Facebook time ‘hurting kids’ face-to-face time’
March 30th, 2011 - 5:55 pm ICT by ANI
Washington, March 30 (ANI): A new study have found that more and more parents are concerned that increased amounts of time their children spend online, social networking, twittering and instant messaging each other is decreasing their face time with family members.
According to the study from the USC Annenberg Center for the Digital Future, which queried roughly 2,000 families, more than half of parents now restrict Internet use as a form of punishment. In addition, it seems the amount of time families spend with each other face to face has gone down 25 percent over the past three years, reports Fox News.
“As far as brain development goes, playing with toys, building things for younger kids, fantasy play are much more important in child development than what you’re going to watch on a screen,” said Robert Myers, a child psychologist.
But other experts in the field disagree. Karen Sternheimer, a sociologist who works on kids issues, says she’s concerned about the flipside of this issue.
“It’s the kids who never have been on Facebook, MySpace, who don’t know the logic of social networking. I am more concerned in the long run that they will be left behind in the market place,” insisted Sternheimer.
The study also found that parents who are concerned about their kids spending too much time in front of a screen have begun to apply supervisory approaches to the new medium, much like they do with television. (ANI)
- Parents 'limiting kids' Internet access and TV use in identical ways' - Dec 19, 2010
- USC brings Hollywood storytellers to India - Nov 17, 2011
- Internet users facing decrease in family time - Jun 21, 2009
- US couple donates 110 mn dollars to university - Apr 28, 2011
- Is joyful parenthood overrated? - Mar 03, 2011
- Ideal parenting? Many celebrities get it right - Jan 12, 2012
- Oz teens at risk from 'dangerous' online friends - Mar 15, 2011
- Facebook, Twitter blamed for pupils' low grades, poor concentration - Nov 19, 2010
- New babies come online before they're even born: survey - Oct 09, 2010
- 1 in 4 Brit youngsters never go out to play: Study - Jan 20, 2011
- Spying on kids' online activities is waste of time - Aug 07, 2011
- A 5-min checklist may help docs detect autism in 1-year-olds - Apr 29, 2011
- Mothers get 26 minutes a day for themselves: Study - Mar 08, 2011
- Parents still play favourites with grown up children - Dec 08, 2009
- Sick kids have fewer friends: Study - Dec 08, 2010
Tags: amount of time, annenberg center, brain development, child development, child psychologist, flipside, fox news, internet use, karen sternheimer, left behind, myspace, robert myers, social networking, sociologist, study also found that, supervisory approaches, time families, time washington, time with family, usc annenberg