Well if this doesn’t take the cake I don’t know what does!
In the latest health scare regarding the internet, scientists at Oxford University have warned that children who spend too much time on social networks online could suffer from personality and brain disorders.
Susan Greenfield, a neurologist at Oxford University has claimed that social network sites such as Facebook, MySpace and Twitter can physically “rewire” children’s brains to change their personality.
Ms Greenfield said that too much time spent online would cause children to become more selfish and would severely reduce their attention spans.
In an interview with the Daily Mail, Ms Greenfield said: “My fear is that these technologies are infantilising the brain into the state of small children who are attracted by buzzing noises and bright lights, who have a small attention span and who live for the moment.”
Ms Greenfield went on to suggest that the recent rise in child autism could be a direct result of children spending too much time online on popular social networks such as Bebo.
So now I need to tell my 2-1/2 year old that too much facebook is a bad thing for him. it’s a darned shame, too. he did so enjoy his facebook friends. I wonder if this woman spearheaded the campaign that said video games caused ADHD?
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Indeed. What a twit. In fact I’d go further than that. By the time they get to be teenagerish, I think they’ll find a whole slew of people with similar interests on facebook or whatever the equivalent might be by then, without all the trickiness of interpersonal skills in the face to face world. A useful stepping stone.
Cheers