Digital burden necessitates Hong Kong intervention for youth safeguard
In the realm of emotional well-being and focus, a growing concern has emerged regarding the impact of digital overstimulation on children. As the co-founder of Just Feel, a non-profit focusing on supporting emotional well-being in primary schools, I have witnessed this issue firsthand.
Research indicates that excessive, especially compulsive, digital usage can lead to increased risks of worse mental health outcomes, elevated anxiety and depression, reduced emotional resilience, and impaired cognitive functions such as focus and executive control. Children exhibiting compulsive screen use, particularly around social media and video games, show increased externalizing problems, anxiety, depression, and suicidal ideation by adolescence.
Early smartphone ownership, before the age of 13, is associated with worse emotional well-being later, including lower self-esteem, poorer emotional resilience, lower confidence, and increased suicidal thoughts, particularly in girls. Regarding focus and cognitive effects, excessive digital media use can impair executive functioning, working memory, and inhibitory control, and increase difficulty in task switching.
These findings align with the research of renowned psychologists Angela Duckworth and Jonathan Haidt. Duckworth emphasises the importance of self-regulation for well-being, which excess digital distraction undermines. Haidt, in his book "The Anxious Generation," links rising anxiety to screen-based childhoods.
Personally, I have taken steps to reduce phone usage during work, placing my phone in a backpack instead of on a desk. This simple action has led to a noticeable improvement in my focus and reduction in distraction.
Just Feel is working to address the impact of digital overstimulation on students. We believe that the quality and pattern of digital use matter more than total use, with problematic screen engagement correlating closely with negative mental health and cognitive outcomes.
If you share our concern and would like to contribute, we welcome submissions for letters to the editor on this topic. Submissions should not exceed 400 words and must include the writer's full name, address, and phone number for verification. The Google form for submitting letters is available on our website.
Let's work together to create a safer, more focused environment for our children. Phones, games, and social media are reshaping childhood, often in harmful ways. Let's reshape it for the better.
- The impact of digital overstimulation on children's mental health is a significant concern in the realm of health-and-wellness, especially in regards to excessive screen use, social media, and video games.
- Research by psychologists like Angela Duckworth and Jonathan Haidt underscores the negative effects of digital distraction on self-regulation and the rise in anxiety, linking screen-based childhoods to these issues.
- Addressing digital overstimulation in students is crucial for their mental health and cognitive functions like focus, executive control, and working memory.
- Technology, such as smartphones, can have detrimental effects, especially when usage begins before the age of 13, leading to lower self-esteem, reduced emotional resilience, and increased suicidal thoughts, particularly in girls.
- To combat these negative effects, it's essential to manage phone usage, as demonstrated by placing phones in backpacks instead of on desks to improve focus and reduce distraction.
- by contributing letters to the editor discussing this issue, we can work together to create a safer, more focused environment for children, reshaping the impact of phones, games, and social media on childhood for the better.
