Digital Discourse Database

Number of Posts: 18
Posts 1 - 10

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

Liebesgeschichte, Heldenreise, Flachwitze, Kacke

(Love story, a hero's journey, flat jokes, poop)

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Newspaper | Welt
Date | 2.8.2017
Language | German
Country | Germany
Topic Tags | childhood, emojis, marketing, smartphone, texting, threat, youth
Summary | The new emoji movie for children is an animated film starring emojis as its main protagonists. Critics find it quite distasteful because it is full of casual advertising for major tech companies and because it does not address the danger of the internet at all. In Textopolis, the world in which emojis live, alphabetic letters are depicted as elderly with walking canes because the youth does not use letters anymore.
Image Description | Screenshots from the Emoji movie.
Image Tags | emojis, female(s), male(s)

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

Augmented reality children's book brings bedtime stories to life in 3D

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Newspaper | Mirror
Date | 24.1.2017
Language | English
Country | UK
Topic Tags | childhood, smartphone, virtual reality
Summary | Companies are trying to incorporate augmented reality to their products. For instance, you can now use an augmented reality app with 5 hardback books and transform bedtime stories in 3D.
Image Description | Video explaining how the app works, photograph of a tablet and a book, photograph of an open book, and photograph of a man and a woman
Image Tags | female(s), male(s), tablet

Mother's horror after sick perverts target her six-year-old daughter through online gaming app for young children

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Newspaper | Mirror
Date | 26.1.2017
Language | English
Country | UK
Topic Tags | childhood, game, pornography, privacy, threat
Summary | Using a popular mobile gaming app (Roblox), perverts have been sending kids explicit and inappropriate messages. They've been trying to lure kids and ask them for their addresses. Jemma Casey is the mother of 6-year old Morgan, who was sent indecent messages. Other children have also been targeted.
Image Description | Photograph of a mom and her daughter, screenshots of inappropriate messages, and photograph of a mom and her son.
Image Tags | female(s), male(s), text

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

Tablets and smartphones damage toddlers' speech development

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Newspaper | Telegraph
Date | 4.5.2017
Language | English
Topic Tags | addiction, childhood, language threat, research/study, smartphone, technology-free, threat
Summary | According to a study, giving toddlers digital devices before the age of two can hinder their speech development. In Britain toddlers spend about 44 minutes a day using digital devices, and it can impact their language skills.
Image Description | Two photographs of toddlers using and looking at a tablet.
Image Tags | female(s), tablet

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

Paulinas Englischlehrer

(Paulina's English teacher)

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Newspaper | Die Zeit
Date | 6.7.2017
Language | German
Country | Germany
Topic Tags | childhood, digitized education, research/study, technology-free
Summary | Linguists are currently working on robots who can teach foreign languages to children. It is a new research field and it is being tested in several childcare institutions and kindergardens. The results show that children learn better when they are emotionally invested and that is the main advantage of a robot versus just a tablet.The robot is more humanoid and responds emotionally (with praise for correct answers for instance). Recent studies say that 70% of pre-schoolers user their parents' smartphones or tablets for more than 30 minutes a day when that should be the maximum screen time (including TV) a child has per day.
Image Description | A girl using the language learning robot.
Image Tags | female(s), school

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

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