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On Sunday, The New York Times published an article on the risks of using the devices in teens during quarantine – and as you might expect, they went straight to the touchstones of guilty parents. There are some wacky photos of a family ruined by gambling, and the quote “I failed you as a father” comes in the second sentence. There are also curious comparisons to drug addiction (“There will be an epic washout period” after quarantine, warns an addiction expert) and vague claims about the impressionable nature of young brains.
Before you rush to cut the Playstation Plus subscription from junior, it’s worth putting things in perspective. We are in the midst of a global crisis and the past ten months have been difficult for everyone. We’ve seen historic leaps in depression and substance abuse, even in adults, and healthy breakouts are increasingly difficult to find. Digital entertainment has brought many of us through the past year in one piece. For many children, this is one of the few places to lead a semi-normal social life, which is why many experts have emphasized a balanced approach rather than an outright break. Digital interaction is an incredibly precious thing, and dismissing it because of the abstract panic of the screen is irresponsible.
The article briefly touches on socializing online, but keeps it for some sort of afterthought irony at the end. After taking his son off Xbox games for a few weeks, a parent notes, “I feel bad when I try to restrict him. This is his only socialization. For many kids, that’s the bottom line: Online spaces like Fortnite are the only way to hang out with their friends. There is real socialization here, and as long as face-to-face contact is a danger to public health, these are the only places it can happen. Spending time with other kids is important for kids, so cutting screen time is active isolation, causing much more tangible damage than screen time. The only reason to dismiss it is the lingering idea that online socialization doesn’t matter.
What we see has less to do with screen time and more to do with age-old issues in the social life of adolescents. There are a lot of healthy and social things you can do online, just like there are unhealthy and isolating things you can do offline. Whether this is happening on a screen is just not the main issue. It’s okay to worry about unhealthy spaces online, whether it’s the eating disorder culture on Instagram or the incel sewers on Reddit – but the problem with these spaces is that they’re unhealthy. , not that they’re online. Presenting the Internet as the problem only confuses and encourages parents to cut back on one of their children’s few healthy social opportunities.
On some level, I understand the anxiety here. Parents can also be depressed and anxious! There’s a ton of stress in the world right now, and watching your kid play Xbox through it all can make you feel like you’re watching Ed Westwick playing the holocube in. Children of men. I’m sure it’s insane to watch your son play Fortnite all day, but if you’re worried about losing touch, maybe it’s time to grab a controller and hang out in their world.
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