Digital Discourse Database

Number of Posts: 8
Posts 1 - 8

Quand le smartphone fait de l'ombre au bébé

(When smartphones eclipse babies)

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Newspaper | La Tribune de Genève
Date | 13.6.2017
Language | French
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | (mental) health, addiction, childhood, smartphone, technology-free, threat
Summary | More and more parents take a lot of pictures of their newborn before holding him/her for the first time. As a result, a hospital in the Swiss German part of Switzerland decided to impose a new rule: no screen during mother-baby nap. The problem especially affects the younger generation (under 30). Parents seem to pay more attention to their smartphone, which is alarming. For instance, mothers post pictures of themselves in labor. There are no special rules in Geneva, but doctors and midwives are thinking about alternatives. An excessive use of smartphones can also have a negative impact on children's development.
Image Description | Photograph of a hand taking a picture of a newborn with a smartphone
Image Tags | hand(s), smartphone

Kein Whiskey für kleine Kinder

(No whiskey for little children)

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Newspaper | Tages-Anzeiger
Date | 31.5.2017
Language | German
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | (mental) health, addiction, research/study, smartphone
Summary | Recent studies show correlation between early and/or excessive smartphone use in children and ADHD, deprived linguistic development, and obesity. These studies do not confirm causation, other factors certainly play into how one is affected by the digitalization. The addictive potential of digital devices is however beyond doubt.
Image Description | Keystone image of a girl staring at a smartphone.
Image Tags | female(s), smartphone

Einfach mal abschalten

(Just turn it off for a little)

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Newspaper | die Weltwoche
Date | 27.4.2017
Language | German
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | (mental) health, addiction, childhood, smartphone, threat
Summary | Lots of adults are virtually tied to their smartphones, even when crossing the street. The children, naturally, imitate this and for the "head-down generation". One cannot blame the children for becoming addicted to smartphones because they can only form into what they learn from their parents. No wonder that we are dealing with epidemic-like amounts of ADHD diagnoses: children are tranquilized with screens and later the developmental tolls of this are treated with drugs.
Image Description | A collage-like illustration of parents drifting off into the ocean on rafts made of giant smartphones and the children left behind on an island.
Image Tags | female(s), male(s), smartphone

La cure de Selena Gomez: décrocher du smartphone

(Selena Gomez's therapy: hanging up her smartphone)

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Newspaper | 20 minutes
Date | 2.12.2016
Language | French
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | (mental) health, addiction, smartphone, youth
Summary | Selena Gomez has been suffering from depression. She got off her smartphone for 90 days and felt much better. The experience was relaxing and invigorating. Even though Selena Gomez is trying to limit her time online, she is still very popular on Instagram.
Image Description | Photograph of Selena Gomez and screenshot of one of her Instagram posts.
Image Tags | female(s), Instagram

La nomophobie est-elle vraiment le mal du siècle?

(Is nomophobia today's ill?)

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Newspaper | La Tribune de Genève
Date | 17.1.2015
Language | French
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | (mental) health, addiction, research/study, smartphone, technology-free, youth
Summary | A lot of people are stressed and anxious just thinking they might lose or forget their phone. This pathology is called "nomophobia" (no mobile phobia). An American study showed that 50% of participants could not live without their smartphone for 24 hours. Some even mentioned a feeling similar as loosing a limb.
Image Description | N/A

Toujours plus accro aux smartphones

(More and more addicted to smartphones)

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Newspaper | Le Matin
Date | 3.12.2014
Language | French
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | (mental) health, addiction, smartphone, technology-free, threat
Summary | We carry our smartphone everywhere: bed, bathroom, work, train etc., which can render people addicted. Corine Kibora (spokeswoman at Addiction Switzerland) claims that people can be addicted to social media, news applications, emails etc. When a smartphone disturbs someone's eating, sleeping, or work habits, there is a problem. There can be health issues (eyes tired, sleep disorders) and social issues (personal relations and communication). Kibora suggests setting a schedule; no smartphone during dinner for example.
Image Description | Photograph of a man lying in bed with his smartphone in his hand.
Image Tags | male(s), smartphone

Cyberdépendance: quand le Web devient une maladie

(Cyberdependence: when the internet becomes an illnesss)

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Newspaper | La Tribune de Genève
Date | 17.1.2015
Language | French
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | (mental) health, addiction, smartphone, threat
Summary | News media have been talking about cyberdependence for a few years. Is internet addiction a real thing? A doctor (chief of the "addiction" service at the HUG) claims that it is a pathology; patients have the same symptoms as alcoholics or drug addicts. Internet addicts are mostly young people, and they are addicted to a specific product (e.g. video games, social media, etc.). The dependence becomes a problem when it has an impact on family, friends, or work.
Image Description | N/A

Der Mann zieht seine Nummer ab

(A man takes off his number)

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Newspaper | Sonntagszeitung
Date | 14.8.2016
Language | German
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | (mental) health, addiction, research/study, smartphone, technology-free
Summary | A 29-year old man has decided to live without a cell phone because it causes anxiety and is not as necessary as everybody thinks. Recent studies have shown that many smartphone users can effectively be labeled as addicts because they check their phones more than 60 times a day. This obsession, paired with the fact that push notifications effect the release of dopamine, confirm the claim that smartphones increase anxiety.
Image Description | Photograph of the 29-year old man, crouching.
Image Tags | male(s)

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