First, the good news. We middle-aged Brits are no longer trapped in conversations and soul-destroying monomania about house prices.
What replaced it is not a very good thing. There is an epidemic of anxiety about when and what types of cell phones should be allowed in teenagers. I’m a very late brick guy, but parents inevitably end up discussing the options for a smartphone-free childhood on WhatsApp.
There’s a lot we don’t know about the effects of smartphones, and what we do know isn’t encouraging. A significant increase in mental health problems among teens has coincided with the proliferation of smartphones and social media.
The introduction of Facebook at US universities in the 2000s had a negative impact on students’ mental health, and a new Chinese study finds evidence that addictive apps affect grades for parents who value academic performance It became clear that there was an accumulation of
The researchers followed three cohorts of students for up to four years, examining telephone data including university records on grades and post-graduation employment. Being a frequent user of the app was bad. Not only did it significantly lower student performance (and physical health), but it also lowered their subsequent wages, reducing their salaries by 2.3%.
Add to this the new worry of roommates. Not only is someone tapping too hard because it’s distracting, but it’s also because phone and app usage is contagious. According to the paper, if your roommate increases their app use, you will experience about half of their negative effects.
Our newfound interest may actually do us more good than chatter about the housing market.
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Thorsten Bell is Labor MP for Swansea West and author of ‘Britain’? How we can reclaim our future
