BBC 6分钟英语学习 科技对年轻人有害吗

English from the BBC. Hello. This is 6 min English from BBC.

Learning English. I'm Neil, and I'm Sam.

When you were

a teenager, did your paren'ts worry that you were watching too much television?

Sam? They used to tell me that watching too much TV would turn my eyes square, but they were only joking.

When I was growing up, there were only three or four television channels for paren'ts.

Today, there are hundreds of TV channels to worry about, not to mention the Internet, video games and social media, and all of it is accessible through a smartphone.

No, wonder paren'ts are worried about the impact of technology on young people, I don't think it's all bad news, neil.

In fact, in this program, will be taking a look at a new report which finds little evidence to link technology with mental health problems in adolescence.

That's young people who are in the process of developing from children into adults.

I'm not convinced. Think about how much time youngsters spend staring at screens every day.

True, but unlike passively watching television, today's technology is interactive, connecting teenagers to their friends around the world.

Well, maybe my quiz question will change your mind.

Are you ready? On average, how many hours per day do British teenagers spend on their screens?

Is it A? Five and a half hours?

B Six and a half hours.

Or C Seven and a half hours?

I'll say it's B Six and a half hours.

That sounds a lot to me.

Well, whatever Neil thinks. A new study from the Oxford Internet Institute paint some more hopeful picture.

The study analyzed data from over 400000 British and American teenagers, and found little or no link between adolescence tech use and mental health problems.

Listen to Gareth Mitchell and Gilen Bodington, co presenters of BBC World Services Digital Planet, as they discussed the report's findings.

Colen Bondington you've been looking at some of the findings yourself, haven't you?

So? So what's your response so far?

Were you expecting Glen to see some kind of smoking gun, some kind of link that would say, here we are.

Here are the harms? Not really, because I think we're at a point where teenagers are much more savvy than many adults think.

So, you know, we are at risk, all of us, as journalists and research community, to assume maybe this is a much terrible problem then we understand.

Because if I know over teenagers around me, one thing that they do all have is app blockers on their sites, and they are actually quite aware of the addiction problems of design.

You know, design for addiction. Many people assume that social media harms teenagers.

So Gareth asked Gilen whether she was expecting to find a smoking gun in the report.

The expression A smoking gun means evidence that proves something is true, e.g.

evidence proving that technology is harmful to young people.

But Gilen doesn't think this is true.

Actually. She calls teenagers savvy, meaning that they have practical knowledge of technology and a good understanding of how to use it.

One example of teenagers being technologically savvy is their use of up blockers, software that prevents unwanted apps and websites from popping up and allows users to set timers which limit screen time.

And reducing screen time is important because nowadays, most video games in social media are designed for addiction, intended to manipulate human psychology, to make the user wants to keep playing.

But it seems that today's adolescents are savvy enough to know how to use electronic devices sensibly.

How else can we explain the fact that, according to this research, there's no clear link between using tech and mental health problems.

Yes, that's certainly the view of the research team leader, dr Mattive Worry.

Here he is speaking with BBC World Service program Digital Planet, about an interesting and very modern term.

See if you can hear it.

We often hear the term digital native.

You know, you grow up with a device in your hand, almost, and then it's not a surprise that you are skilled in using those technologies to your benefit.

Did you hear the expression Doctor wore used?

SAM Yes. He called teenagers digital natives, meaning someone who is very familiar and comfortable using computers and digital technology because they've grown up with them.

So maybe there are benefits to spending hours looking at screens.

After all, in my quiz question, I ask Sam about the average daily screen time for British teenagers.

I said it was b six and a half hours, which was the correct answer.

Very savvy of you, sam. OK, let's recapt the vocabulary from this program about the impact of tech on adolescence.

That's young people

who are developing into adults. Today's adolescents are digital natives, people who are very familiar with digital technology

because they've grown up with it.

If you are savvy, you have a good practical understanding of something, A smoking gun refers to information or evidence that proves that something is true.

An app blocker is software that blocks pop up apps and websites and allows users to set screen time limits.

And designed for addiction, describes immersive video games and social media, which are designed to manipulate human psychology and make it hard to stop playing.

That's all for this program, but if you're interested in the issues around digital technology and want to find out more, then why not visit the BBC Digital Planet website or follow them on their Twitter handle at Digital Planet.

Bye for now. Goodbye. Six news English from BBC, learning English dot com.

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