The Internet, Art and Children's Brains
Friday Blog: Art, The Internet and Children's Brains.
I read this article this morning. It tells us what we already suspected, that children's brains are physically and chemically impacted by over absorption of the internet. Nobody is surprised. The children of today are bombarded by information and images at a rate that was unimaginable when I was a child. They have access in one day to take in more information than a child of 100 years ago would have absorbed in a year. Whilst I love the internet and both my life and career are better for it, I have to admit, our brains are not equipped to properly cope with the internet.
In short, the article tells us that, even at rest and away from a screen, children who have shown signs of addiction or overuse of the internet display high levels of specific brain activity. Even at rest, their brains are overstimulated. The study also shows that the children studied also showed a negative impact upon their executive control network which reduces decision-making and memory abilities. The researchers in turn drew a line towards poor mental health and behavioural struggles from these brain changes. The internet, for some children at least, has the ability not to enhance their life but to severely damage it.
Conversely, neuroscientists and therapists are repeatedly telling us that art enhances brain function, increases mental well-being and strengthens our ability process emotions, focus and have hope for the future.
One study by Professor Semir Seki, Professor of Neuroaesthetics at University College London scanned participants brains when being shown specific art that they liked. Results showed a 10% increase in blood flow to pleasure centres of the brain - this is equivalent to spending time with a loved one and is linked to increases in mental wellbeing.
I am often asked why Paper Boat and CEDAR India focus so much on the arts and it is found in these two contrasting realities. We live in a world where our children will be exposed to the internet, it will be central to their educations and careers. We believe that they do not have to be overcome by the worst impacts of what an online world has to offer. We believe that art builds a resilience, self-awareness and expression that prepares them to thrive in a 21st Century Society. We believe that art teaches children how to do more than to just exist in today's world, it teaches them how to transform it.
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