Reference News Network, December 29 report: According to the American "Atlantic" monthly website, on December 23, a friend of a journalist just crossed the entire United States to visit his family and sent me a text message, looking worried. He said, "They are immersed in their phones most of the time, appearing very detached." He was not referring to children, but to their grandparents.
In recent years, there have been many similar stories - adult children worry that their parents, as they grow older, become addicted to screens. Such stories are prevalent online. Screen time panic usually portrays children as lacking autonomy and entirely under the control of "evil" tech companies, with adults needing to intervene to resist these companies' influence. However, this issue also exists at the other end of the age spectrum: not a screen-dependent childhood, but a screen-dependent retirement life.
Over the past year, the journalist has received many stories shared by people. One wrote: "I've been begging my mom to put down her phone, and every time I visit her, she's aimlessly scrolling through her phone. I swear her attention span is zero." Others described an elderly person "playing Candy Crush for hours on end, while the grandchildren compete to sit on her lap and play with her because that's 'spending time together'."
Some people described sensory attacks that seemed to be everywhere. One wrote: "When I visit my family, there are two televisions playing in different parts of the house, and everyone is scrolling on tablets or phones." Many comments were quite direct: "I had to tell my baby boomer parents not to hold a tablet and scroll endlessly in front of our three-year-old child."
Many people sent me private messages expressing genuine concerns. Some were worried about their parents being scammed. A man named Connor said: "My concern about my father going online is greater than my concern about my 11-year-old child going online. Every time I go home, I have to take my dad's phone and cancel the numerous fraudulent virus scanning subscription apps he downloaded, tricked by some wording or advertisement. As a precaution, we had to disable his ability to download apps from the app store."
These stories are not hearsay: according to various studies, the elderly really spend more time online, and this trend has been ongoing for several years.
In 2019, the Pew Research Center found that people aged 60 and above "now spend over half of their leisure time (4 hours and 16 minutes) in front of a screen," with many watching online videos.
A recent survey of Americans over 50 showed: "Respondents spent an average of 22 hours per week in front of some type of screen." A survey of 2,000 adults aged 59 to 77 found that 40% of respondents felt "anxious or uncomfortable" when unable to use their electronic devices. (Translated by Ji Qinwei)
Original: toutiao.com/article/7589099186373542442/
Statement: This article represents the views of the author."