Parents who think they have cut the computer time of their teens because they spend less time in front of the computer are wrong if those kids spend the time texting. Cell phones with screens that allow you to type words and send them to a recipient or that allow you to view your emails or access the Internet are all computers.
They have the same capabilities and have screen emitting harmful artificial light and chemicals that create the same damage as if one was seated in front of a computer.
They may be in fact more harmful because the screens are so small forcing the child to squint and the keys are so small which means more energy is required to execute the texting task.
What you avoid by not placing the phone near the head you still get into the system through the hand, eyes and skin
Parents who fail to talk to their kids about texting and its dangers and control the time spent texting may be in for unpleasant health issues. Just as with a conventional computer, no one knows what the lower level of exposure is.
Some kids spend quite a lot of time in front of the computer and texting. This combination of heavy computer and texting means the body and especially the brain and heart, which are involved in word formation, and messaging may not be getting enough down time. The limited body exercise as well as hunched position required in bending the body and upper torso when texting is another cause for health concerns.
This exposure and its depletion effect on the biochemical such as neurotransmitters like -Gamma Amino Butyric Acid -(GABA) that calm us down may be responsible for the increased inability to relax and anxiety seen in children today. There is an increased diagnosis with bipolar and ADHD as well as depression and all kinds of neurological issues normally associated with brain messaging biochemicals depletion resulting from stress. Obviously today’s children are being exposed to higher levels of stress especially from exposure to video display terminals (VDTs) or screens than previous generations.
Many of them started using the computer before they were 5 years old and have been exposed to biochemical depleting artificial light and its related lifeless chemical and light stress.
Now instead of muscle exercising activities like walking without stress, they walk and text at the same time reducing the benefits of the walk.
Teenagers have become so addicted to texting that according to a national survey from CTIA and Harris Interactive, 47% of them can actually text with their eyes closed.
More disturbingly, the survey says that 57% of teens consider the cell phone the key to their social life. What happened to face-to-face interaction? These kids are unaware of what is lost when face-to-face contact is missing – the telling inaudible conversation of body language and eyes. A lot of feelings and emotions can be faked on the phone. There could also be vocal impersonations. These are the many dangers these kids are exposed to by over dependence on the cell phone for social interaction. The communication is incomplete and can be a recipe for wrong conclusion as to the intentions of the person on the other side. Texting poses even more danger than cell phone conversations. The whole texted conversation may be totally fake or a big lie.
Further, this lack of interpersonal social life involved in texting may make actual interpersonal relationships difficult and may lead to fear of real conversations and relationships if all these kids ever do is text without feeling a need to meet face to face. This means there could be a lot of heartbreaks for our teens in the future.
I hope I have made you wake up from your comfortable slumber to see things cannot continue the way we have been allowing them to slide if the future is to be bright for us all. The children are our future. If we allow them to mess themselves up, we mess up our future.
For more statistics on teenage texting please go to http://www.marketingcharts.com/interactive/cell-phones-key-to-teens-social-lives-47-can-text-with-eyes-closed-6126/.
If you will like to know more about computer use related health and social issues please get hold of my books available at amazon.com in print and kindle versions. Also visit my websites www.computeragehealthrisk.com and www.foodsthathealdaily.com. Thank you for reading and for your comments. Watch out for part II of this article and read it.
Reference for statistical data: http://www.marketingcharts.com/interactive/cell-phones-key-to-teens-social-lives-47-can-text-with-eyes-closed-6126/