The need to be plugged in: American prone to addiction to media, need help finding balance

From the color television sets of the 1950s to the smartphones of 2013, media has been an ever-increasing presence in American lives and homes, providing new entertainment and social options for each successive generation.

For many technology consumers today, however, the need to be “plugged in” has gone beyond escape and into the realm of addiction.

Media has long been used as a tool for information and entertainment. In his book “The Seven Faith Tribes,” researcher George Barna writes that many critics are quick to dismiss all media as harmful, when in fact churches often rely on technology to help deliver the gospel message.

“Media tools — such as training DVDs, movies and music — can stimulate thinking and conversation,” Barna writes.

Barna’s research also has shown that people are more likely to remember what they see in a brief, dramatic video clip than what they hear when the same information is presented in a sermon or lecture. So in the right context, Barna concludes, media can be a very useful tool. The problem is when media consumption begins to affect normal life in negative ways.

“Any habit that impairs social or occupational function is beginning to show traits associated with addictive behaviors,” said Rod Marshall, a licensed professional counselor and president of Alabama Baptist Children’s Homes & Family Ministries. “Impairment is what distinguishes a bad habit from a pathological behavior.”

Media Consumption

Though terms like “Internet Addiction Disorder” and “Social Media Addiction Disorder” are often thrown around, no clinical diagnosis of media addiction currently exists. However, Barna suggests that “media exposure has become America’s most widespread and serious addiction,” estimating that a majority of Americans over the age of 12 are addicted to media consumption.

One reason for this may be that more people than ever have Internet access — and not just at their home or office. A large segment of the American population, nearly half of all adults, now own smartphones, according to the Pew Internet & American Life Study, giving them access to the Web wherever they are. Increasingly, kids also are carrying smartphones and tablets, sometimes even provided by their schools.

According to a 2010 study by the Kaiser Family Foundation, children and teens 8 to 18 are spending a little more than 7.5 hours daily (more than 53 hours a week) consuming media, including watching television, surfing the Internet, social networking and playing games.

The study also found that because kids spend much of that time “media multitasking,” like listening to music while playing games and watching TV, they actually manage to pack a total of almost 11 hours into each day. The increase in technology use explains why today’s youth have been dubbed the “Facebook generation” — a generation where web access and social networking are the rule rather than the exception.

A recent poll by The Barna Group found that 44 percent of American adults say they are tempted to spend too much time with media, including the Internet, television and video games. Only procrastination and overeating ranked higher on the list of top temptations.

There are very real negative effects on people who spend too much time with technology, said technology expert Daniel Sieberg, author of “The Digital Diet: The 4-Step Plan to Break Your Tech Addiction and Regain Balance in Your Life.”

For example, digital music players can damage hearing when played too loud for too long. Headaches and body pain are often a direct result of spending too much time in front of a computer. Studies even link too much screen time for children to an increased risk of being overweight or obese. On the emotional front, voicemails and texts make it possible to avoid personal interactions, replacing “meaningful interactions with superficial ones,” Sieberg writes.

Spirituality also may suffer with excessive media consumption.

A 2009 survey of Christian college students found that more than half of those surveyed felt that social networking was leading them to neglect important areas of their lives, with 12 percent identifying their use of media as an addiction.

The survey, conducted by professors at Gordon College, a Christian liberal arts college near Boston, also found that 21 percent of students surveyed felt like their use of technology caused a conflict with their Christian values.

Bryan Auday, professor of psychology at Gordon and one of the authors of the study, said the survey results highlight the conflict between media as a useful tool and media as a problem.

“What is clear from our study is that a surprisingly high percentage of Christian students who frequently engage in electronic activities report several troubling negative consequences. But ironically they also mention many positive outcomes related to the time that is spent on Facebook or text messaging their friends,” Auday said.

Without a doubt this conflict, like technology itself, is here to stay. But in the end, Sieberg writes, managing screen addiction is not about eliminating technology altogether but rather about achieving balance.

“It’s about maintaining a healthy consumption of technology … and searching for a ‘best practices’ approach to our love of technology.”

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What can you do?

In a world where technology surrounds us, what can we do to become what Sieberg calls “technology users” rather than “technology addicts”? Here are some tips compiled from several sources:

Determine your starting point.

How much time are you spending in front of screens? For one week, tally all screen time for you and each member of your family and decide where to start.

Create media boundaries.

Set a screen-time budget for both adults and children, and then stick to it. Children pay attention to what the adults in their lives do and say. Research shows that when parents create rules and limits about media, children listen. The key is to approach the issue in the same way you do seat belts or nutrition — as an expectation, not a request. Use parental control features, apps or other technology to enforce the boundaries you set.

Keep screens in a family area.

Keep TVs and computers in central locations and out of children’s bedrooms. Turn media off during mealtimes and when no one is watching.

Decide what counts and what does not.

Some parents track homework, emails to Grandma, making scrapbooks or blogging about service projects separately from talking to friends, checking social networking sites or watching online videos. Think about what ideas, habits and skills you want your children to develop as you help them learn to budget their time.

Make media a planned event.

Add media time (like social networking) to your schedule just as you would a doctor’s appointment or meeting. At home, avoid using media as background noise. Carefully choose and watch a specific show, play a game or interact with a website. Then turn it off and engage in nonmedia activities.

Unplug if necessary.

If all else fails, remember that TVs, video game players and computers can be unplugged and put away for a while. But don’t threaten to take away media unless you are actually ready to do so.

Quiz: Are you addicted to media?