First, the good news. We middle-aged Brits are no longer condemned to the conversation- and soul-destroying monomania of debating house prices.
Less good is what has displaced it: an epidemic of angst over when to allow teenagers a mobile phone and what type. I’m in the “too late and no bricks” camp, but parents end up discussing options for a smartphone-free childhood, inevitably, on WhatsApp.
There is a lot we don’t know about the effects of smartphones, but what we do know is not encouraging. The significant rise in adolescent mental health problems coincides with the proliferation of smartphones and social media.
He facebook launch in American universities in the 2000s had a negative impact on students’ mental health and a new chinese study revealed that for parents who focus on academic results, evidence is accumulating of the effects of addictive apps on grades.
The researchers analyzed telephone data with university records on grades and employment after graduation, tracking three cohorts of students for up to four years. Being a heavy app user was bad: it significantly reduced students’ grades (and their physical health), but also their subsequent salaries: it reduced salary by 2.3%.
Added to this is a new concern: the roommate. Not only because furious tapping is distracting, but also because phone or app use is contagious. The article found that if your roommate increases their app use, you suffer about half the negative effects as they do.
You never know, our new concern might actually do more good than all that talk about the housing market.
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