Experts say: This will be the first batch of children eliminated from the successful race in the 'AI era'

Many children today suffer from this condition.

"TikTok Brains" - Brains controlled by short videos

Last year, when Chow Tu, CEO of TikTok, attended a hearing of the US House Energy and Commerce Committee, he answered questions about " protecting people's data privacy." America and the safety of children".

During the hearing, Chau Thu Tu was asked: "Does your child use Tiktok?". His answer was: "No" . Because both of his children are under 13 years old and children under 13 years old are not allowed to use Tiktok in Singapore.

The fact that the Tiktok CEO's children don't watch Tiktok is enough to show that "short videos" are not as interesting as they seem. Studies have shown that watching short videos for a long time will have a negative impact on children's brain development , memory, cognition, concentration, etc. will be affected. ‍ ‍ ‍ ‍ ‍ ‍ ‍ ‍

In an era where AI technology is rapidly developing, children addicted to watching short videos are the first to be eliminated from the "race" of success.

In an era where AI technology is rapidly developing, children addicted to watching short videos are the first to be eliminated from the "race" of success. (Illustration)

Over the past few years, parents have been concerned that their children are addicted to mobile games. The "2023 Progress Report on the Protection of Minors in China's Game Industry" shows: "The consumption and consumption of games for minors has decreased further. At the same time , the problem of teenagers playing games excessively has been effectively improved . " The bad news is that most of their free time when not playing games is spent watching short videos.

The 5th national survey report on "underage Internet use" shows that short videos are quickly penetrating adolescents : Percentage of underage netizens who regularly watch videos short will increase from 40.5% in 2018 to 54.1% in 2022; 32.9% of underage netizens recorded and posted short videos on Douyin, Kuaishou, WeChat and other software in the past year;

From the games of years ago to the short videos of today, raising a child is like competing with the electronic products available to parents, fighting to the death for attention. small.

Parents who like to watch short videos certainly understand: Once you start watching, you can't stop, the more you watch the content, the more interesting it becomes. The screen flashes, rapidly and continuously fires information providing intense auditory and visual stimulation, causing the brain to release large amounts of dopamine. As long as you move your finger, the system can always push new content to stimulate the brain.

In general, when doing activities that require concentration for long periods of time, such as reading and doing Math, we need to use directed attention. This depends on the prefrontal cortex, the command and control center of the brain. But the prefrontal cortex doesn't fully develop until about age 25.

In other words, short videos that are simple, easy to understand and interesting will "bombard" the brain for a long time, enough to make a child lose control and become addicted , they have no concept of time. chief.

Perhaps at first the child only needs to browse for about ten minutes to be satisfied, but later it may take half an hour or a whole hour to feel happy. However, if the brain continually processes "short, flat, and fast" content , its ability to process slower-paced content will be altered or compromised.

In 2011, Lillard, Professor of Psychology at the University of Virginia, conducted a study in which 60 children aged 4-5 years were divided into three groups. One group watched a nine-minute fast-paced animated film and the other group watched a nine-minute science and education program, with another group drawing with crayons.

Immediately afterward, three groups of children were tested on their abilities, including attention, memory and problem solving. For example, doing toe tapping movements, memorizing a sequence of numbers backwards, etc. As a result, children who watch fast-paced cartoons fall behind.

For children, between the ages of 0 and 6, the brain develops the fastest and has the highest plasticity, the brain has the strongest ability to absorb all types of information brought by the surrounding environment and life experiences. Abilities such as language, motor coordination, mathematical knowledge, social habits and emotional management that are lost during this period will take increasingly longer to acquire later.

As the time spent watching short videos becomes longer and longer, the negative impact on children's brains will become greater and greater and they will gradually become "TikTok Brains" (brains controlled by short videos).

Why don't other people's children like to watch short videos?

Short video blogger Jersey Island Master once shared her daily life with her foreign husband who graduated from Cambridge University and their three children. In sharing, there are often scenes that make many parents jealous: 3 children sitting next to each other, not playing on the phone or watching TV but all focusing on reading books.

If you watch the video carefully, you will see that next to the child reading a book, there is always a father who is also seriously reading a book. Not only that, the couple also takes their children to the library near their home every week, and the family even drags suitcases to rent books.

"Research report on adolescents' use and learning of short videos" by the China Youth Research Center shows that the relationship between parents and children has a certain impact on video use behavior children's short. Children with heavy academic burdens and poor parent-child relationships used short videos significantly longer and more frequently than children with light academic burdens and good parent-child relationships .

For families living in the digital age, moving their entire lives "offline" is impractical. Not every child who watches short videos will become a "Tiktok brain" , many children learn and develop their interests through short videos.

Since interacting with digital content is inevitable, what parents can do is foster healthy online habits in their children early.

One expert proposed a possible plan: The whole family should set rules together and stick to them, with violators being punished.

The family sits down to discuss rules about cell phone use as well as short video viewing times. The whole family monitors each other, father monitors child, child monitors mother, mother monitors father, forming a closed circle. After one cycle, the whole family can sit together to give their opinions and adjust and amend existing regulations. Over time, through regular communication and exchange between parents and children, we will find the best solution for our family.

Experts recommend that teens not use TikTok for more than 60 minutes at a time , a recommendation made by experts from Boston Children's Hospital's Digital Health Lab after conducting research extensive.

Article from an account specializing in sharing education issues in China .