Video Talks on Healthy Digital Diets
The Tech for Good Canada coalition is hosting weekly video chats on our digital diets starting April 2020 during the Covid 19 pandemic, as our lives are disrupted by staying indoors. Our first one, April 3rd, was with Toronto relationship expert Dr Natasha Sharma.
Future video chats will be with myself, Caroline Isautier, as the president of Tech for Good Canada, an expert user of digital media by profession and a mother.
Added use of social media, apps and video games can be quite detrimental to mental and physical health.
Kids, teenagers and young adults are particularly at risk, with school and work being home-based. Their usual social interactions with peers are gone and they may plunge head first in the online world to try and make up for that loss of connection.
While video calls with friends and family are great, experts know online connection through social media likes and posts and video game chats is not equivalent to face-to-face or in-person connection. Excessive, unmonitored use of social media can lead to symptoms of FOMO & poor body image, while excessive online gaming can lead to isolation, ADHD, pornography addiction, and ultimately violence. Both can foster depression among youth.
Join us every Friday in April, May & June 2020, from 2 to 3 PM EST by registering for a Zoom video chat here. Limited to 20 participants.
Register for the upcoming Friday call on Youth 10–17 and Online Media here.
Our hour long discussion this Friday, April 3 rd with Dr Natasha Sharma brought great insights for those on the call with boys ages 12 to 17, stuck inside.
Related: Guide to educators and coaches of teens in pandemic times.
