Digital Technologies
Families and schools share responsibility in developing children’s digital wellness
Smartphones and other digital media gadgets have become an additional equity concern in every school and in many homes.
A decade ago paediatricians noticed a worrying trend: children's mental health was beginning to decline. Anxiety disorders, depression and loneliness had suddenly become more common among teenagers around the world.
Health experts and researchers didn't know exactly why that happened. Some said that these were simply statistical variations without any particular cause. Others believed there must be something new in children's lives that explains those negative trends in wellbeing and health.
Recently, it is not just children's wellbeing and health that have been at risk. Teachers and parents have realised that even when children try harder and spend more time in school, overall learning outcomes have begun to slip during the last decade.
Learning in school is jeopardy, too, not only here in Australia but everywhere.
Here is the hard question of our time: what role do digital media and technologies play in explaining the downward trends in children's wellbeing and learning? ...........