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kaya_planta t1_j5p4tj8 wrote

Reply to comment by Lightning-G in Online interaction could be affecting the ability of young people to concentrate on everyday tasks. by unswsydney

But when the kids is dead silence reading a book, people are ok with this.

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ewadizzle t1_j5pf6q6 wrote

Reading a book and watching YouTube unboxing toy videos are not the same, most of the time. Not to say that all kids that are obsessed with technology are using technology negatively, just 100% of the ones I observe.

Reading a book is also a different action than viewing media on a device (unless it’s reading a book on a tablet). Using your mind to comprehend a story, words, use your imagination to build an image, build vocabulary, etc. is significantly more beneficial than just staring at information streams, videos, or playing non educational games to some extent.

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UltraHotNeptune t1_j5pmdcm wrote

Depends on the games (even non-educational). I'd rather have my kids playing puzzle games or video games that involve creativity than just watching videos - at least with video games there's more of a chance they'll be thinking logically and building in their minds. It's not nothing.

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CptPope t1_j5py2pz wrote

Totally agree. Passive consumption of video media does not stimulate the brain the way that active participation in any sort of game would. While there are certainly arguments to be made against video games in general (especially the tendency toward addictive behavior) at least video games provide a medium that requires active participation.

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ATownStomp t1_j5pb5q0 wrote

People would be okay with it if they were dead silent reading something constructive on the internet too. That’s just not how it goes down.

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David_bowman_starman t1_j5quc7g wrote

I mean if they started reading the complete works of Shakespeare on a tablet I’m not sure anyone would object, but obviously that’s not the issue here.

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Killerbeetle846 t1_j5q2ml0 wrote

It is not the same at all. The dopamine release of clicking additive cell phones games and scrolling through feeds is vastly different from being engrossed in reading a book.

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AbsoluteZeroUnit t1_j5qd9me wrote

Yes, because being well-read is a positive trait that signifies intelligence.

Being "good at memes" or "really good at scrolling" not so much

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handasa2016 t1_j5q3gvz wrote

the excessive number of grammatical errors makes it hard for me to tell if this was intended as a joke or further proof that reading is better for you than staring at a screen.

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