Too much at the worst possible age can have lifetime consequences.
在幼年時過度沉迷一樣事物，可能會造成影響他一生的後果。
Author (作者): Liraz Margalit, Ph.D
Posted (問世) : April 17, 2016
Screen time is an inescapable reality of modern childhood, with kids of every age spending hours upon hours in front of iPads, smartphones and televisions.
電子產品娛樂已然成為現代童年不可避免的生活組成，幾乎每個年齡段的孩子都會在iPad、智慧型手機和電視機前面花上好幾個小時。
That’s not always a bad thing: Educational apps and TV shows are great ways for children to sharpen their developing brains and hone their communication skills—not to mention the break these gadgets provide harried parents But tread carefully: A number of troubling studies connect delayed cognitive develo
pment in kids with extended exposure to electronic media. The US Department of Health and Human Services estimates that American children spend a whopping seven hours a day in front of electronic media. Other statistics reveal that kids as young as two regularly play iPad games and have playroom toys that involve touch screens.
這並非總是一件壞事：兒童教育類的app 和電視節目對於開發兒童智力和磨練交流能力很有幫助，當然打破東西讓父母煩心且不提，但要謹慎行事：多項研究表明，孩子認知能力發育緩慢與過度的使用電子產品有關。據美國衛生與公共服務部統計，在美國，小孩子每天在電子娛樂方面要花費七個小時。其他的統計數據顯示，即便是兩歲幼童也經常玩 iPad 遊戲和帶觸控螢幕的玩具。
Saturation and long-term consequences長期沉迷導致的後果When very small children get hooked on tablets and smartphones, says Dr. Aric Sigman, an associate fellow of the British Psychological Society and a Fellow of Britain’s Royal Society of Medicine, they can unintentionally cause permanent damage to their still- developing brains. Too much screen time too soon, he says, 「is the very thing impeding the development of the abilities that parents are so eager to foster through the tablets. The ability to focus, to concentrate, to lend attention, to sense other people’s attitudes and communicate with them, to build a large vocabulary—all those abilities are harmed.」 Put more simply, parents who jump to screen time in a bid to give their kids an educational edge may actually be doing significantly more harm than good—and they need to dole out future screen time in an age-appropriate matter.
據英國心理學會的副研究員、英國皇家學會成員埃裡克·西格曼稱，很小的孩子長期使用平板電腦和智慧型手機，會在無意中對他們的大腦造成永久性傷害。太早接觸太多的觸屏類產品，他說,「儘管父母是如此渴望想通過平板設備來培養孩子的能力，但平板正式是阻礙這些能力發展的元兇。如何集中注意力，如何聚焦，如何感知他人並與他人溝通，如何去建立一個大型的詞彙庫，所有這些所應掌握的能力都會受到損害。」 簡單來說，那些希望藉助平板設備提升孩子能力的家長們，所得到的結果卻恰恰相反，他們應該根據孩子的年齡來考慮他們所使用平板的時間。
Between birth and age three, for example, our brains develop quickly and are particularly sensitive to the environment around us. In medical circles, this is called the critical period, because the changes that happen in the brain during these first tender years become the permanent foundation upon which all later brain function is built. In order for the brain’s neural networks to develop normally during the critical period, a child needs specific stimuli from the outside environment. These are rules that have evolved over centuries of human evolution, but—not surprisingly—these essential stimuli are not found on today’s tablet screens. When a young child spends too much time in front of a screen and not enough getting required stimuli from the real world, her development becomes stunted.
在0~3歲這個階段，我們的大腦發育的非常快，對周圍的環境非常敏感。醫學上稱之為,大腦發育的關鍵時期，這期間大腦中所發展的能力是所有能力的基礎，所以的大腦功能在這個基礎上發展而來的。為了讓大腦的神經網絡在關鍵時期正常發育，孩子需要特定的外部環境的刺激。這些規律是經過幾個世紀的人類進化發展而來的，顯而易見，這些基本刺激肯定不是建立在當代這些平板電腦屏幕上的。當一個年幼的孩子花太多時間在屏幕面前，沒有從現實世界中獲得足夠的所需的刺激，他的發展就會相對遲緩。
And not just for a while. If the damage happens during these crucial early years, its results can affect her forever.
這種影響並非只會存在於一段時間。在孩子們小時候大腦發育關鍵期的傷害，會對他的一生造成不好的影響。
Much of the issue lies with the fact that what makes tablets and iPhones so great—dozens of stimuli at your fingertips, and the ability to process multiple actions simultaneously— is exactly what young brains do not need.
平板電腦和 iPhone為什麼會對孩子的大腦發育造成這麼大的傷害，原因在於——指尖的諸多刺激和能夠同時處理多個操作的這種在幼兒時期所不需要的能力
Tablets are the ultimate shortcut tools: Unlike a mother reading a story to a child, for example, a smartphone-told story spoon-feeds images, words, and pictures all at once to a young reader. Rather than having to take the time to process a mother’s voice into words, visualize complete pictures and exert a mental effort to follow a story line, kids who follow stories on their smartphones get lazy. The device does the thinking for them, and as a result, their own cognitive muscles remain weak.
