14 DAY TRIAL // The implications of the latest advances in technology have often been discussed, with pros and cons weighed in the balance, but with seemingly no convenient conclusion or solution on sight. Neuroscientists and psychologists have again rallied to speak against the dangers of leaving children under seven in front of the computer screen, much to the disadvantage of real human contact.
Baroness Greenfield, Oxford University neuroscientist and director of the Royal Institution, believes increased exposure to a computer screen, with children surfing social websites and playing online games, can effectively rewire the brain with lifelong consequences. Over recent years, teachers worldwide have pointed out that the attention span of children in class or when engaging in conversation with other kids is dramatically decreasing. The cause for that is believed to be found in the amount of time they spend on the Internet.
“We know how small babies need constant reassurance that they exist. My fear is that these technologies are infantilizing the brain into the state of small children who are attracted by buzzing noises and bright lights, who have a small attention span and who live for the moment.” Greenfield tells the Mail. At the same time, she points out that technology is also responsible for the generation of small attention spans, as she calls it, which is growing up today.
“I often wonder whether real conversation in real time may eventually give way to these sanitized and easier screen dialogues, in much the same way as killing, skinning and butchering an animal to eat has been replaced by the convenience of packages of meat on the supermarket shelf.” she shares. The solution to this is, of course, not banning computers from our lives, since that would be completely impossible at this point. However, Greenfield underlines, before children under 7 learn to adhere to a social network, they must be introduced to genuine human contact with kids their own age.