– It became boring to go to the toilet. Nicolay Martell Wold (19) laughs. He is one of 50 students at Fyrstikkalleen high school in Oslo who have tested different ways to reduce screen time. For 24 hours, he and fellow student Mads Ertvaag (19) went without a mobile phone. – It was a bit nice to get the mobile back after 24 hours, but it was also surprisingly nice to be without it. I felt a little freer, says Ertvaag. Both third-graders say they want to be more mobile-free. They are not alone in that. 3 out of 10 young people want to log out more often, according to the Norwegian Media Authority’s annual survey Children and media. The fact that more young people want to log out is the starting point for the Norwegian Media Authority, together with Fyrstikkalleen upper secondary school, to come up with 10 tips to cut down on mobile phone use. Before Easter, the pupils were asked to carry out their own tips. 24 HOURS: Mads Ertvaag (tv) and Nicolay Martell Wold did well without a mobile phone for a day. They think they would have managed even longer without social media, but are unsure how long they would manage without contact with friends, family and the boss at work – for which they also need their mobile phone. Photo: Torstein Bøe / news But even before they started the experiment, several of the young people say that they have tried to take action to cut down on screen time on their own initiative. – TikTok, for example, I uninstalled a long time ago. Because I was addicted, basically, says Wold. He says that he used TikTok on the subway, in bed, with friends and that he often fell out of conversations with others. – I feel more present now, says Wold. The students agreed to test these 10 pieces of advice 1 Leave your mobile phone at home when you go out for a trip 2 Delete the time thieves (the apps that steal a lot of time) 3 Don’t use your mobile phone in the bedroom 4 Find a new hobby 5 Max two hours of screen time a day 6 No notifications (almost) 7 Put the phone in a fixed place at home 8 24 hours without a phone 9 Just sharpen up! 10 Testing the Hold app (which rewards you when you don’t touch your phone) More people than before dream of a digital detox Professor Trine Syvertsen leads a research project on digital disconnection at the University of Oslo (UiO). The project will run until 2024, but the researchers have already uncovered several clear trends. – We have a clear finding that shows that many people think they are online and mobile too much, and that people use different methods to take breaks, she says. Photo: Torstein Georg Bøe / news There are also more people than five years ago who think they are online and mobile too much, the study shows. – I think it is both about the fact that the pandemic made us become terribly digital for a period, but also that there has been much greater attention to this in all age groups recently. Smartphones and shame It is smartphones and social media in particular that people single out as the most disturbing, findings from the UiO project show. Back in the classroom at Fyrstikkalléeen upper secondary school, another group has tested another tip to overcome mobile phone use: “Just sharpen yourself!” – When you first check, you see that a lot of time is spent on the mobile phone. I thought maybe I had 2-3 hours, says Joan Almario (18), who has just found out that he has 7 and a half hours of screen time every day on average. MORE TIME: Mikkel Bye (in the middle) says that he went on more trips the week he was supposed to cut down on mobile phone use. Photo: Torstein Georg Bøe / news – So yes, you feel a little ashamed, he continues. The media must take responsibility But Syvertsen believes we must move away from the perspective that it is the users’ own responsibility to shield themselves from the screen. – Much of the discussion of these questions is about self-discipline, where it is somewhat implied that people are a bit bad and weak. Many young people also say that about themselves. It becomes a kind of shameful thing, a kind of competition to be the best at disciplining oneself, she says. 90 percent of 9-18-year-olds’ digital everyday life is on one or more social media. Almost three out of ten social media users wish they could log out more often. Over half of high school girls who use social media wish they could log out more often. Around a third of those who use social media have regretted something they have shared. Children and young people use social media most often to “chat with friends”. More than eight out of ten do this daily. Seven out of ten believe they receive too much advertising in social media. 40 per cent have experienced that someone has written an ugly comment to them online during the past year. Source: Children and media 2022 (Medietilsynet) On the other hand, all media actors must take greater responsibility, the researcher believes. – It is probably also an advantage for the media that the discussion is about the users’ self-discipline rather than what the media do to gain attention. This applies to both social and editor-controlled media. The fight for the young Overall, this means that young people are exposed to much more intense media pressure than the elderly, the researcher points out. – Simply because more people are fighting harder for their time. But Pernille Huseby, director of communications at the Norwegian Media Authority, believes there is a clear difference between social media and editor-controlled media. TRICK: Communications director Pernille Huseby at the Norwegian Media Authority believes that young people themselves are the best at knowing what works for them when it comes to mobile and other media use. Photo: Torstein Georg Bøe / news – We are concerned that children and young people should use editor-controlled media in order to orientate themselves in the landscape and know what is happening around them. Young people take more information from social and international media, where not everything is always as well quality-checked, she says. Huseby says that their goal is not that young people have to log out either. – But when we see that children and young people themselves experience problems with how they spend their time, we think it is useful to give them some tricks, she says.
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