Just watched a March 2023 social media video posting, where the presenter was talking about how some parents struggle with getting their kids off social media – more specifically online gaming because of “gaming addiction”. This too is a concern that we have heard from parents and caregivers.
In the 2023 social media posting, the presenter stated that we should be explaining the “why” we are taking specific actions when it comes their child’s use of technology, and use research to support the reasoning with your child. This is something that we here at the White Hatter support 100% and encourage. Approaching these types of discussions based on good evidence-based peer-reviewed research is important. However, equally important is the act of publicly presenting the research as it was originally conveyed.
In the 2023 social media posting, the presenter stated in their video to let your kids know “your brain is being negatively impacted” and then flashed up this screen capture of a slide.
Following this slide, the presenter made the comment, “Display MRI scans of addicted brains and illustrate how screen time can impact them to raise awareness.”
Many parents who viewed this slide and heard the presenter’s remarks would likely react with surprise and think, “Wow, research and brain scans demonstrate the huge negative effects of screen-watching on the brain.” However, I had an important question: where did this slide originate from?
The slide presented in this video was from a TedX YouTube presentation that was published 11 years ago (1). I listened to the entire YouTube video, and found a couple of important differentiations in what was presented in 2012, to what was being presented in the March 2023 social media posting we just watched.
#1 – Here’s the actual screenshot of the slide that was used in the 2012 YouTube video. What is interesting to note, the heading of the slide “Too Little Stimulation Is Bad” was not included.
#2 – The presenter (Dr Christakis) in the original TedX YouTube video stated, that the brain Pet Scan on the right of the slide was of a “Child raised in a “horrible neglected environment (Romanian orphanage)” who was “profoundly neglected in early life”
The Pet Scans that were provided in the March 2023 social media posting, which were from the 2012 YouTube video, had nothing to do with “screen time” be it computer, phone, or TV – NONE! Unless you were a parent or caregiver who did their research like we did, you would not have known this fact. Both the slide and the commentary associated with the slide in the 2023 social media posting is contextually misrepresented misinformation and DOES NOT reflect how it was presented in the original 2012 TedX YouTube video. Absolutely NOTHING!
Again, we don’t necessarily disagree with the challenges that parents face that were mentioned in the March 2023 social media video posting, but we do disagree with some of the misinformation that was used to support their narrative in the posting.
Let’s enlighten and not frighten through facts not fear or misinformation. Facts matter!
The White Hatter
Attachments
