PRINCIPAL`S MESSAGE

USING DEVICES AS BAD AS EATING POTATOES

Increased use of technology among young people has often been blamed for mental health concerns but Oxford University researchers found less than 1% of an adolescent's wellbeing (0.4 per cent) is associated with technology use. This is comparable to the negative impact of wearing glasses and regularly eating potatoes. On average, smoking cannabis and being bullied were 2.7 times and 4.3 times worse for adolescent mental health than phone and tablet use, respectively. Adequate amounts of sleep and regularly eating breakfast had a much stronger association with wellbeing than technology use.

'Our findings demonstrate that screen use itself has at most a tiny association with youth mental health,' says lead researcher Professor Andrew Przybylski of the University of Oxford. 'The 0.4 per cent contribution of screen use on young people's mental health needs to be put in context for parents and policymakers.

January 2019

“Humour is the universal solvent against the abrasive elements of life.”
Alan Simpson