Survey: Kiwi Parents Concerned About Kids' Tech Use

eading health insurer nib New Zealand (nib), has released further findings from its fourth annual State of the Nation Parenting Survey.

The survey, which nib conducts annually with global research company, One Picture, canvassed the views of 1,226 parents, step-parents and guardians of children under 18, nationally.

This year the survey shows technology use continues to nag at parents, with the real impacts on health and wellbeing increasingly evident.

Technology use remains the number one worry for 70% of parents, with 24% ‘extremely concerned’. The amount of time kids’ spend online worried 75% of parents; inappropriate content (74%), online bullies and predators (66%) and the negative impact on health and wellbeing (47%) were also issues.

Technology use and the impact of screen time is the number one concern for 70% of parents surveyed - down from 87% in 2020, and 89% in 2019
Almost half (47%) said negative impact on health and wellbeing is a particular worry
Yet, 50% said they spent too much time on their own devices, and 66% admit to relying on screens as a bargaining chip and to distract children

Read the full article on nib website.

Meta and YouTube found liable in landmark social media addiction trial

A Los Angeles jury has handed down an unprecedented win for a young woman who sued Meta and YouTube over her childhood addiction to social media. Jurors found that Meta, which owns Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp, and Google, owner of YouTube, intentionally built addictive social media platforms that harmed the 20-year old's mental health.

News

Australians must prove they are over 18 to access porn under new laws

Australians must prove they are over 18 before they can access adult content such as porn, R-rated video games and sexually explicit AI chatbots under new laws. The changes will protect children from harmful content, with platforms fined for breaches, Australia's online safety regulator said.

Science

Impact of internet addiction on mental health: an integrative therapy is needed

In the past few years internet addiction (IA) and internet gaming disorder (IGD) have become very frequent, leading to many personality and psychiatric disorders including low self-esteem, impulsivity, poor sleep quality, mood disorder, and suicide. IA has been included in Appendix III of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders (DSM-5) as IGD. In addition, IA leads to many neuroanatomical and neurochemical alterations including cortical thinning of various components of the brain and altered dopaminergic reward circuitry.

Screen Sense