Young people these days are increasingly tech savvy but how responsible is their screen-time use?
Recently featured on BBC London News, pupils from the Greenwich Steiner School shared their thoughts about the potential pitfalls of spending too much time online and on computers, tablets and phones.
“I’m glad that I don’t play too many games, because I know that I’d get addicted,” said one boy.
The school advocates a responsible approach to social media and social networking. Pupils are not exposed to computers until aged 11 years old yet become computer literate very quickly. By introducing technology at a later age, the school says that pupils are empowered to develop a healthy relationship to their devices.
Teaching pupils how to manage their time online, as well as talking to them about how to manage themselves on social media, is also one of the suggestions from London based think-tank The Strategic Society Centre (SSC).
The SSC has recently published a paper exploring the implications on public health for children between the ages of 10-15 years, who are increasingly exposed to screen-based media and social networking. They suggest that there should be a computer crackdown and national guidelines for computer usage, which should certainly not be more than two hours each day.
The latest research reveals that increased time spent gaming, on social media and using smartphones has knock on implications for emotional wellbeing. The more time pupils spend online, the more miserable young people are becoming. Children may feel inadequate because they have fewer friends online than their peers or be less adept at face-to-face interactions.
In stark contrast to the latest findings, pupils at the Greenwich Steiner School are happy and well-adjusted.
The handful of 12 and 13 year olds interviewed by the BBC London News team, shared that they were happy to have a later exposure to technology. Concerns about “damage to the brain,” or getting “addicted” to games were expressed by the pupils, who on reflection didn’t really mind about the school’s clear guidelines.
One pupil said that although he wanted a phone because all his friends had one, he was probably more engaged with sport because of the school’s considered approach to screen-time usage.
Fran Russell at the school says, “Because they are introduced to computers later on, they are the masters of the devices and not the other way round.”
To find out more about a responsible approach to both technology and learning at the Greenwich Steiner School – why not check out their latest Open Morning on Saturday November 14th at 10am or please do visit their website.
