FAIRFIELD, Vt. (WCAX) – In the digital age, many find themselves staring at screens most of the day, with parents and teachers in attention battles with their kids.
Families and educators in Fairfield heard about the ways to tackle the downsides of social media, the internet, and gaming.
Psychiatrist Dr. Harris Strokoff knows the impacts of the internet, social media, and gaming well.
“I feel like I have, in many ways, had a first-hand seat to watch how it has impacted specifically child development and adult development,” said Dr. Strokoff.
At Fairfield Elementary School Wednesday evening, Strokoff explained to parents and teachers what he’s seen as he treats children and young adults in the digital age, a major issue being internet and gaming addiction.
“You see the same things that you see when people are addicted to drugs and alcohol,” said Dr. Strokoff.
Strokoff says common symptoms of gaming and internet addiction are making up excuses, not being able to stop even when you want to, and withdrawal.
“Silicon Valley has a lot of really expensive real estate. People can afford that real estate because they’ve been developing these games to be addictive,” said Dr. Strokoff.
Strokoff says even without an addiction, spending a lot of time on the internet and social media comes with a slew of other issues, causing a rise of anxiety and depression in youth. Those issues oftentimes bleed into a student’s performance at school, which is why Fairfield Elementary School Principal Kelsey Malboeuf wanted to attend Strokoff’s talk.
“I’m seeing a lot of mental health crises in my youth here, and so I wanted to get the knowledge out to people in the greater community, just to make sure we’re all supporting our students as best as we can,” said Malboeuf.
Fairfield Elementary School and Maple Run have a no-phones policy in hopes of helping combat the issue.
“We know that a huge distractable in school is the cell phone, so we are allowing them to use it when appropriate, but we wanted to make sure we’re giving enough knowledge to the kids and the parents,” said Malboeuf.
But Strokoff says the situation isn’t hopeless. “I want to be positive here, I do think things are shifting in the right direction,” he said.
He cites Vermont’s introduction of bill H.712, which would require tech companies to have the safety of young people in mind when developing products, and even just people showing up to the discussion, as ways the negative effects of the digital age are starting to reduce.