Hello. This is 6 Minute English from
BBC Learning English. I'm Neil.
And I'm Sam.
When you were a teenager did your
parents worry that you were watching
too much television, Sam?
They used to tell me that watching
too much TV would turn my eyes
square - but they were only joking.
When I was growing up there were only
three or four television channels.
For parents today, there are
hundreds of TV channels to worry
about, not to mention the internet,
video games and social media - and
all of it is accessible through
a smart phone. No wonder parents
are worried about the impact
of technology on young people!
I don t think it's all bad news,
Neil. In fact, in this programme,
we'll be taking a look at a new
report which finds little
evidence to link technology with
mental health problems in
adolescents - that's young people
who are in the process of
developing from children
into adults.
I'm not convinced, Sam. Think
about how much time youngsters
spend staring at
screens every day.
True, but unlike passively
watching television today's
technology is interactive,
connecting teenagers to their
friends around the world.
Well, maybe my quiz question
will change your mind. Are you
ready? On average how many
hours per day do British
teenagers spend on their
screens? Is it:
a) 5 and a half hours?
b) 6 and a half hours? or
c) 7 and a half hours?
I'll say it's b) 6 and
a half hours.
That sounds a lot to me!
Well, whatever Neil thinks, a new
study from the Oxford Internet
Institute paints a more hopeful
picture. The study analysed data
from over 400,000 British and
American teenagers and found little
or no link between adolescents'
tech use and mental health problems.
Listen to Gareth Mitchell and Ghislaine
Boddington, co-presenters of BBC World
Service's, Digital Planet, as
they discuss the report's findings:
Ghislaine Boddington - you've been
looking at some of the findings
yourself, haven't you? So, what's
your response so far? Were you
expecting, Ghislaine, to see
some kind of smoking gun?
Some kind of link that would
say, Here we are.
Here are the harms?
Not really, because I think
we're at a point where teenagers
are much more savvy than many
adults think, so we are at risk,
all of us as journalists and
research community to assume,
maybe, this is a more a terrible
terrible problem than we understand
because I know the teenagers
around me and one thing that
they do all have is app blockers
on their sites and they are
actually quite aware of the
addiction problem - the
design - you know, designed
for addiction.
Many people assume that social
media harms teenagers, so
Gareth asks Ghislaine whether
she was expecting to find a
smoking gun in the report.
The expression a smoking gun
means evidence that proves
something is true, for example,
evidence proving that technology
is harmful to young people.
But Ghislaine doesn't think
this is true. Actually, she
calls teenagers savvy, meaning
that they have practical
knowledge of technology and
a good understanding of
how to use it.
One example of teenagers
being technologically savvy is
their use of app blockers - software
that prevents unwanted apps
and websites from popping up
and allows users to set
timers which limit screen time.
And reducing screen time is
important because nowadays most
video games and social media
are designed for addiction
intended to manipulate human
psychology to make the user
want to keep playing.
But it seems that today's
adolescents are savvy enough
to know how to use electronic
devices sensibly. How else
can we explain the fact
that, according to this
research, there's no clear
link between using tech
and mental health problems?
Yes, that's certainly the view
of the research team leader,
Dr Matti Vuorre. Here he is
speaking with BBC World Service
programme, Digital Planet, about
an interesting and very modern
term - see if you can hear it:
We often hear the term, digital
native, you know you grow up
with a device in your hand almost,
and then it's not a surprise that
you are skilled in using
those technologies to your benefit.
Did you hear the expression
Dr Vuorre used, Sam?
Yes. He called teenagers digital
natives, meaning someone who is
very familiar and comfortable
using computers and digital
technology because they've
grown up with them.
So maybe there are benefits to
spending hours looking at screens,
after all. In my quiz question I
asked Sam about the average daily
screen time for British teenagers.
I said it was b) 6 and a half hours.
Which was the correct answer!
Very savvy of you, Sam! OK,
let's recap the vocabulary from
this programme about the impact
of tech on adolescents - that's
young people who are
developing into adults.
Today's adolescents are digital
natives people who are very
familiar with digital technology
because they've grown up with it.
If you are savvy, you have a
good practical
understanding of something.
A smoking gun refers to information
or evidence that proves
that something is true.
An app blocker is software that
blocks pop-up apps and websites
and allows users to
set screen time limits.
And designed for addiction
describes immersive video games
and social media which are
designed to manipulate human
psychology and make it hard
to stop playing.
That's all for this programme
but if you're interested in the issues
around digital technology and want to
find out more, then why visit the
BBC Digital Planet website or
follow them on their Twitter
handle @digitalplanet?
Bye for now!
Goodbye!