Kids are spending a lot of time attached to their smartphones and screens. Mental health professionals’ research findings indicate a disturbing impact on health, relationships and general well-being. Some view it as technology addiction or Internet addiction. Recently, technology designers and corporate activists have argued for a less addictive design of phones and social networks; and the French government has banned cell phones from schools to prevent screen addiction.
I am excited to host, on October 19, a workshop on Kids’ Technology Over-Use. The workshop will take place under the auspices of the Institute for Privacy Protection at the Seton University School of Law. It will convene experts in the areas of technology design, corporate activism, mental health, education, public advocacy and law to address kids’ excessive use of technology and technology addiction. The goal of the Workshop is to spark a dialogue between these experts and to examine potential social and legal courses of action on this pressing matter.
The workshop will complement the Institute for Privacy Protection’s School Outreach Program, which educates parents and kids at the age in which they receive their first cell phone, on issues related to privacy and maintaining a healthy online-offline balance. As I delivered talks to parents through the Outreach Program, I realized that parents feel extremely isolated in often-failing home battles. My hope is that this workshop will help us frame the problem and devise practical solutions.
You can find the agenda here. Presenters include: Nir Eyal, Kaiwei Tang, Max Stossel, Sister Patricia Daly, Dr. Michael Rich, Dr. Douglas Gentile, Dr. Kimberly Young, Andrew Przybylski, Gerard Pommier, Gaia Bernstein, Amina Fazlullah, Dr. Alexandra Samuel, and Lawrence Ampofo