According to a Common Sense Media research, at least 237 notifications are received daily by approximately half of 11 to 17-year-olds. Some people receive nearly 5,000 in a day.
About half of 11 to 17-year-olds receive at least 237 notifications on their phones each day, according to new study from Common Sense Media published on Tuesday. A quarter of them appear during the school day, and five percent do so after hours.
They occasionally receive nearly 5,000 notifications in a day. Almost always, the pop-ups are related to social media alerts from pals.
Steyer claimed that they were “constantly compelled to respond socially on Snapchat, TikTok, or whatever to their friends.” It is a major aspect of each person’s personal life.
The findings “immensely concern” Dr. Benjamin Maxwell, interim director of child and adolescent psychiatry at Rady Children’s Hospital-San Diego.
Such a “highly stimulating environment” may have an impact on children’s “cognitive ability, attention span, and memory during a time when their brains are still developing,” Maxwell warned. What are the long-term ramifications? I doubt that we are aware. The Common Sense report was not a project that Maxwell worked on.
The research is based on surveys completed by 203 adolescents, aged 11 to 17. Additionally, the participants gave permission for a researcher to track their smartphone usage for nine days by installing an app on their phones. The app offered time-stamped information regarding which apps were operating when and how many notifications were being displayed.
The survey monitored TikTok, Snapchat, Facebook, Instagram, and Discord among other social media platforms.
59 percent of children were online from 5 a.m. until midnight. Many people were listening to music or white noise to relax and fall asleep while others were using social media.
97% of students were using their phones during regular school hours. While the report’s authors acknowledged that prompts from cellphones might prevent students from paying attention in class, they did not advocate for schools to strictly regulate or outlaw smartphone use.
Dr. Jenny Radesky, the principal author of the study and an associate professor of pediatrics at the University of Michigan’s C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital, stated, “This raises some questions about how schools can work with young people to help them have some control over their phone use.”
Many children claimed they spoke to their parents on the phone while in school. Others claimed that using their phones allowed them to “disengage when their brain needed a rest,” according to Radesky. “Many children feel that school is difficult and unpleasant. One method of brain rest for them is the phone.
However, the Common Sense study also discovered that many people attempt to limit their internet activity by turning on their smartphone’s “do not disturb” settings.
As teenagers grew older, it was clear from what Radesky had heard that they began to plan more carefully when and how they would use their phones. They are aware that there are instances in which “they don’t want to feel bombarded with notifications or like their attention is being split.”
However, many teenagers, including Armita Mojazza, are drawn to those notifications in an appealing way. Although she puts limitations on her screen time, she acknowledged that she frequently exceeds them.
Steyer accuses social media sites like TikTok of having a flawed business strategy. He claimed that their objective is “to keep you on the platform so they can sell you ads.” It’s truly a battle for your attention, she said.
How to question children about social media
Common Sense’s experts offer the following questions that parents might put to their children to find out more about how they use smartphones: What app do you now prefer? Who do you like to follow on social media the most? Do you have any instructions on how to use Snapchat or another social networking site?
The father of four, Steyer, advises parents to avoid passing judgment during these discussions and to be honest about how much of their own time and attention they devote to social media.
Additionally, he advises reserving threats to take a child’s phone away as punishment for just the most extreme situations.
“Even though as a parent I have done that many times,” Steyer added, “children may not be as open about what they do online if they are constantly afraid of losing their phones.”
Children go through childhood and adolescence in a way that we did not, but we can truly support them in getting through it, he said. In the end, solid, traditional parenting based on common sense is what makes the difference.