平板電腦和智慧型手機這些都屬於很直接的溝通工具：不同於傳統的方式，在過去，母親給孩子講故事，孩子將母親所說的話轉換為文字，通過自己的想像力轉化為一個個畫面，自主思考來追尋整個故事。當代，智慧型手機講故事的方式是通過填鴨式的形象、文字和圖片，一次性傳達給年幼的讀者。孩子不必再花很多的時間來思考故事，而通過智慧型手機來追故事的孩子會懶於思考。設備會替他們思考，因此，他們的認知能力相對較弱。
Trouble making friends遭遇交友障礙The brain’s frontal lobe is the area responsible for decoding and comprehending social interactions. It is in this corner of the mind that we empathize with others, take in nonverbal cues while talking to friends and colleagues, and learn how to read the hundreds of unspoken signs—facial expression, tone of voice, and more—that add color and depth to real-world relationships.
大腦的額葉區域負責解碼和理解社會互動。正是在這個區域，我們與他人產生公民，在與朋友和同事聊天時讀取潛藏的信息，並學習如何閱讀數以百計的無言的標識包括面部表情，語調等，這些內容都為真實世界的人際關係添加了色彩和深度。
So how and when does the brain’s frontal lobe develop? Not surprisingly, the most crucial stage is in early childhood, during that same critical period, and it's dependent on authentic human interactions. So if your young child is spending all of his time in front of an iPad instead of chatting and playing with teachers and other children, his empathetic abilities—the near-instinctive way you and I can read situations and get a feel for other people—will be dulled, possibly for good.
那麼大腦的額葉是在什麼時期如何發育的哪？顯而易見，最關鍵的階段正是在幼年的關鍵時期，並且是依靠於真實的人際互動刺激。如果你的孩子將所有的時間都花費在 iPad 上而不是跟老師和其他孩子聊天玩耍，那麼他與他人的溝通能力——也就是我們了解當時的情景和感受他人情緒那種近乎本能的方式——會變得遲鈍，並且可能是永久性的傷害。
Life has no on/off switch生活沒有開關鍵Have you ever seen a mother chuckle as her baby tries to 「swipe」 a real photograph, or punch their fingers onto a poster or book as if it were a touchscreen? It may seem cute, but it points to something much deeper in the child’s brain—an internalization that all actions have an immediate effect, and all stimuli elicit a quick response.
你有沒有見過一個媽媽在看到自己的孩子試圖「刷」一張真正的照片，或把海報、圖書當做平板電腦而去用手指觸碰而被逗得大笑的情景？雖然這看起來很萌，但它其實展現出了關於孩子的大腦更深的層次的反應——一種內化，要求所有的行為有直接的影響，以及所有刺激引起快速反應。
This is true in the on-screen world, but nowhere else. When every finger swipe brings about a response of colors and shapes and sounds, a child’s brain responds gleefully with the neurotransmitter dopamine, the key component in our reward system that is associated with feelings of pleasure. Dopamine hits in the brain can feel almost addictive, and when a child gets too used to an immediate stimuli response, he will learn to always prefer smartphone-style interaction—that is, immediate gratification and response—over real-world connection.
這樣的要求在屏幕上的世界是真實的，但在其他地方不是。當每一次手指滑動帶來顏色、形狀和聲音的反應，孩子的大腦興高採烈地回應，伴隨著神經遞質多巴胺，這個我們獎勵系統的重要組成部分，與製造快樂的感覺相關。多巴胺刺激大腦可以帶來上癮的感覺，當一個孩子太習慣於即時刺激反應，他將學會更傾向於智慧型手機方式的互動——追求即時滿足感和反應——而不是真實世界的互動。
This pattern mimics, in a less intense manner, the dangerous cycle psychologists and physicians regularly see in patients with drug and alcohol
這種心理滿足的形式，類似於輕度的吸毒者和酗酒者所展現出來的一種心理狀態。
Don’t trash those tablets for good合理安排化弊為利Despite the danger that overexposure to smartphones can pose for young brains, there are a lot of benefits to letting little ones use technology. Once a child is over the age of two,feel free to allow limited screen time—think an hour, max, of playing with tablets andiPhones each day—to help develop coordination, hone quick reactions, and even sharpen language skills. As with all the other toys and tools available to your developing child,smartphone use should stay in moderation, and never stand in for human interaction or real-world face time.
過度使用智慧型手機會對年幼孩子的大腦造成危害，但是讓孩子使用高技術產品也是有諸多益處的。兩歲以上的孩子，可以讓他們適當地玩兒平板電腦和iphone，但是每天不要超過一個小時，這樣可以幫助他們發展協調能力，提高快速反應能力，提高語言技能。與其他所有可以幫助孩子發展的工具一樣，只要合理的利用智慧型手機，不讓它完全取代人際互動以及人們面對面的交流，他一樣會對孩子的發展有好處。
The bottom line? Power off regularly to help your child understand the clear boundaries between the virtual world and the real one.
那家長該如何把握？關掉它，幫助你的孩子理解虛擬世界和真實之間的清晰界限。