Digital Discourse Database

Number of Posts: 18
Posts 1 - 10

Ban mobile phones in schools to protect pupils' mental health

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Newspaper | The Guardian
Date | 26.9.2016
Language | English
Country | UK
Topic Tags | (mental) health, childhood, school, smartphone, threat
Summary | According to Shannon Turner, schools should ban smartphones to protect their pupils. Screens and social media can have a negative impact on children's health, which is why some schools have already put in place new rules (e.g. give children 6 hours of digital-free time).
Image Description | Photograph of two pupils in a classroom; one of them is showing her friend a smartphone and the other is giggling.
Image Tags | female(s), school, smartphone

Are smartphones really making our children sad?

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Newspaper | The Guardian
Date | 13.8.2017
Language | English
Country | UK
Topic Tags | (mental) health, addiction, childhood, smartphone, threat, youth
Summary | Children's relationship with screens has become a contested topic; not everyone agrees with what should or shouldn't be done. Last week, the Atlantic published an excerpt of Jean Twenge's book (the Atlantic article was titled "Have smartphones destroyed a generation?"), which initiated very diverse reactions. Jean Twenge, who is an American pychologist, said that social media have a negative effect on young people. Twenger then answered some of her critics in this Guardian article.
Image Description | Photograph of a group of teenagers all staring at their phone or tablet.
Image Tags | female(s), male(s), smartphone, tablet

Is it wrong to let my child play on my smartphone?

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Newspaper | The Guardian
Date | 10.8.2017
Language | English
Country | UK
Topic Tags | (mental) health, addiction, childhood, smartphone, technology-free
Summary | The author of the article sometimes feels guilty when she lets her 2-year old son play on a smartphone. When young children are glued to a screen, they are so captivated by what they're watching. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, children younger than 2 should have no exposure to screens; it can hinder their language and social development/skills. The author of the article also claims that her kids already show characteristics of "addicted" behavior. For instance, they scream and are irascible if someone takes their screen away. She also says that what is dangerous is not so much when kids are on screens, but rather when parents are.
Image Description | Photograph of a kid using a smartphone next to an adult.
Image Tags | female(s), male(s), smartphone

Byte-sized guide for parents on how they can keep their children safe online this summer

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Newspaper | Mirror
Date | 3.8.2016
Language | English
Country | UK
Topic Tags | addiction, childhood, cyberbullying, privacy, research/study, threat
Summary | Parents want their kids to be safe online during the summer. A research shows that 8 to 16-year-old kids will spend about 130 hours on social media during the summer break. The article offers some tips to keep children safe (e.g. privacy and location settings, play together, how to deal with trolls and sexting, get children to play outside).
Image Description | Photograph of a kid holding a tablet of his/her lap, a kid's hand on a lapop, video about the Pokemon Go game, hand holding a smartphone, Minecraft characters, a little boy hiding his face, young woman making a face, two hands holding a smartphone, a child using a tablet.
Image Tags | female(s), game, hand(s), male(s), smartphone, tablet

Children are addicted to their phones - but the parents are worse

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Newspaper | Telegraph
Date | 25.4.2017
Language | English
Country | UK
Topic Tags | addiction, childhood, smartphone, technology-free, threat
Summary | Allison is an addict and thinks her ability to concentrate has been affected by her phone. On Easter Sunday, she told her kids that no technology was allowed at the table; her son called her mom a hypocrite because she is always on her phone. According to a study, about a third of teenagers have already asked their parents to stop checking their phone. The worst is when toddlers in their strollers are crying to grab their parents' attention and parents keep staring at their phone. Today, a lot of toddlers and children have a lack of language skills.
Image Description | Photograph of a man walking in the street and using his phone (other people in the background)
Image Tags | female(s), male(s), smartphone

Should I befriend my children and their pals online?

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Newspaper | Telegraph
Date | 10.6.2017
Language | English
Country | UK
Topic Tags | childhood, privacy, social media, threat, youth
Summary | 80% of children between 11 and 15 years old have a smartphone. They spend a lot of time on social media platforms. Social media have a lot of advantages but they can also lead to social exclusion and embarrassment. According to a study, Instagram and Snapchat are the worst platforms for teenagers and young adults. As a result, some parents want to join the same social media sites and befriend their children so they can keep an eye on them. However, this might not be the right solution. Children and parents have a right to privacy.
Image Description | Photograph of a woman (foreground) and two children on their phone (background), a kid using and looking at a screen,
Image Tags | female(s), male(s), smartphone, tablet

Soll mein Kind mit dem Handy für die Schule lernen?

(Should my child use a smartphone to study for school?)

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Newspaper | Welt
Date | 19.3.2016
Language | German
Country | Germany
Topic Tags | childhood, digitized education, school, smartphone
Summary | Education is becoming increasingly digitized - even in primary school. There are many learning apps on offer that let students practice lessons from school, for instance from math or a foreign language. Educators agree that digitized education is the future but that learning apps cannot replace a personal tutor if children have perform poorly in school. Parents are worried that by letting children do schoolwork on their smartphones the children will spend too much time using digital devices over all.
Image Description | Illustration of a girl sitting at a school desk holding her arm up. The desk is placed on a huge 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

'They're collaborating all the time': the schools making the most of mobile

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Newspaper | The Guardian
Date | 13.1.2017
Language | English
Country | UK
Topic Tags | childhood, digitized education, school, smartphone, youth
Summary | Some schools are embracing the technological advancements influencing our everyday lives by incorporating them into their classes. Some classes have even become entirely paper-free! Not all, however, the learning tools are chosen so as to to help maximize students' learning. Students are already familiar and comfortable with most of the technology and it makes no sense to ban smartphones from classrooms if they can enhance learning.
Image Description | Two girls looking at a smartphone together.
Image Tags | female(s), school, smartphone

5 Ways Parents Can Help Prevent Cyberbullying

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Newspaper | Huffington Post
Date | 11.4.2017
Language | English
Country | U.S.
Topic Tags | childhood, cyberbullying, social media, threat, youth
Summary | Cyberbullying, i.e. when people are bullied textually or with images over a digital platform, can be detrimental to teenagers' psyche. Especially since they are always available for notifications on their smartphones and because these digital tracks never disappear. It is important that parents keep an open line of communication with their children about this issue.
Image Description | Image of two girls holding a smartphone and looking shocked.
Image Tags | female(s), smartphone

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