Heads up, lean forward, engage!

In a recent ABC Radio National programme called, “Conversations”, on 16/2/2109, an owner of a software company and social entrepreneur, David Gillespie, made the observation that lifetime addictions start during the adolescent phase.

He informed the audience of a part of the brain, called GABA, which is defined as “a chemical messenger” that is widely distributed in the brain. GABA's natural function is to reduce the activity of the neurons to which it binds. Some researchers believe that one of the purposes that GABA serves is to control the fear or anxiety experienced when neurons are overexcited.

GABA allows us to enter puberty without succumbing to addictive behaviours. It dials down dopamine and allows the brain to suppress addiction in the prefrontal cortex. Decision making is good when GABA is working, but because it is a general purpose system, it does not account for “the pleasure principle” of online participation, and so, can be overridden.

Gillespie reports these interesting research findings relevant to device addiction:

1. Every person has stimulators of addictive behaviours. It is heartening though to see that substance abuse figures have fallen by half in a decade. Gillespie attributes this to education.
2. What about mental health issues? Addiction flows through to anxiety and depression. Why aren’t they halving in the same decade? Gillespie argues that there is a powerful correlation between the rise of these mental health issues in young people and the arrival of tablets and smart phones. The software is designed to be addictive. Companies are competing to be part of one of the five apps they would like you to use every day.
3. What are the tricks these companies use keep you consuming online? It is called the “near miss phenomenon”. It has the same effect as three apples in a row on a poker machine. Close but not close enough! This trick keeps the user involved.
4. Oxytocin is the chemical which produces the good feelings you get when you are accepted or liked. It rewards socialisation for girls. It helps a teen girl think, “You’re a good person, you are popular”. It is called “approval porn”. Likes and Dislikes on Facebook etc. are indicators of social approval and can produce this good feeling in young girls. This can explain why they may constantly check their social media updates.
5. Men seem to be less sensitive to this Oxytocin effect. Boys respond in online games to “danger porn” which involves the potential for survival, and an emotional roller-coaster ride. How are rewards in these games constructed? They are carefully manipulated to make the player feel the satisfaction (or ‘high’) of completing a mission and being part of a successful team. Gillespie cites this scenario: “Try telling a boy to stop in the middle of a mission. He would feel that he is letting others down”.
6. How much time spent on devices such as tablets and smart phones is used for anything other than “entertainment”? They are loaded up with free software. This gives children a reason be on them. “I need it to do homework”. What percentage of tablet/phone use is actually for educational purposes is problematic.

There are many complexities to parenting these days. Gillespie argues that, in 2019, it is ‘child-centred parenting’. He argues that parents of Gen Z are incapable of saying ‘no’. Parents want peace! However, while technology has its place, it is not in the hands of a teenager at midnight.

He recommends the following guidelines for use of technology by young people:

• devices at home are placed in a central location
• No internet-connected phone
• No financial capability for online purchases
• No social media in the junior forms
• Plan alternative activities and insist on them.
• When discussing with your child about the use of the internet, remember the person you are talking to has impaired impulse control. Don’t react, back off and talk again calmly the next day.
• Homework should ideally be done in a public thoroughfare.
• Ban tablets and smart phones during holidays. Encourage renewal and breaking reliance on technology.

So, bio-chemistry now tells us that an obsession with social media and gaming is a form of addiction. If you disabled the Like/Dislike function, fewer people would use it. What does that tell us? We may be unleashing a tidal wave…a gateway of addiction to other things. Unless judicious use is encouraged, we may leave our children with an impaired breaking system in the long term. The good news, according to Gillespie, is that saying ‘No’ gets easier and there is life on the other side of withdrawal. We can teach our kids to be present in the moment; heads up, leaning forward and engaged with life.

I hope this article provokes discussion with your children at home and that we as a community continue to believe that parents’ willingness to set limits has long-term benefits for the young. I welcome your feedback.

References

1. org/
2. https://www.abc.net.au/radio/programs/conversations/david-gillespie-2019/10986686

Paul Cullen

paul.cullen@cg.catholic.edu.au