Commentary: It’s not your fault if your kids won’t put down their smartphones
Children are uniquely susceptible to persuasive design, which is employed by social media sites and video games to maximise screen time, explains a professor. UNIVERSITY PARK, Pennsylvania: Nearly three-quarters of parents are concerned that their kids’ use of mobile devices may be harmful to them or to family relationships – and that was from research done before the pandemic. But it’s not parents’ or the kids’ fault. Every time a parent and child try to turn off a game or put a device down, they’re not fighting each other – they’re fighting the invisible army of behavioural design specialists who make technology experiences so hard to tear themselves away from. The people who create apps and games use insights from, and experts in, an area of psychology research called “persuasive design”, whose scholars seek to understand how to create something that is next to impossible to put down. But it’s important to be careful when seeking to hook kids on something. EXPLA...