Limiting Excessive Screen time in Students D. A. Santor, PhD University of Ottawa MyHealth Interactive Magazine

53% of American children own a cell phone by their seventh birthday. D. A. Santor, PhD University of Ottawa Barrhaven Psychological Services

Overview 1. Uptake and usage 2. Theory of behavior change 3. Uptake and usage 4. What students do on their phones and screens 5. Parent and school attitudes 6. Impact 7. How much is too much 8. Is this an addiction? 9. How to unplug

Theory of Change D. A. Santor, PhD University of Ottawa Barrhaven Psychological Services

Theory of Planned Behaviour Needs & Attitudes Norms & Expectations Actual & Perceived Control Intent Behaviour

Theory of Planned Behaviour

(1) Online Magazine (2) Phone Apps Articles, Info sheets, How-to Sheets, Q&As Pop-Quizzes, Screening Tools Self-Management Strategies Online Wellness Surveys Weekly-up dates Helplines phone directory Pop-Quizzes, Screening Tools Tips, What-to-do-when, Q&As (3) Workshops Bullying, Dealing with Negative Thoughts, etc.

Uptake and Usage D. A. Santor, PhD University of Ottawa Barrhaven Psychological Services

Uptake of cellphones and devices

Screen time - usage Cell-phone texting has become the preferred channel of basic communication between teens and their friends and cell calling is a close second. Some 75% of year- olds now own cell phones, up from

Screen time - usage Boys typically send and receive 30 texts a day; girls typically send and receive 80 messages per day. Older girls who text are the most active, with year- old girls typically sending 100 or more messages a day, or more than 3,000 texts a month. One-fifth of teen texters (22%) send and receive just 1-10 texts a day, or a month.

Behaviour

What students do on phones and screens D. A. Santor, PhD University of Ottawa Barrhaven Psychological Services

Behaviour 83% use their phones to take pictures. 64% share pictures with others. 60% play music on their phones. 46% play games on their phones. 32% exchange videos on their phones.

Risk Behaviour 4% of teens say they have sent a sexually suggestive nude or nearly nude image of themselves to someone via text message. 15% of teens say they have received a sexually suggestive nude or nearly nude image of someone they know by text.

Netflix 43% of Netflix users are young adults, or teenagers. 68 percent of all college students admit to having used Netflix to binge-watch a television show at some point. The survey defined binge-watching as viewing a minimum of three or more episodes at once, but it could entail watching entire seasons at a time. Netflix constitutes one of the most popular “preferred strategies” adopted by students to deal with stress (26%).

Parental & School Attitudes D. A. Santor, PhD University of Ottawa Barrhaven Psychological Services

Parental Behaviour 64% of parents look at the contents of their child’s cell phone and 62% of parents have taken away their child’s phone as punishment. 46% of parents limit the number of minutes their children may talk and 52% limit the times of day they may use the phone.

Parental Behaviour

Behaviour 62% of all students say they can have their phone in school, just not in class. 24% of teens attend schools that ban all cell phones from school grounds. Still, 65% of cell-owning teens at schools that completely ban phones bring their phones to school every day. 58% of cell-owning teens at schools that ban phones have sent a text message during class. 43% of all teens who take their phones to school say they text in class at least once a day or more. 64% of teens with cell phones have texted in class; 25% have made or received a call during class time.

Impact D. A. Santor, PhD University of Ottawa Barrhaven Psychological Services

Risk Behaviour One in three (34%) texting teens ages say they have texted while driving. Half (52%) of cell-owning teens ages say they have talked on a cell phone while driving. 48% of all teens ages say they have been in a car when the driver was texting. 40% say they have been in a car when the driver used a cell phone in a way that put themselves or others in danger.

“I think texting is fine… and I wear sunglasses so the cops don’t see [my eyes looking down].” I text “all the time,” and that “everybody texts while they drive (…) like when I’m driving by myself I’ll call people or text them ‘cause I get bored.” “I’m fine with it, just not with my mom and dad in the car. Like when I’m with my brother, I do it.”

Impact on health

How much is too much? D. A. Santor, PhD University of Ottawa Barrhaven Psychological Services

Canadian Pediatric Guideline: No screen time under the age of 2 Not more than 10 hours a week (for entertainment)

Is this an Addiction D. A. Santor, PhD University of Ottawa Barrhaven Psychological Services

Is it an addiction The proposed internet addiction diagnostic criteria consisted of symptom criterion (seven clinical symptoms of IAD), clinically significant impairment criterion (functional and psychosocial impairments), course criterion (duration of addiction lasting at least 3 months, with at least 6 hours of non-essential internet usage per day) and exclusion criterion (exclusion of dependency attributed to psychotic disorders). Symptoms preoccupation withdrawal tolerance, lack of control, continued excessive use despite knowledge of negative effects loss of interests excluding internet, use of the internet to escape or relieve a dysphoric mood

Changing Behaviour D. A. Santor, PhD University of Ottawa Barrhaven Psychological Services

Theory of Planned Behaviour Needs & Attitudes Norms & Expectations Actual & Perceived Control Intent Behaviour

Principals of behaviour change

How to set limits in the classroom how to foster responsible screen time use how to modify the behaviour of a 15-year old who curtain his or her screen time use how to assist a student who is gaming until 3am, is missing morning classes and is now underperforming how to support students who become addicted to social media sites just to be a part of a social group at school how start imposing limits on the amount of screen time at home and in school how to talk to parents and students about excessive screen use how to talk about dealing with online bullying so that students know they will not lose their cell phone privileges. what local agencies or professionals do you recommend that students and parents consult regarding excessive screen time use

(1) Online Magazine (2) Phone Apps Articles, Info sheets, How-to Sheets, Q&As Pop-Quizzes, Screening Tools Self-Management Strategies Online Wellness Surveys Weekly-up dates Helplines phone directory Pop-Quizzes, Screening Tools Tips, What-to-do-when, Q&As (3) Workshops Bullying, Dealing with Negative Thoughts, etc.

55-Minute Workshops on Mental Health Teaches about signs of symptoms of mental health difficulties, when to get help, and the help is effective. Teaches students how to intervene when they or others are being treated badly. Teaches students about facts and myths about dieting and how to deal with negative thoughts about food. Teaches 14 skills for academic success and how to deal with threats to academic success Teaches students to deal with negative thoughts and setbacks, asking for help, and relaxation skills.