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S爸说： 警惕！英国心理学家和前文学家在牛津大学表示：相比前几代人，如今，无处不在的智能科技使很多孩子处于'自闭症'的边缘。 原文：Devices Make Kids 'Borderline Autistic' Iain McGilchrist 博士认为，花大量时间在智能手机和平板设备上，已经导致小到5岁的儿童对他人情绪的感知力减弱，而且变得没有同情心。McGilchrist 博士对《电讯报》说，他开始发现，老师们甚至需要向学生解释面部表情所传递的情绪信息。 “越来越多的孩子们发现和情感沟通是一件困难的事情，这似乎是自闭症的特征，'他说。'他们把大量的时间用在智能设备和虚拟现实中。在那里，他们不必面对现实生活。'McGilchrist 博士告诉《电讯报》。 在澳大利亚，对于几岁是孩子使用智能手机最适合的年龄，和他们应该每天该花多少的时间在电子设备上的问题争论一直在持续着。根据澳洲电信今年公布的调查数据显示：超过三分之二 (68%) 3到 17岁的澳洲孩子有自己的智能手机。他们每周平均花 21 小时 48分钟在手机上。Justin Coulson 博士建议：12，13岁是给孩子手机最低年龄。'一个只能用来通话的和发送短信的手机再合适不过了，聪明的父母去给他们的孩子配置这样的手机。'他说。
这正是Laura Marchese所做的，这个维多利亚州三个孩子的母亲，给她10 岁的儿子带了个“不那么智能的”手机去学校。'我不希望他用指尖去探索这个世界。当手机在口袋里时，他会一直去用它。' 她对《周日先锋报》说。
由于一直没有研究直接表明自闭症和智能设备之间的关系，McGilchrist博士的发表的具有争议性的观点，在很大程度上是基于非官方的证据。尽管如此，他仍认为，父母把儿童留在电视或平板电脑前的同时去做别的事情是一个'令人担忧'的趋势。 自闭症研究会表示，虽然'遗传'被认为是自闭的其中一个因素，但对自闭症成因的研究是不完整的。同样的，智能设备的使用对儿童心理发展的研究也是不完整的，但初步研究已经证实，它会影响到儿童发展。 McGilchrist 博士并不是第一个把智能科技与自闭症之间联系起来的医疗专业人士。著名英国神经学家Lady Susan Greenfield 曾在2011年，因为把自闭症和互联网的使用联系起来而备受指责。医疗专业人士称之为'不合逻辑的垃圾'而自闭症人士称为'没用的投机'。 McGilchrist 博士的论点也可能招来同样的批评。一篇由默多克儿童研究所的高级研究员珍妮·库珀发表在《对话》的文章强调：科技设备可以对儿童有很多潜在积极方面的影响。虽然她也承认关于智能设备的一些负面消息，但她认为交互式设备'也有很多好处'。她写道：“也许给父母最好的建议就是随时检查的孩子们使用的应用程序，并从小就告诉他们，这些程序是 '限量使用' 的，就像甜食和糖果一样'。 A UK psychiatrist and former literary scholar at Oxford University has claimed the ubiquity of technology is making young children borderline“autistic”, compared to previous generations. Dr Iain McGilchrist believes the significant time many young kids are spending with smartphones and tablet devices has resulted in children as young as five struggling to read others’emotions and being less empathetic. Speaking to The Telegraph, Dr McGilchrist said he had a growing awareness of teachers needing to explain to their students how to make sense of human faces. Kids are “increasingly finding it difficult to communicate at an emotional level in what appears to be features of autism,” he said. “Children spend more time engaging with machines and with virtual reality than they used to in the past where they don’t have to face the consequences of real life,” he told The Telegraph. In Australia, the debate has raged over the appropriate age to give children smartphones and how much time they should spend using them each day. Research released by Telstra this year showed that more than two thirds (68 per cent) of Aussie children aged three to 17 own a smartphone and spend an average of 21 hours and 48 minutes per week on the devices. Sydney-based family researcher and father of six Dr Justin Coulson recommends a minimum age of 12 or 13 for children to be given a phone. “And then make it a dumb one. Smart parents give their kids dumb phones,” he said. That’s exactly what Victorian woman and mother of three, Laura Marchese did. She bought a “dumb”phone for her 10-year-old son to carry when he walks home from school. “I don’t want him to havethe world at his fingertips; a phone is in your pocket and he’s more likely toget it out and use it all the time,” she told the Herald Sun last month. As for the controversial comments made by Dr McGilchrist there has been no research to establish such alink and his statements are based largely on anecdotal evidence. Despite this, he viewsthe trend of children being left in front of a TV or tablet screen while parents spend time multi-tasking to be a “worrying” one. According to the Autism Society, the condition is thought to have a “genetic basis” but researchon the causation factors of autism is incomplete. So too is research into the effects of technology use on the mental development of children, but initialstudies have confirmed it affects childhood development. Dr McGilchrist is not thefirst medical professional to make the unsubstantiated link between technology and the autism spectrum. Prominent UK Neuroscientist Lady Susan Greenfield was heavily criticised for alleging a link between autism andinternet usage back in 2011. Medical professionals labelled it “illogicalgarbage” while autism campaigners called the claim “unhelpful speculation.” Dr McGilchrist’s commentscould draw similar criticisms. An article published in The Conversation today by Janine M. Cooper, a senior research fellow at the Murdoch Childrens ResearchInstitute, stressed the potential positives tech devices can have for children.While admitting there is often horror stories, she believes interactive devices“also have many benefits.” “Perhaps the best advicefor parents is to monitor the content of the apps their kids access and tellthem from a young age that they’re for ‘sometimes use’, just like sweets andlollies,” she wrote. |
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