Do electronic devices have positive outcomes to us physiologically?
Sophia Goldstein
05/24/21
Mr. Besner
English 8
In a modern-day society, we all spend so much time on any screen and device. Yet even with the answers to the world at the touch of our fingers, there are terrible effects to all these screens. As there are side effects to having certain medications, there are side effects to spending time on our screens. These “side effects” can range from a higher IQ to being much more prone to violence. It all depends on how you use these technological devices and how much you use them.
Let’s start with binge watching. Binge watching is when one watches many episodes of their favorite TV show without taking much of a break. According to nm.org, binge watching can be compared to a drug. When one watches a lot of television, it can cause their brain to produce a chemical called dopamine. Dopamine produces feelings of happiness, pleasure, and excitement which can easily making someone addicted to it. According to a recent study, 73% of people surveyed by Netflix that they felt happy when they binge watch. This is because their experiencing this highly addict-able chemical. But you may be wondering, why is it that bad that we can get addicted to such a pleasurable activity? Well first off, trying to get that one extra episode in before the night ends can cause you to feel incredibly tired the next day. Also, too much screen time is known for people to feel more anxious and dejected in their day-to-day lives. As for kids, it can lead them to be less imaginative. But moderate watching has a positive outcome because it encourages creativity.
Now let’s talk about violence. According to a study in the University of Massachusetts, poor academic achievement is linked with your child watching too much violence on their screens. It also states that people who watch a lot of violence are more prone to show an increase in impulsivity, aggressive behavior, and a lack of empathy. And in some cases, a younger audience will imitate such violent acts. This shows that you and your child both must be careful on what you’re seeing on your screens as it can lead to devastating outcomes.
Watching TV or going on your phone is not all bad, I mean we still have so much information at the palm of our hands. Arkansasonline.com talks about some of these positive outcomes. A show made in 1969 called “Sesame Street” was mostly focused on teaching kids at a youthful age. In fact 80% of the show was specifically focused on developing early literacy, numeracy, and emotional skills for children of preschool age. The other 20% was focused on entertaining the children. To test the capabilities of this show, several researchers were randomly assigned low-income families with children from ages 3–5. They had told some of the families that they had to make their child watch the show. This was the experimental group. The families that did not watch the show were known as the control group. Over six months, the experimental groups had gained 5.4 IQ points. That is quite a large effect. In fact, another 15 countries had reported that similar things were happening when watching this show.
So, after gaining this knowledge of affects from screens, The journalist decided to get a volunteer and interview them on what their thoughts about this was. Here is run down of how the interview went (the interview was consented):
Interviewer: “How much TV including YouTube and Netflix would you say you watch daily?”
Student: “Quite a bit, I’d say on average I would watch an hour and thirty minutes.”
Interviewer: “Have you ever binged watched? And if you have how did you feel while watching it?”
Student: “When I binge watch a show I don’t focus on my surroundings, but rather the show, so I feel happy.”
Interviewer: “Do you think binge watching can become addictive?”
Student: “I think it dependents on the person but if you are genuinely interested in the show, then yes it can become addictive.”
Interviewer: “Do you think kids that are exposed to violent video games are more likely to become more prone to violence in their later years? Why or why not?”
Student: “It all depends on the kid and how they were raised. For example, if they were playing a shooting game it can help their hand eye coordination, but on the same coin, depending on how long they play, they can become more prone to violence.”
Interviewer: “Do you think that exposing kids to educational platforms will higher their IQ than kids that hadn’t used these educational platforms? Why or why not?”
Student: “I think yes because exposing a kid to educational platforms early on can help them get a head start and change their perspective on learning to help them like it. This can definitely increase their IQ.”
The interviewer then had thanked the volunteer for their time.
After interviewing the Volunteer, it has confirmed that binge watching can become addictive, exposure to violence can be dangerous, and educational platforms can increase a child’s IQ. It appears the Volunteer had been highly informative on this topic.
So, in conclusion, no matter the age you are if you spend time on a screen, it will affect you in a certain way. It all depends on how much you spend time on the screen and what you are viewing, but it still will have an affect either way. When it comes to watching action and violent movies, it can lead to the person having impulsivity, aggressive behavior, and a lack of empathy. And if it were a younger child, they might imitate these acts that they are watching. Binge watching also has quite a bad outcome. It can become severely addictive, it can lead you to feel weary, and down casted. But if you watch an appropriate amount, it can have more positive effects like making your child more imaginative. Finally educational shows can have a major impact on the child as it makes their IQ higher, according to a study conducted in the year of 1970. After interviewing the volunteer, it has confirmed this because they told me that “When I binge watch a show I don’t focus on my surroundings, but rather the show so I feel happy.” This shows just how the chemical works when you binge watch. They also showed their views upon violence and educational platforms.
Now to let the cookie monster sign you off:
“Home is where heart is. Heart where cookie is. Math clear: home is cookie.”
Very special words indeed.
