The case in summary Screen use is increasing among Norwegian youth. In 2022, it turned out that 74 per cent of young people spent more than three hours a day on screens outside of school hours. 88 percent of the population use social media. Young people use their mobile phones to watch series, be on YouTube, check Snapchat and Instagram, and communicate with friends. Many people think that social media makes it easier to keep in touch with friends, but there is also pressure to be active on these platforms. Brain researcher Ole Petter Hjelle says that screen use can be as dangerous to health as smoking, because it leads to sitting still, less sleep and less social activity. Many young people want to spend less time on their mobile phones, but find it difficult to reduce screen use. The summary is made by an AI service from OpenAI. The content is quality assured by news’s journalists before publication. Pling. Another notification on the phone. Just have to check. Screen use by children and young people is constantly increasing, and 88 per cent of Norway’s population uses social media. 19-year-old Syver Johnsen spends around nine hours on his mobile every day. He’s on YouTube, watching series, checking Snapchat and Instagram. – I see more than 12 hours as a lot of screen use. – Have you tried to reduce screen use? – No, not really. I don’t bother. How many hours of screen use do you have per day? Under 1 hour 1-3 hours 4-7 hours Over 8 hours Show result – Skips driving to my friends In 2022, it turned out that 74 percent of young people spent more than three hours a day on screens outside of school hours. 28 percent of them used screens for around four to six hours a day, according to Bufdir. 19-year-old Syver Johnsen is out eating with his friend. Although he often meets his friends physically, he thinks social media makes it easier. – It’s much easier, because then I don’t have to drive over to my friends, says Johnsen. Filip Finnøy spends around four to five hours on his mobile phone, but has tried to reduce screen use. – Yes, last year I lay for around one hour every day. Then I was very good at not looking at YouTube or Instagram. Filip Finnøy believes it is easy to lose contact with friends if you are not on social media. Photo: Mia Sofie Ytreberg / news Although they both think there is pressure to be on social media, there is also something positive. – We have a group on Snapchat where we update each other when we go out to study. I think it helps a lot to keep in touch with friends, says Finnøy. – I use my mobile between five and seven hours. I meet my friends, but if we don’t have anything planned to do, we each sit on our mobiles. Emma Iselin Ekroll (15) – We get chemically hooked A new survey from the Norwegian Media Authority shows that 37 per cent of children and young people who use social media media believe they spend too much time there. Brain researcher Ole Petter Hjelle believes that young people today are expected to have a smartphone, and that one would feel left out, different and isolated without it. – There is obviously pressure. Ole Petter Hjelle is a doctor, neuroscientist and associate professor at Høgskolen i Innlandet. – Many children and young people say they use social media more than they would like, but that it is difficult not to. Photo: Høyskolen Kristiania He says social media is designed to distract us away from what we are really doing, and onto their platforms. – When it pings and someone likes a picture we’ve posted, we release dopamine in the brain and we feel good. We simply get a little chemically hooked. – About as dangerous as smoking The brain researcher believes that although there are many positives with the smartphone, such as making everyday life easier, there are also dangerous aspects. – Screen use is mostly sitting still, and that’s what I’m worried about. We know that sitting still is almost as dangerous to health as smoking. It steals time from other activities. If you are on a screen for several hours a day, you move less, it affects your mental health negatively, you sleep less, and you are slightly less socially active, according to the researcher. – Sleep, movement and sleep are the pillars of normal development as a child and young person, and incredibly important for health for the rest of life. – I always walk around with my mobile phone. Me and my friends are together a lot, but we plan on snap. If you stop answering people, you won’t join, because that’s where all the planning takes place. Aina Arsnukajeva (17) – If we first meet, we sit on the phone Psychologist and media researcher Mehri Agai at the University of Bergen has researched digital disconnection among young people. All the young people she has spoken to say that they want to relax, but have an ambivalent relationship with it. – They want to be productive and present in everyday life, and say that the mobile phone is a time thief. They scroll and scroll, but often do not remember what they have spent their time on. But at the same time, young people have a great need for belonging and the social relationships that take place online, according to Agai. 16-year-old Maja Berget Søvik has almost six hours of screen time on her days off, and confirms what the researcher says. – We are born with the screen in front of us, and are addicted, says Maja Berget Søvik, who thinks it is difficult to reduce screen use. Photo: Mia Sofie Ytreberg / news – I use Snapchat, Instagram, and I scroll a lot on TikTok. Then I can quickly scroll away and quickly forget what I have seen. – Have you tried any measures to try to reduce screen use? – Yes. I had decided to only have two to three hours of screen time before, but it goes back to normal habits very quickly. Researcher Ole Petter Hjelle’s tips for reducing screen use: Motivated: First and foremost, you must be motivated and want to reduce your use. Restrict areas: Decide on places where you will not use the screen, for example in the toilet and bedroom. Set times: Set times of the day for when to put the screen away. Change settings: You can change the settings on your phone, such as removing the colors so that the icons become gray and dull. Remove notifications: Remove the notifications so that you are not distracted by all the sounds on your mobile. Published 19.08.2024, at 16.09
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Increasing screen use among young people – Syver Johnsen in Ålesund uses his mobile phone nine hours a day – news Møre og Romsdal – Local news, TV and radio
