Digital Discourse Database

Number of Posts: 47
Posts 21 - 30

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

Comment donner le goût de la lecture?

(How to instill the love of reading?)

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Newspaper | Le Figaro
Date | 20.3.2016
Language | French
Country | France
Topic Tags | childhood, school, spelling, texting, threat, word/writing
Summary | Teenagers don't read a lot. This is not new, but nowadays texting and social networks are a priority among young people. They want immediacy, community, and noise, and reading equals silence, long time, and solitude. Young people read differently, which is why Bayard decided to focus on short stories instead of novels. Elementary schools are experimenting something new: the reading machine. Users can alternate on a tablet reading and listening phases.
Image Description | Photograph of an open book

Le neuroscientifique Michel Desmurget, associé à des personnalités du monde du spectacle, met en garde contre l'effet délétère des écrans récréatifs, en lieu et place de la présence humaine, sur le développement des enfants

(The neuroscientist Michel Desmurget, together with other celebrities, warns against the deleterious effect of screens (used instead of human presence) on children's development )

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Newspaper | Le Monde
Date | 6.1.2016
Language | French
Country | France
Topic Tags | (mental) health, childhood, research/study, threat
Summary | According to numerous studies, children need human contact and culture in order to develop normally. Nowadays, digital screens are slowly replacing human presence; however, studies show that digital devices are toxic. The other bad news is that people don't believe in funding culture. But we need culture to feed our mind.
Image Description | N/A

So fressen Apps ihr Geld auf

(This is how apps eat your money)

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Newspaper | Welt
Date | 24.7.2017
Language | German
Country | Germany
Topic Tags | childhood, game, marketing, smartphone, threat
Summary | Many seemingly free gaming apps off in-app purchases after being downloaded. This is dangerous when unsuperised children use the app - some parents have already received in-app purchase bills of several thousand euros. It is best to either supervise children when playing game apps or to only let them play offline games which do not have pop-up advertising for in-app purchases.
Image Description | A PacMan head.

Plus d'humain et de culture dès le plus jeune âge

(More people and culture from an early age)

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Newspaper | Le Monde
Date | 5.1.2016
Language | French
Country | France
Topic Tags | (mental) health, addiction, childhood, technology-free, threat
Summary | As soon as a baby is born, he/she needs to be stimulated. Adults should talk to babies, play with them, look at them, and reassure them. However, more and more digital devices are starting to replace human presence. Adults don't hesitate to give their toddlers a tablet or a smartphone. This new trend can have a serious impact on children's cognitive development and language development.
Image Description | N/A

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

Eines der reichsten Länder knausert beim Bildungswesen

(One of the wealthiest countries is stingy about education)

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Newspaper | Sonntagszeitung
Date | 19.3.2017
Language | German
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | abbreviations, childhood, language threat, school, threat
Summary | Children nowadays get a smartphone as soon as they are physically able to hold one and spend their whole lives in an artificial, digital environment. All information is at their finger tips, they only need to know how to read. They mix languages and use more and more abbreviations. To top it off: the goverments cuts money from education.
Image Description | N/A

Dear Coleen: My grandchild is exposed to sexually explicit web

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Newspaper | Mirror
Date | 30.3.2017
Language | English
Country | UK
Topic Tags | childhood, Snapchat, social media, threat
Summary | A concerned grandparent does not know what to do about their 8 year old granddaughter. Her mother poorly supervises her digital activities and is a bad example in promiscuity. The 8 year old girl has a Snapchat and various other social media profiles where she exhibits adult language as well as speaks romantically/sexually about male celebrities. An expert agrees that this behavior is indeed inappropriate for her age and that something needs to be done like get in touch with one of the many governmental and other help organizations.
Image Description | Getty image of a girl using a laptop.
Image Tags | computer/laptop, female(s)

Sexting: A language our children must never learn

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Newspaper | Daily Telegraph
Date | 20.4.2017
Language | English
Country | UK
Topic Tags | abbreviations, childhood, sexting, technology-free, threat, youth
Summary | Youths are using abbreviations to keep their parents out of the loop like LMIRL (let's meet in real life). The police have published a list of these to help parents monitor their children. It is sad that children and teenagers have such low self-esteem that they do anything to receive validation from their digital peers. This is not just youth culture or rap music's fault but rather the parent's fault. They are always busy and spend too much time on their smartphone rather than gracing their children with face-to-face attention and smartphone-free activities.
Image Description | Getty image of a teenage boy smirking at a smartphone.
Image Tags | male(s), 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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