Microsoft cofounder Bill Gates recently said that if he had a cellphone when he was young, he is not sure whether he would have achieved the success he has today. This is because the powerful temptation and addictive nature of social media and online videos make it incredibly difficult to cultivate focus.
UNESCO’s 2023 Global Education Monitoring Report warned about the harmful effects of cellphones on the learning and emotional well-being of children, urging schools to ban their use.
A recent example occurred in Nantou County, where the grades of a gifted ninth-grade student were impacted by Internet addiction, resulting in the student having thoughts of suicide.
DISORDER
In 2018, the WHO classified gaming disorder — defined as “a pattern of gaming behavior ... characterized by impaired control over gaming ... to the extent that gaming takes precedence over other interests and daily activities” — as a mental health condition. As today’s children are digital natives, pediatric and adolescent physicians at Mackay Memorial Hospital have observed that similar behavior starts at an average of age nine, with the youngest example being just five years old. Children raised on tablets are unable to control their impulse to go online, resulting in a loss of interest in all other activities.
Last year, Maple Grove Middle School in Minnesota banned cellphone use by students. After the policy’s implementation, they found that students were happier in class and with their interactions. Regarding the policy, the school’s principal, Patrick Smith, said: “We instantly noticed that it was a game changer. The culture and climate of our building, our students were happy, they weren’t looking at their phones during the hallway or at lunchtime. They were talking to each other.”
HARMFUL HABIT
Furthermore, cellphones harm the eyes. The eyes blink an average of 12 times per minute, but staring at a screen causes that average to decrease by more than half. This reduction in blinking rate leads to a decrease in the amount of tears released from the lacrimal glands and the oil released from the lid margins, thereby increasing the risk of dry eye. To maintain screen brightness, cellphones emit blue light, which easily penetrates the cornea and lens, and directly reaches the macula, thus damaging photoreceptor cells. Blue light is also more scattered, which can cause pseudomyopia, or false nearsightedness — a condition that prevents the eye from focusing at a distance. Government statistics indicate that 71 percent of Taiwanese sixth-graders are nearsighted.
There is evidence that suggests cellphone use might affect height. This year’s World Population Review published the height rankings for 19-year-olds, indicating that the Netherlands ranked first, while Taiwan ranked 99th. Constantly having your eyes glued to a phone or tablet significantly decreases time spent exercising and outside under the sun.
However, ultraviolet light from the sun promotes vitamin D absorption, which helps the body absorb calcium to build bones and muscle. Although vitamin D is in food, the vitamin D produced through the skin’s exposure to the sun is stored within the body for longer.
Cellphone addiction has already become society’s Achilles’ heel — it is a danger to the next generation.
Who would take the lead in promoting nationwide action to turn the tides?
Lin Ji-shing is a university professor.
Translated by Kyra Gustavsen
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