{"id":17304,"date":"2021-09-08T14:33:17","date_gmt":"2021-09-08T14:33:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/?p=17304"},"modified":"2021-09-08T13:29:29","modified_gmt":"2021-09-08T13:29:29","slug":"janet-warns-on-digital-addiction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/janet-warns-on-digital-addiction","title":{"rendered":"Janet warns on digital addiction"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press<\/a> – Uganda<\/a>. <\/strong><\/span>Education and Sports minister Janet Museveni has cautioned children and young people against gadget and social media addiction.<\/p>\n

Ms Museveni, who is also the First Lady, expressed concern over the impact of social networks on young people, who spend long periods of time online.<\/p>\n

The First Lady made the remarks on Twitter, saying addiction impacts negatively on users\u2019 mental health.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe problem of social media or digital addiction is relatively new, but it has really reached all over the world. It has been called the modern day addictive drug \u2013 like tobacco or alcohol,\u201d she tweeted.<\/p>\n

She added: \u201cIt leads to poor school performance, breakdown of family communication and delinquent behaviours. Studies show that, youth worldwide spend an average of seven hours every day online.\u201d<\/p>\n

This comes at a time when Internet platforms are being fronted by the Education ministry to ensure continued learning after schools were closed to curb the spread of Covid-19.<\/p>\n

Ms Museveni said too much use \u2014 especially of social media \u2014 could impact the general functioning of young people.<\/p>\n

She said: \u201cAs you, my young friends, devote all your time on\u2026social media platforms, it is very easy for your academic work to suffer. As parents spend lots of time on the same platforms, communication in families breaks down and before you know it, family members are living as strangers under the same roof.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to the American National Centre for Biotechnology Information, Internet addiction is characterised by excessive or poorly controlled preoccupations, urges or behaviours regarding computer use and Internet access that lead to impairment or distress.<\/p>\n

Experts have linked the addiction to excessive need for dopamine, a feel-good hormone that the brain seeks to balance by forcing the user to return to the source.<\/p>\n

Ms Museveni said young people must take deliberate steps to break the habit that scientists have linked to mental health issues like anxiety, depression and suicidal tendencies.<\/p>\n

She urged young people to acknowledge that they have a problem and be disciplined<\/p>\n

\u201cBring your addiction under control by putting screen or app timer lock after a set time. This can be done as a family where the desired time is set, and the app locker is on until the next day. If your goal is 60 minutes, then set it for those minutes and give the password to someone else in the family who will keep you accountable. This has helped many to monitor and break their addictions,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Mr David Kavuma, a psychologist with Mildmay Uganda, said the trend has been worsened by the pandemic with young people now exposed to gadgets with little or no guidance\/regulation.<\/p>\n

In a bid to curb the addiction, China recently announced that minors can only play video games for an hour on Fridays, weekends and holidays, and are banned from playing during the school week.<\/p>\n

The Chinese government plans to enforce the ban by requiring minors to register to games with their real names.<\/p>\n

Background<\/b><\/p>\n

Internet addiction was first identified in the US by Dr Kimberly Young in a 1996 publication titled \u201cInternet Addiction: The Emergence of a New Disorder.\u201d<\/p>\n

A 2021 study titled \u201cInternet Addiction in Africa: A Study of Namibian and Ugandan College Students\u201d found that while easy access to reliable information technologies has enhanced personal performance globally, compulsive and excessive technology use is also on the rise due to increasing dependence on information technologies.<\/p>\n

One of the study\u2019s findings warns that Internet addiction has \u201cthe potential to negatively affect one\u2019s effectiveness, health, happiness, and relationships.\u201d<\/p>\n

[email protected]<\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Uganda. Education and Sports minister Janet Museveni has cautioned children and young people against gadget and social media addiction. Ms Museveni, who is also the First Lady, expressed concern over the impact of social networks on young people, who spend long periods of time online. The First Lady made the remarks on Twitter, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":17303,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,8,12],"tags":[233,240,234],"class_list":["post-17304","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-homepage-english","category-policy","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-uganda","tag-uganda"],"yoast_head":"\nJanet warns on digital addiction - Uganda<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Education and Sports minister Janet Museveni has cautioned children and young people against gadget and social media add ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/janet-warns-on-digital-addiction\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Janet warns on digital addiction\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Education and Sports minister Janet Museveni has cautioned children and young people against gadget and social media add ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/janet-warns-on-digital-addiction\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Uganda\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-09-08T14:33:17+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/uganda\/sites\/34\/2021\/09\/img-6138baa24a9d6.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"700\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/janet-warns-on-digital-addiction#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/janet-warns-on-digital-addiction\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Janet warns on digital addiction\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-09-08T14:33:17+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/janet-warns-on-digital-addiction\"},\"wordCount\":593,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/janet-warns-on-digital-addiction#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/uganda\/sites\/34\/2021\/09\/img-6138baa24a9d6.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Uganda\",\"uganda\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"homepage-english\",\"policy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/janet-warns-on-digital-addiction#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/janet-warns-on-digital-addiction\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/janet-warns-on-digital-addiction\",\"name\":\"Janet warns on digital addiction - 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