Connect with Internet Usage Statistics

Today my blog will be a little different. During my speaking engagements this week I had many requests from attendees to put the statistics I have about gaming, social media and online time on my website so I am doing that via this blog. This is all research based. Research from UCLA , Pew, Kaiser Family Foundation and other credible sources including my own years of research.

~Developmentally children’s brains are very busy up to age 8. Too much online activity interferes with healthy brain development. The School of the Peninsula in Silicon Valley does not allow children enrolled there to use technology prior to age 8. I don’t have to tell you who the parents of the kids in these schools are (hint:Tech kings and queens)

~Kids 8-18 are spending 7 1/2 hours each day on screens. Highschool kids spend 2 1/2 hours each day on their phones texting etc…This means kids are spending more time on line than attending school. Kids spend 16 minutes a day using computer for schoolwork.

~Looking at screens for the hour prior to bedtime stimulates our brains and interrupts healthy sleep patterns. At night when we are sleeping is when our brain heals from the anxiety of the day. Poor sleep equals anxiety the next day.

~Brain imaging shows that behaviors such as gaming online work just like drugs triggering an avalanche of dopamine, a neurotransmitter which is reward based, into the brain. As a result, millions globally suffer from porn, gaming and internet addiction. China, Japan and S Korea are acting to protect their children from tech addictions however, the US is slow to acknowledge this problem.

~$97 billion each year is lost in the workplace due to employees being online interacting in social media apps for 1/4 of the workday on average

~Studies show kids can learn self control from activities that are slower paced, real world activities, such as reading as opposed to overexposure to video games and television.

~Kids who live in a virtual world have trouble venturing into the real world and learning to connect and socialize with real live humans. The quality of relationships suffers with too much tech.

~Television watching typically begins at 9 months of age

~ADHD can be linked to too much tech usage

~Anxiety can be linked to too much tech usage

~64% of young people aged 13-24 actively seek out porn online weekly

~Porn sites receive more regular traffic than Netflix, Amazon and Twitter combined each month.

These are just a few statistics. I also have assessments tools at https://drloriwhatley.com/familyassessment/ and https://drloriwhatley.combusinessassessment/ which can be helpful tools to measure too much internet usage indiviually and in the workplace.

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