Anyone who uses a smartphone has likely experienced the same unsettling phenomenon — a pointedly placed advertisement that seems to show up right after you’ve discussed a topic or product. Could it be true that your phone is “listening” to your private conversations? It’s a surprisingly difficult question to answer — and one that has Read more
Preaching to teenagers has always been a challenge. But in the smartphone age, clergy need to realise that the odds of making a spiritual connection have changed — radically. Young people who spend as many as 10 or more hours a day focusing on digital screens will find it all but impossible to listen to Read more
Recent mobile phone bans in Victorian state schools have had some parents and kids up in arms, despite a study showing that 80 per cent of Australians support the ban. Many private schools are now implementing phone and device bans in schools – but they too face fierce opposition. Parents across Australia fork out hundreds Read more
A 2degrees survey showed 39 percent of 2200 respondents aged older than 16 believed the amount of time being spent on their smartphones was affecting the quality of their relationship. The survey also found more than half of New Zealanders choose their phone or computer if they have to deliver bad news, but 43 percent of respondents Read more
Around 2012, something started going wrong in the lives of teens. In just the five years between 2010 and 2015, the number of U.S. teens who felt useless and joyless – classic symptoms of depression – surged 33 percent in large national surveys. Teen suicide attempts increased 23 percent. Even more troubling, the number of 13- to Read more
I never realised just how damaging our obsession with smartphones and our switched-on lifestyle was, nor how addictive screen time was, until I put my teenagers on an extended digital detox. The results were swift and shocking, raising the question of just what is happening to the selfie generation and whether we have more to fear Read more
More comfortable online than out partying, post-Millennials are safer, physically, than adolescents have ever been. But they’re on the brink of a mental-health crisis. But they’re on the brink of a mental-health crisis. One day last summer, around noon, I called Athena, a 13-year-old who lives in Houston, Texas. She answered her phone – she’s had Read more
Francis Douglas Memorial College in New Plymouth has started turning off its wi-fi internet network during breaks to encourage students to talk and play with each other. School principal Martin Chamberlain said he wasn’t banning phones, but he was limiting their use. Wanting to see more students out playing in the sunshine is the reason Read more
A Bible encyclopaedia for smartphones, a real virtual library that holds numerous editions of the Scriptures that can also be accessed off-line. “Catholic Bible” is one of the most complete apps of its kind; the breadth and availability of its content are astonishing: it offers as many as forty two editions of the sacred text Read more
Pope Francis has told young people not to waste their lives on “futile” distractions such as chatting on the Internet or on smartphones. Speaking to 50,000 German altar servers in St Peter’s Square on August 5, the Pope was asked by one of the young people how to make time for assisting at Mass. Francis Read more