Teens and screens: An addictive combination

Late last year I took part on CBC's News Day program. I wrote an article about the harms of over usage of Internet. Since I can no-longer find the article on the Vancouver Sun's website, I have decided to re-post it here.

Teenage Internet addiction is on the rise, say several addiction experts in Metro Vancouver. But many teens who have grown up with the technology don't think spending more than 10 hours a day on the computer is even an issue, let alone an addiction.

Many teens are becoming dependent on the Internet, not just for schoolwork, but to communicate via social networking sites, play video games and watch TV, movies and YouTube videos.

But too much time spent idling on the Internet can have harmful consequences, including missing school, failing grades, disengaging from the community and, in rare cases, violence, according to experts in counselling.

They say that for some, too much time on the Internet may interfere with the ability to build healthy relationships and social skills needed to interact in real life.

Parents, family, friends and teachers are taking notice.

Some parents are witnessing significant behavioural changes in their kids, such as becoming disinterested in activities they used to enjoy such as sports, arts and socializing outside the home with friends. Others are so worried they are sending their children into therapy.

"I can't think of any Internet or gaming addictions among youth that were showing up a decade ago. It has really exploded," said Dawn Schooler, director of Jericho Counselling, a private counselling service in Vancouver and Burnaby with expertise in addiction.

Schooler said many of her clients are parents with concerns that their teenage kids need therapy to combat their Internet or video game addictions.

She's not the only one seeing the problem. Richard Dubras, director of Richmond Addiction Services, said his clinic has had five referrals from the Vancouver school board because school counsellors are not qualified to address Internet addiction.

Dubras said for teenagers who are struggling in life, the Internet becomes "a wonderful coping mechanism," a device they use to numb themselves. For some, the anonymity of cyberspace provides a way for them to be accepted.

"Mental illness is diagnosed when it's interfering with your life. You are not doing what you used to love to do," he said, adding that Internet addiction accounts for about eight to 10 per cent of his caseload.

Although more teens are seeking out therapy, Dubras estimated that 10 per cent of the population is thought to be Internet-addicted while only one per cent are getting therapy.

Glynis Sherwood, the principal therapist at Recovery Counselling Services, said she is getting many inquires about what to do with kids who are glued to the screen. "It's a problem when people are so consumed by technology that a balanced lifestyle fades into the background," Sherwood said.

Most experts agree that youths with signs of obsessive or anti-social behaviour should get therapy as soon as possible to break the cycle before they become adults.

But when it comes to today's teenagers, the line between what is perceived to be normal Internet usage and addiction is often blurred because they've grown up doing everything on computers.

So-called digital immigrants are people who were born before digital technology and adopted it later on. They may be more wary of the Internet and may not feel the need to own all the latest gadgets.

Teenagers are considered digital natives, born into a world where technology is always evolving, and they live online as much as they live in reality. Digital natives cannot imagine their lives without the Internet or their cell-phones and iPods.

So when asked how many hours a day they spend on the Internet, it's not surprising that many teens will reply that they spend anywhere from seven to 14 hours a day tuned in to their computers -- far in excess of the recommended guidelines of two hours.

Several Vancouver students confirmed the numbers.

"I'm addicted to the Internet. Actually, I'm addicted to Facebook. I'm on it all the time and I check it even though there's nothing to check. I'm a Facebook junkie," said Jennifer Payandeh, 17, who accesses the Internet through her phone every day.

However, Schooler cautions about throwing the word "addiction" around. People who say things like "I'm addicted to potato chips" and "I'm addicted to Facebook" don't necessarily have real addictions.

Schooler said networking sites like Facebook can foster social interaction and that is a good thing. It begins to become pathological when teenagers do things just so they can tell other people on Facebook they have done it. She said new studies have found that the more hours per day a person spends on social networking sites, the higher the level of narcissism.

"It becomes more about what other people think about your experience than how meaningful it was to you," she said.

Jody Li, 17, does not consider herself addicted to the Internet, although on weekdays she'll spend seven hours on the computer, and more on weekends.

"The Internet is just my essential tool to everything," Li said.

Another student, Jacqueline Woo, 18, logs onto the computer the instant she wakes up and goes online before she begins her homework. Her phone is connected to the Internet and it's always turned on, essentially keeping her online 24 hours a day.

"My phone is ... set so that I get updates automatically. I'm always connected even when I'm not at the computer," Woo said.

