As parents and educators, we worry about children who spend too much of their days in front of a screen — a TV, computer, or smartphone. According to a recent study by the Kaiser Family Foundation, kids ages 8-18 spend 10 hours and 45 minutes per week “media multi-tasking,” and the result for many is a decline in grades and an uptick in troubled behavior. To help combat this trend, parents are urged to limit their kids’ online activity and to model responsible use of technology themselves. But what happens if the parents themselves can’t kick the habit of being online all the time? The Washington Post features a story about these very “grown-ups,” who spend more time online than in “real” life. The result? Obsessive behavior, fraying relationships and troubled marriages, says the Post, which offers an explanation but not an excuse for the addictive behavior: ”…human beings tend to repeat actions that are pleasurable and rewarding, particularly if they get our endorphins flowing. The complication is that we devalue delayed rewards — the feeling, for instance, of looking back on lovely moments with family — in favor of the immediacy of the new. In this case, it’s data. It makes us high.” The Post piece leaves us with a measure of hope: “Nobody knows where this is all headed. Jaron Lanier, one of the creators of virtual reality technology and author of “You Are Not a Gadget,” hopes all these advances will create greater appreciation of the physical world. ‘It might take a while,” he said, “but one day, I hope we notice that reality is much more textured and interesting.’”
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