if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu orders a major invasion of the city of Rafah.
U.S. presidential candidate RFK Jr. had a brain worm, has recovered, campaign says
Independent U.S. presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. had a parasite in his brain more than a decade ago, but has fully recovered, his campaign said, after the New York Times reported about the ailment.
What is whooping cough and should Canadians be concerned as Europe declares outbreak?
There is currently a whooping cough epidemic in Europe, with 10 times as many cases compared to the previous two years. While an outbreak has not been declared nationwide in Canada, whooping cough is regularly detected in the country.
Pfizer agrees to settle more than 10K lawsuits over Zantac cancer risk: Bloomberg News
Pfizer has agreed to settle more than 10,000 lawsuits about cancer risks related to the now discontinued heartburn drug Zantac, Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the deal.
Quebec premier defends new museum on Quebecois nation after Indigenous criticism
Quebec Premier Francois Legault is defending his comments about a new history museum after he was accused by a prominent First Nations group of trying to erase their history.
B.C. theatre to pay $55K to neurodivergent actor in discrimination case
British Columbia's human rights tribunal has awarded a neurodigergent actor, who was diagnosed with sensory and learning disorders, more than $55,000 after finding that a Kelowna theatre company discriminated against him because of his disabilities.
Who's responsible for regulating cannabis stores operating under the sovereignty banner?
It's not quite clear who is supposed to be regulating so-called sovereign cannabis stores or even ensure they're benefiting Indigenous communities.