Since the beginning of 2023, three Quebec studies (including that of the CHU Sainte-Justine research center) have demonstrated the negative effects of social media on young people: poor self-esteem, anxiety, depression and even suicide…
Mr. Drainville, I’m telling you more, as if that weren’t enough.
It’s 8 am, I go to class to get settled. Several students have already arrived, but there is silence. They are all glued to their cameras and do not even look up to greet me. They don’t talk to each other: they look at their screen. It’s magical how calm and silent they are at this moment… No exchange, only silence. Each time, I am surprised that people shouted loud and clear that young people should go back to school to socialize during the pandemic. I must say that this bit escapes me because, almost every morning, it starts again… It’s a victim, socialization, of this supposed communication tool. And if the students are talking to each other, the subject is the content, the video they are watching.
Another victim: the tongue. The content listened to is in English. In itself, this is not bad. But when you no longer read French and the activity of the evening is to consult your phone, you should not be surprised that the vocabulary of adolescents decreases and to see “exercise » commonly in copies. The syntax also tastes like it. Turns of phrase have a penchant for English… Reading between the lines, inferences, also becomes a problem when you don’t know how to read due to lack of practice.
Have you ever tried to run a marathon without training? Anxiety may well peak… in the face of the ordeal! We also see a lot of intervention plans appearing with tools like the electronic dictionary or Lexibar which predict words, like when you use your phone… Coincidence or consequence? I have to help high school students look up the dictionary. Sad situation! So, we allow them to consult Usito on their phone. Why not ? It’s much faster, less demanding and they all have a phone, even those who couldn’t afford one. It is essential, see!
This preamble on the necessity of the portable enables me to introduce a third victim: autonomy, an essential quality of adult life. Parents know where their child is and can reach them at any time. Joy ! Even during school hours, parents text. I even answered a parent who called during class. Charming as attention to call at this hour to speak to his son! There is no limit to this omnipresence, and communication is done at any time: you can call mum or dad to be reassured if things are not going well, to warn him of a bad grade before it does not appear online or to be consoled for this note.
Everywhere, everywhere, all the time! It is reassuring to know where our child is and to be able to contact him at all times, but when will he learn to manage? I remind you that he is at school, not in the bush or the jungle. He has to leave school to come home? I think, on the whole, young people should get there. Can something bad happen? I can reassure you, we have survived, and this, for several generations… I suggest that you all have dinner together, without your phones, and talk about the course of your days: you will be informed and develop socialization, speaking turns, patience, respect, empathy, and so on…
I stop here, because I could write lines and lines. The situation is worrying, especially since the telephones are provided by us adults. Who are we serving and providing peace of mind? And the worst is yet to come: the AI will think for them…