According to a report, poor children with screens are growing up, while rich people pay thousands of dollars to read their children

Children from poorer families spend an average of almost two hours longer in front of the screen. (Image source: seventyfour – adobe.stock.com)

Many of us – parents or not – have often observed it, optionally in the restaurant or supermarket: children who are to be quenched or calm get a cell phone or tablet in hand.

In an essay in the New York Times, a connection between too much time on the screen and too little reading is made in children under the title “Thinking will become a luxury”. There is talk of the reversal of the Flynn effect.

What is the Flynn effect?

In 1984 the political scientist James R. Flynn found that the IQ increased massively between 1932 and 1978 (via American Psychological Association). It soon turned out: the intelligence gain also affected people in Europe, Australia or Japan, according to psychology today.

Why we were getting smarterThere are only hypotheses about it.

• More complex environment
• More lessons
• Smaller families
• Better nutrition

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But the fact is: The average IQ has been stagnating since the 1990s and is even declining in several countries.

There is still no evidence of this phenomenonbut DVV International establishes a connection with digital culture. The organization is committed to adult education worldwide and is funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).

Digitales Junk Food

The study linked above found that cognitive habits shift by consuming short videos on platforms such as TikTok or YouTube.

• Less concentration and critical thinking
• More distraction and quick stimuli

The screen as a cognitive equivalent to junk foodthe New York Times essay states. There is talk of “cognitive obesity”, because digital junk food works like their real equivalent:

• Easily accessible
• Difficult to resist
• Addictive

An article of the time (payment item) from 2019 was already concerned with the topic. There Flynn is quoted, who attributes the decline of the IQ to the disappearance of demanding books and the increase in video games.

Stun through video games cognitive skills? It was safe to argue about it. (Image source: arkady chubykin – adobe.stock.com)

Maryanne Wolf, a renowned reading researcher from the USA, comes into the same horn. In an interview with the Swiss Tages-Anzeiger from 2023, she spoke about how we read today.

• Screens promote »skimming«, that is, the superficial overflowing of texts.
• Digital media displace in -depth reading processes, causing cognitive skills such as conclusions, associations, empathy and critical analysis.

Wolf demands especially for childrenthat screens are not a substitute for books. Children and adolescents have to develop digital skills in order to be able to move in a digital world.

Rich children are smarter

Already in 2019, the new page VOX reported on data from a study by the non-profit organization Common Sense that children from poorer families (under $ 35,000 a year) spend almost two hours more in front of screens than children from families with more than $ 100,000.

A Spanish study on Researchgate also combines poverty not only with the lack of material goods. The author refers to a lack of access that is normal in society, but lacking poorer people due to their low income, such as using a computer or the ability to read at all.

Said study goes to the clothingthe author spoke to people in the Laja Bajío region in Mexico and revealed interesting things.

• People with low incomes feel discriminated against.
• This leads to shame and self -disruption and in individual cases even abuse of people who take advantage of the lack of knowledge.

The author states that poverty is associated with ignorance and social inferiority.

In contrast, statements from the Essay of the New York Times are from the beginning of the article. There, personalities such as Bill Gates or Evan Spiegel, the CEO of Snapchat, are quoted, who deliberately limit the screen time of their children. There is even talk of so-called “no-phone contracts” for nanny.

School fees also play a role in the United States. There are schools with annual fees in the five -digit range that promote reading books and prohibit cell phones in class. In Germany, a mobile phone ban is currently being discussed in schools (via Tagesschau). This shows that a digital separation is not so easy to enforce in Germany either.

Especially in connection with the research gate study, the scissors seem to be increasing-not only when it comes to income, but also with intelligence.

The result According to New York Times, is a society that is less rational and more susceptible to misinformation and conspiracy theories.