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BEYOND SCREEN TIME & DIGITAL DETOXES:

the case for Digital Nutrition

Jocelyn BrewerPsychologist // School Counsellor // Cyberpsychology researcher

Youth Health Forum – Children’s Hospital, Westmead

June 2018

The video goes

here!

1. Current state of research (and media frenzy) around technology & young people’s wellbeing.2. Brief introduction to Digital Nutrition? 3. A few practical tips for applying it.4. The 3M’s: mindful, meaningful and moderate

In the next 30 mins

Disclaimer! These are complex issues I cant cover in depth here…

Setting the scene…

The course correction has arrived….

Polemicising and pathologisingPathologisation ofmodern behaviours

• Nick Haslam (2016) Concept Creep: Psychology's Expanding Concepts of Harm and Pathology. Psychological Inquiry, 27:1, pp1-17

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Is there anything we can’t blame iPhones for?

Would you like moral panic with that?

What’s wrong with this picture? Desperation for ‘likes’: Not just a teen thing

Key concepts of good science: quick refresher

• Correlation ≠ causation: consider wider context and factors

• The plural of anecdote ≠ data: beware of your confirmation bias at play

• No cherry-picking results: view the whole tree and orchard of data

Is the sky falling?

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Are the kids alright?

The effect size?0.036%Smaller than the font I am using#ironic

What does the evidence*really* say?

• UNICEF Innocenti discussion paper by Daniel Kardefelt-Winther

• TL;DR – It’s complicated, but effect size is minimal, we need to proceed with excellence in research methodology (pre-registration) and multidisciplinary approaches. S

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Impacts of excessive use?

• Definition of excessive? There is still no agreement on what constitutes excessive.

• The issue of content of the screen activities remains a significant factor to consider.

• Comorbidity and underlying vulnerabilities are significant factors which confound effects.

• The displacement hypthothesis has been debunked.

• Can you be addicted to a device? Is a heroin user addicted to the syringe?

• Do we simply use the word as short-hand for anything pleasurable/ guilty pleasures?

• What are the implications of calling it addictive, yet expecting its use in school!?

But is technology ‘addictive’?

Implications of ‘Gaming Disorder’ in ICD11?

• Further pathologisation? Distinct condition?• Huge division on its inclusion and the

evidence base for it and agenda behind inclusion.

• How does a GD dx help clients and treatment?

• How can we prevent these problems occurring in the small % that are impacted?

What is Digital Nutrition? (and why we need it)

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Is part of #DigCit Digital Intelligence = #DQ

Source: www.dqinstitute.org

If we ‘are what we eat’ then:

•How might we consider more effectively the cognitive, social, emotional impacts of technology?

•How do we develop healthy technology habits that negate the need for digital detoxes?

•How do we feed our mind the ‘best’ information and ideas?

• Imagine if apps and games came with nutritional labels.

Put most simply…

So, how do we do that?

• We educate parents (and kids) on the impacts (pos & neg) of technology.

• We raise the conversation beyond moral panic, to nuanced informed discussion.

• We role model critical thought, appraisal and questioning.

• We teach emotional regulation and soft skill (emotional intelligence) capabilities.

Think beyond ‘screentime’

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Context & content are vital considerations

Context & content are vital considerations

Let’s move beyond #screentime (alone)

• Latest screen time guidelines are still fairly arbitrary (2 hours a day)

• Ignore the complexities of screen use and contextual factors

• Methodologies excluded key research using tablet technology• Reference: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/parenting4digitalfuture/2018/04/18/advising-on-

screen-time-in-australia/

The case against ‘digital detoxing’

• Is technology toxic?• Unplugging as part of your schedule is

helpful but enforced abstinence is not!• Does your ‘detox’ include cognitive

restructuring? Or just binging on return?

Nutritional labels for apps, games & data?

#VirtualVitamins?

• Consider the need to evaluate the ingredients of online activities to credential them better.

• EXAMPLES: • Vitamin E = Empathy an

important social-emotional skill, opportunity to enhance connection through exploring stories and perspectives

• Vitamin C = Creativity digital creation is more valuable than mindless consumption.

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The online supermarket

• There are millions of apps and games available and we don’t have sophisticated reliable ways of appraising them.

• Many mental health apps make false claims and are not evidence based.

• Reviews = popularity in the iTunes or GooglePlay stores (nothing to do with rigour in pedagogy or learning).

Practical strategiesfor digital wellbeing

The role of parents

• This is a 90 minute presentation in itself!

• Setting guidelines early and consistently.

• Understanding the risks and benefits of the online activities and cognitions that accompany them.

• Appreciating online worlds as valid and meaningful for young people.

• Willingness to participate in and/or play games and understand the attraction.

Check your own digital habits

Power of role modelling Focus on the human(not the technology)

• ‘Digital mentoring’ not banning or spying is an important role parents/adults play. Need to weigh up risks with privacy.

• Importance of co-watching and co-play is key –use the activity to leapfrog into conversationsabout the content.

•Beware of using tech as a pacifier of way to escape being present to uncomfy feelings

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Keep in mind: What does a balanced LIFE look like? Ditch the notion of ‘balance’!?

Use ‘superfood’ apps, regularly!

• Use ‘Smiling Mind’/mindfulness apps

• Try Games for Change & indie games

Getting creative with limits and habits

Demand more from developers & big tech

Use trusted sources & resources

•Office of the e-Safety Commissioner - range of topics on the digital world, Aust content.

•Common Sense Media – huge number of fantastic resources, US based.

•Australian Council on Children & Media (ACCM) – ‘know before you load’, regular newsletters and reviews.

•Games for Change – ‘Play section’ of website has range of alternative games and reviews.

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Champion social-emotional learning

Champion Social-Emotional Learning #SEL

• Embedded in the curriculum as the social-personal capability (aka Emotional Intelligence – EQ).

• Emotion coaching helps regulate feelings and responses, improves ability to cope using adaptive strategies.

• The goal is not ‘happiness’ but being skillful in managing the proverbial bumps in the road (building resilience, distress tolerance and problem solving).

• Understanding the nature of adolescence, identity formation and need to learn through experiences (not theory).

• Willingness to ‘be there’ and hold the space as they learn (and sometimes fail)

Embed #digcit & #diglitin a meaningful way

Embed #digcit in a meaningful way

• Meaningful = Relevant to young people, they can apply it in their lives, right now.

• The problem of BYOD contracts, anti-bullying policies and Wellbeing strategies being separate, isolated and static.

• Need to move beyond the occasional guest speaker to address one-off topics towards having whole-school/organisationcommitment to embedding the values of excellent digital citizenry (its more than just being ‘good’).

• Include positive ways of framing goal behaviour rather than a long list of misdemeanors, that have no scaffolding or support to achieve.

• Develop a culture of ‘choose to use’ rather than ‘ban’.

Amplify the #stuvoice

PSSST:It’s not the

iPhones

From Tokenism to Citizenship

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And finally….Apply the 3M’s of Digital Nutrition

Find out more:

•Watch my TEDx talk•Book a seminar for parents•Engage your students in a ‘playshop’•Provide staff professional development•Subscribe to my monthly newsletter•Follow me across most social media channels

• Twitter for news articles• Insta for memes and LOLs

•Read articles and blogs• get tech/life balance hacks• read new research in simple language