A recent study carried out by the ALIAT Association revealed an extremely worrying fact: dependence on technology is even more dangerous than thought. Children and teenagers spend, on average, 14-16 hours in front of screens and spend less time outside than a prisoner.
Teenagers addicted to screens risk becoming socially isolated. Archive photo
As part of the project entitled “Stronger together”, the ALIAT Association carried out an analysis according to which the young generation spends an average of 14-16 hours in front of screens, either on social media platforms or playing online games. This means that, in fact, the time spent outside is even shorter than that of a prisoner, and the risk of social isolation is ever greater, reports Agerpres.
“The target group of this project were students between the ages of 13 and 15. Following the workshop with the theme of digital health, we obtained some surprising results related to the fact that students spend between 14 and 16 hours a day, when it comes to screen consumption. This is where apps and video games come in. He checks his phone an average of 434 times a day.
Taking into account the activities that students carry out related to spending time on screens, we came to the conclusion that it significantly reduces the time they spend outside, and if we follow certain researches, it results that prisoners stay outside longer than teenagers”, says Daniela Climescu, a social worker trained in the field of addictions.
It is not the first time that specialists draw attention to the dangers to which children and adolescents are exposed due to the excessive consumption of technology, but these data only show the extent and gravity of the phenomenon.
“We are talking about a lot of dopamine, about the rush for likes, for visibility. Being in the attention of others becomes perhaps more important than interests, passions, which we had and were building in a fruitful way for our personality. We see sedentarism; the rate of eating disorders has increased a lot, sleep disorders, sleep fragmentation, insomnia appear.
This rush for dopamine will make us remain captive like a mouse on a wheel, in the desire to get now, quickly, as much and as we want.
Not participating in social life leads to social isolation or the creation of an identity, mostly superficial, in the online environment”, said Ramona Costescu, psychotherapist and president of the Allied Association for Mental Health.
“Most of the children go there, because we, the others, the parents and the school, do not offer them what they need in life. (…) There are extremely many dangers in social media and in everything that means digital consumption. I dispute the fact that we, adults, blame children for doing something in a world that we also created for them”, claims Cristian China-Birta, social media consultant.
Maximum two hours a day
The solutions proposed by the specialists refer to limiting the time spent in front of screens, to a maximum of two hours a day, a restful sleep, spending time with family or friends and finding outdoor activities. “If we take them to public speaking activities, theater workshops, personal development, where there are children similar to them, we try to show them a role model. Technology is not a bau-bau, we have to find the middle way, it is not possible either without, but also permanently connected to it”, says Sorina Mincu, promoter of educational events for children in Bucharest.
The “Stronger together” project took place between January and June 2024, in partnership with FDP – Protagonists in education and aimed to prevent risky behaviors associated with drug, alcohol and tobacco use among students.
