Is too much screen time bad for children?
使用屏幕时间过长对儿童有害吗？
If I could have your attention, please. I'd like to talk to you about young people's screen time. It's a tempting habit for them to glance at their smartphone or tablet rather than make eye contact with someone and make conversation! There is so much to look at: photographs, social media feeds, messages and emails; it's no wonder they are glued to their screens. But is it good for them?
请大家注意，我想谈谈年轻人看屏幕的时间。他们有一种习惯，那就是宁愿盯着自己的智能手机或平板电脑，也不愿和别人进行眼神交流和交谈！可以浏览的东西太多了：照片、社交媒体动态、信息和电子邮件;难怪他们总是盯着屏幕看。但这对他们有好处吗？
There have been many claims about the damage looking at screens does to our eyesight. Some people feared staring at a small bright box could make us short-sighted or lead to headaches. This is a particular concern for children and young people, who spend a higher percentage of time using electronic gadgets. BBC technology correspondent, Rory Cellan-Jones, says: "there is plenty of anecdotal evidence that no matter how long teenagers are spending looking at screens, they are encountering material about issues such as anorexia and self-harm that could prove damaging to their mental health".
关于看屏幕对视力的损害有很多说法。有些人担心盯着一个明亮的小盒子会使我们近视或导致头痛。儿童和年轻人特别需要关注这个问题，因为他们使用电子产品的频率更高。英国广播公司(BBC)科技记者罗里·塞兰-琼斯表示：“坊间有大量证据表明，无论青少年花多长时间玩手机等电子产品，都有可能遇上厌食症和自残等问题，这些可能会加重他们收到的精神损害。”
But a new study says time in front of computers and phones might not be as bad for young people as many think. Research by the Oxford Internet Institute examined data from more than 17,000 teenagers in the UK, Ireland and the United States. Their study concluded that most links between life satisfaction and social media use were "trivial", accounting for less than 1% of a teenager's wellbeing. Professor Przybylski, director of research at the institute, said: "99.75% of a person's life satisfaction has nothing to do with their use of social media." The research found that family, friends and school life all had a greater impact on wellbeing.
但是一项新的研究表明，花时间玩电脑和手机也许并不像许多人认为的那样对年轻人有害。牛津互联网研究所的研究调查了来自英国、爱尔兰和美国逾1.7万名青少年。研究得出，生活满意度和社交媒体使用之间的大部分联系是“微不足道的”，在青少年的幸福感中所占比例不到1%。该研究所的研究主任Przybylski教授说：“一个人生活满意度的99.75%与他们是否使用社交媒体无关。”研究发现，家庭、朋友和学校生活对幸福感的影响都更大。
So, does this mean young people can spend longer looking at social media? The Oxford researchers are confident that their study is robust in its findings and that any correlation between screen time and mental health is very small. Dr Max Davie, officer for health improvement at the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, calls the study a "small first step", but he said there were other issues to explore, such as screen time's interference with other important activities like sleep, exercise and time with family or friends. Perhaps for now, deciding what the 'right' amount of screen time is has to be down to personal judgement.
那么，这是否意味着年轻人可以花更多时间在社交媒体上呢？牛津大学的研究人员相信研究结果是可靠的，屏幕时间与心理健康之间的相关性非常小。英国皇家儿科和儿童健康学院的健康改善官员MaxDavie博士称这项研究是“小小的第一步”，但他表示还有其他问题需要探索，比如屏幕时间对其他诸如睡眠、锻炼和与家人或朋友在一起的时间等重要活动的干扰。也许就目前而言，怎样才算是“合理的”屏幕时间是因人而异的。
词汇表
glued to
全神贯注地盯着…看
eyesight
视力
short-sighted
近视的
headache
头痛
anorexia
厌食症
self-harm
自残行为
damaging
有害的
mental health
精神健康状态
life satisfaction
生活满意度
wellbeing
健康
paediatrics
儿科学
sleep
睡眠
exercise
体育活动，运动