Changing Screen Use for Teenagers
I have just read this article on the BBC website about moderate screen use for teenagers being beneficial and the changing screen use for teenagers.
Now, I might be old fashioned, some would say I definitely am, but I do have to engage with modern media platforms every day with my work, so I am fully aware of their potential.
However, reading this article, it seems some are suggesting that allowing a teenager to play Minecraft for 12 hours in one day is not necessarily bad for them. Minecraft is one of the games I don’t mind, I think it can develop creativity and when played on-line with friends, can be a great way of developing communications skills. But, any person who is in front of screen for that length of time cannot be doing themselves any good.
Whilst some games do allow communication between people, surely there is no substitute for face to face interaction. For my generation, we have learnt how to read body language and emotions, something you cannot do on a screen, these are skills that teenagers are losing and when they get into the working environment then have to learn, often from scratch.
So the answer must be to limit screen time and ensure that every person, not just teenagers, interacts physically with other people. Perhaps this is a core skill that schools and universities should build into the curriculum. Imagine a class without any technology where the student has to negotiate a positive outcome using only verbal skills and body language.