Fifty-Fifty: Surge In Screen Time – A Mixed Blessing?!
Today, about 3 billion people, in 130+ countries, are in lockdown around the world – and almost 90% of the student population are cut off from school. It’s, therefore, no surprise that most of the children, and their parents, are increasingly connecting to the outside world through screens they might have once regarded with some restraint or even reproach. The internet has become a critical tool for children’s access to learning, play, entertainment and social interaction. And for most parents who worried about the time their children spent on social media and online games before the pandemic, the figurative ‘jump’ into screens now must be causing even more concern or even some distress. But where’s the choice? The increased reliance on screens is surely helping to maintain a sense of some normalcy during lockdown, but finding the right balance is becoming an issue in most homes. Moreso , since most parents themselves are in ‘work from home’ (WFH) mode, and quite often, along with the older kids, they too succumb to the temptation of binge-watching Netflix.
So how much has screen time gone up? Research in the US shows that for 57% respondents screen time had increased by almost double. 31% said they spent the majority of their time streaming TV shows or movies, and 72% admitted to downloading new apps often as a way to stay entertained while in lockdown.
In India, over-the-top (OTT) platforms like Netflix, Amazon and Disney Hotstar, among others, have reportedly registered an 82 per cent spurt in daily time spent during the pandemic. Work meetings and webinars are now taking place online through portals such as Zoom and Google Hangout. Usage up 4-500%. Coordination and interaction that was usually managed through quick chats with colleagues in office is now being attempted through WhatsApp. Work related messages are up 72%. Messages up due to Covid updates, memes, jokes and more: 62%. Time spent by old parents on watching news on TV up by 33%. Old folks (and mostimes rest of the family too) watching Ramayan/Mahabharat re-runs is 2 hours a day. Video calls to friends and family are up too: 27%. Duration of calls has also climbed by 56%, no less, as both called party and calling party have more time on hand. To all this add 3 to 4 hours a day of classes on Moodle or Google Classroom for the kids. And you can see the exponential surge in screen-time that the new ‘normal’ has forced upon us. Average cumulative screen time today for most middle class folks is estimated to exceed maybe 8 hours a day!
But is all this screen-time robbing families of togetherness, of quality time, despite being cloistered in homes 24*7? A lawyer friend tells me divorces are up nearly 100% … simmering differences of the past have gotten blown-up into full disputes because of the round-the-clock proximity, leading to calls to divorce lawyers to start readying papers. Whew! We just finished doing a campaign for the Punjab Police on domestic violence. Calls to the 112 helpline are up 250%, that too when no alcohol was being retailed in the first six weeks of the lockdown. Calls to psychologists, psychiatrists and mental health help-lines have zoomed in the last 3 months. But are any of these related to the screen-time surge? Surprisingly, yes.
Families are in the same physical space but in different personal digital realms most day. There is minimal common ‘family time’ where all digital devices are into forced downtime.
There is very little co-view or co-engage screen time. Everyone is busy in their own way. Unfortunately, even meal times and bedrooms are not tech-free as intrusions by devices continue. Viewing choices of different family members vary – though the Ramayan/Mahabharat re-runs on Doordarshan have actually brought full families together at times to talk and laugh, as mentioned earlier.
Families have started suffering from ‘psychology of technology’ problems … FOMO and anxiety dominate amongst majority of smartphone users who feel uncomfortable if they are not in direct contact with their phones – and their many electronic connections – 24/7/365, not even muting/switching off mobile phones in the night.
High incidence of prolonged screen time has started leading to entire families suffering from ‘Digital Vision Syndrome’, whose symptoms include dry eyes, headaches and blurred vision.
A lot of the younger family members are actually sleeping lesser during the lockdown. Not only are they seeing a lot more content, but they are not ‘switching off’ even at bedtime. The problem is that the blue wavelength light from LED-based devices (phones, tablets, computers) increases the release of cortisol in the brain, which makes us more alert, and inhibits the production of melatonin, which is needed to fall asleep. It may not surprise many to know that the average college student loses 46 minutes of sleep each night due to answering phone calls or checking for messages.
There is no denying that if broadband, limitless fast internet, smartphones, web-conferencing services, messaging apps and all the rest of the technology at our fingertips had not been around, much of school classes and WFH, not to mention all our home entertainment, would have come to a screeching stand-still, making the lock-downs not only infinitely more difficult to endure but an even more severe economic disaster.
Despite the seeming boon of technology in our lives, how do we convert this ‘me time’ of individual family members to a ‘we time’? Methinks the most important re-definition in our busy lives, made even busier by technology crutches, is to re-define the concept of ‘boredom’. The all pervasive, and compelling, urge to ‘fill time’ or to ‘kill time’ whenever we see gaps in our day. There is need to re-define and re-calibrate ‘free time’. Reassess the meaning of leisure. And align all these to the family unit as a whole. A family that doesn’t just live together but eats together, laughs together, maybe sings together. Then and only then will technology both bewitch and enrich our lives, as it ought to.
