Talking to my ex the other day about my 13-year-old son and how I would be willing to let him go hang out by the beach with his friends in the summer time, she made it clear that she wouldn’t agree to that.
I pointed out that when we were 13 years old that we did things like that all of the time. That valid point was simply dismissed and I got the hair-raising “Well, it’s a different world today.”
<Sigh> Yes, it is a different world today. In general, a safer one for kids.
In our town, we have a small beach, heavily populated with adults, and more than one lifeguard on duty. And our son is not a risk-taker. And we’re talking about Long Island Sound — there is no surf on this beach!
A recent study suggests that your grades will suffer if you’re a heavy Facebook user.
Researchers from the US have found that students prone to accumulating friends, uploading photographs, chatting and “poking” others on Facebook may devote as little as one hour a week to their academic work.
“Our study shows people who spend more time on Facebook spend less time studying,” said Aryn Karpinski, a researcher in the education department at Ohio State University.
They found that 68% of students who used Facebook had a significantly lower grade-point average than those who did not use the site.
Correlation is not Causation
Is it the use of Facebook that affects people’s grades?
Or is it a lack of studying that affects people’s grades? This is most likely the problem.
If it wasn’t Facebook, it would be MySpace, or video games, or television, or even Frisbee and Hacky Sack. Sometimes instead of studying, kids want to be doing something else.
Or perhaps the correlation might suggest that less intelligent people are using Facebook more? The smart people happen to be spending more time doing their classwork, and so they don’t have as much time to spend goofing off on Facebook.
It’s Seems Almost Obvious
There are only twenty four hours in a day, and if you spend too much time doing certain things, then you’re not going to have enough time to do others.
People need to spend less time doing unproductive tasks, and spend a little more time doing productive things. For a student, that translates to making sure you’re adequately studying. If you have to study using your computer, or if you’re writing a report, shut off your distractions! All of them. Email, Facebook, IM, Twitter, etc. They will make it impossible to think straight!
Are your kids in the band or orchestra at their schools? Do they play a cello, a violin, a piano, or a trumpet… They say that learning to read and play music on an instrument is a terrific educational tool. I assume that is mostly true as long as they’re playing an instrument other than a Game Boy…
The concerns about Families and Technology extend beyond this blog. SoftwareTime is a company founded on the idea that technology affects families in many ways. Balance and responsible use of technologies is important. SoftwareTime's products will help.
