“Today’s teens prefer texting over in-person communication, use social media multiple times a day, and admit that digital distractions interfere with homework, personal relationships and sleep, according to a new survey of 13- to 17-year-olds,” Kim Hart reports for Axios. “The study by Common Sense Media, a non-profit group focused on tech and media’s impact on kids, shows teens have a complicated relationship with technology.”
“The proportion of teens who prefer in-person interaction has plummeted from 49% in 2012 to 32% in 2018,” Hart reports. “Texting is now the favorite mode of communication.”
“55% say they hardly ever or never put their devices away when hanging out with friends,” Hart reports. “25% say using social media makes them feel less lonely, compared to 3% who say it makes them feel more lonely. Yes, but: Still, more than two-thirds of teens agree with the statement, ‘social media has a negative impact on many people my age.’ And 40% agree with the statement, ‘I sometimes wish I could go back to a time when there was no such thing as social media.'”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: For even more proof that Steve Jobs was an unparalleled visionary (as if we needed any), from The New York Times, September 10, 2014, Nick Bilton recounts a conversation he had with Steve Jobs in late 2010:
Bilton: So, your kids must love the iPad?
Jobs: They haven’t used it. We limit how much technology our kids use at home.“Since then, I’ve met a number of technology chief executives and venture capitalists who say similar things: they strictly limit their children’s screen time, often banning all gadgets on school nights, and allocating ascetic time limits on weekends,” Bilton reported. “I was perplexed by this parenting style. After all, most parents seem to take the opposite approach, letting their children bathe in the glow of tablets, smartphones and computers, day and night.”
Bilton reported, “Yet these tech C.E.O.’s seem to know something that the rest of us don’t.”
Read more in the full article here.
SEE ALSO:
U.S. teens engage with Apple’s iMessage more than any other social platform – August 22, 2017
Has Steve Jobs’ iPhone destroyed a generation? – August 3, 2017
Study: Frequent social media use linked to poor mental health in teens – July 29, 2015