According to a report by the Kaiser Family Foundation, a U.S. health care advocacy group, children aged eight to 18 spend more time in front of computer, television, and game screens than on any other activity in their lives except sleeping.

The organization reports they spend an average of 10 hours and 45 minutes a day accessing technology. That's a disturbing number considering the Canadian Paediatric Society recommends no more than two hours a day of screen time for the same age group.

The Kaiser study concerns Susan Lambert, president of the B.C. Teachers Federation, who said she was shocked to hear that some teenagers are spending more than 10 hours a day on the computer.

"If you were spending an average of 10 hours and 45 minutes a day doing any single thing, wouldn't we be concerned?" Lambert asked. "Teachers are very concerned about kids being plugged in all day, every day. Sometimes the students are more focused on the Twitter scene than they are on the teacher in the classroom."

Some B.C. teachers are trying to curb students' use by banning hand-held computer devices such as smart phones in the classroom.

But that doesn't stop them from going home and sitting down in front of a computer for hours on end, especially if they have a computers in their rooms or unlimited access to their smart phones.

Pauline Batallones, 17, views the Internet as a source for everything, good and bad. On average, she spends five hours a day on the Internet but, like Li, notes that the time increases when she has free time, such as on weekends. "Sometimes I just want to check one thing and I wind up spending hours on the Internet, sidetracked," Batallones said.

In B.C., 88 per cent of students spend extra time on the Internet, excluding time for homework, every day, according to the McCreary Centre Society's Adolescent Health Survey on youth in B.C. The survey found that more than a quarter of youth spend three or more hours on the Internet each day.

Dr. Susan Baer, a child and adolescent psychiatrist in the neuropsychiatry and mood and anxiety disorders clinics at BC Children's Hospital, has done research in computer/gaming use on child development and function. She has noticed links between overuse of the Internet and other mental health disorders, primarily ADHD and depression.

Her study showed that youths with emotional and behavioural difficulties were spending much of their free time in front of screens, an average of almost seven hours per day on the computer, gaming stations, and TV.

However, Baer also found that youths who spent a lot of time on the computer or gaming station but did not display addictive behaviours were not associated with increasing problems of depression.

"This was surprising to us and suggests that even though terms such as Internet addiction are controversial, there is a real difference between youth who are simply filling their free time with the computer, and youth whose use is more driven and problematic," she said.

Canada's leading Internet addiction expert, Halifax psychologist Brent Conrad, estimates that from five to 10 per cent of Internet users demonstrate behaviours that suggest addiction.

"For some individuals it is clear that the virtual world becomes an obsession, and by almost any standard, their online time greatly exceeds healthy levels," Conrad said.

Maria Fung is a Grade 12 student at Little Flower Academy in Vancouver.

Revamp.

I looked at my blog: this blog for the first time in a looong time.
I also went through my posts and took out anything that was too personal. I guess you could say that this is my personal online journal, but not anymore, I'm going to make something out of this.

okay my screen name is: marrrriaf
well it goes for my twitter, hypemachine, and here so that's plenty Im assuming.

If you scroll through my past posts, you can find the vareity of topics I've covered over the past yeras. yes YEARS. This blog is old and dated but still functioning.
It's a work in progress. As I improve my HTML and other techy skills, it should look and flow smoother. :)

And that the end of this update on this blog.

Historical Origin of The "Finger"

"This is not meant to be crude. It is strictly for your edification and enjoyment.

Before the Battle of Agincourt in 1415, the French, anticipating victory over the English, proposed to cut off the middle finger of all captured English soldiers. Without the middle finger, it would be impossible to draw the renowned English longbow and therefore be incapable of fighting in the future.

This famous weapon was made of the native English Yew tree, and the act of drawing the longbow was known as "plucking the yew." Much to the bewilderment of the French, the English won a major upset and began mocking the French by waving their middle fingers at the defeated French,saying, "See, we can still pluck yew! PLUCK YEW!"

Over the years, some 'folk etymologies' have grown up around this symbolic gesture. Since 'pluck yew' is rather difficult to say (like "pleasant mother pheasant plucker", which is who you had to go to for the feathers used on the arrows for the longbow), the difficult consonant cluster at the beginning has gradually changed to a labiodental fricative 'F', and thus the words often used in conjunction with the one-finger-salute are mistakenly thought to have something to do with an intimate encounter.

It is also because of the pheasant feathers on the arrows that the symbolic gesture is known as "giving the bird." "