Focus on Education

Last week saw the publication of two significant studies into the impact of children’s use of technology. A review of the effect of screen time published in the BMJ Open Medical Journal found that there was no evidence to support the view that children viewing media on screens is harmful in itself. This was well reported in the media and the BBC article on the subject can be viewed here. While they would not recommend a maximum screen time amount, the authors made recommendations about avoiding screens an hour before bedtime to avoid an impact on sleep patterns. The second study concerned the impact of social media on mental health focused on a very large sample of almost eleven thousand fourteen year olds. The article in The Guardian on this study can be found here. Researchers found that depression in teenage girls is strongly linked to social media use. Prof. Sir Simon Wessely, an ex-president of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, said the researchers “still cannot definitely say that social media usage causes poor mental health, although the evidence is starting to point in that direction”. Taken together, these two articles confirm the view that digital technology is not in itself an adverse factor in children’s lives, but how it is used determines whether its impact may be positive or negative.