Your kids and screens
Three Million US Dollars: The sum won by the two 16-year-old Europeans who won the Fortnite World Cup duet last weekend. A 19-year-old Quebecker left with $ 800,000, or just over $ 1 million Canadian.
No doubt: video games are serious. Should they be integrated into the school curriculum? It's much less certain. Quebec should first look at the impact of screens on young people, as proposed recently by MP André Fortin.
The screens are not only interactive, they are also adhesive. How to take off children is a constant concern for many parents, including summer.
Is all this time spent playing and watching videos damaging?
The Health and Social Services Commission should examine the impact of digital devices on the health of young people,
suggested Liberal André Fortin last week.
For the party in power, which controls parliamentary committees, it is never very tempting to agree to such a request from the opposition. But this issue transcends party lines. One has only to think of the caquist Eric Cairo, who, in the midst of studying credits,
spoke with emotion about his son being treated for cyberdependence.
Proposals on cyberdependence and digital education of young people will be debated at the meeting of the commission of the succession of the CAQ in a few weeks. And in families so dear to the CAQ, few parents do not wonder about the relationship their children have with the screens.
Studies on exposure to various types of screens (cell, tablet, television, etc.) have also found disturbing associations, especially with overweight, inattention and depression, Quebec Science magazine reported in the spring. .
If we are still far from having an answer to everything, we know enough to be concerned.More hours spent playing video games, using the Internet or watching TV are associated with lower levels of academic achievement, physical activity, attachment to school and self-esteem, says Professor Caroline Fitzpatrick, from Université Sainte-Anne, in a scientific article published last spring.
Video games that overstimulate the brain's reward system and favor the use of the caudate nucleus to the detriment of the hippocampus are of particular concern to Professor Véronique Bohbot of McGill University's Department of Psychiatry.
The caudate nucleus is indeed involved in several neurological and psychiatric diseases, including depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, schizophrenia and Alzheimer's, says Bohbot,who has done a lot of research on the subject.
It would be important for Quebec to hear such experts before getting a head start.
Education Minister Jean-François Roberge has already endorsed the use of video games since elementary school "to exploit historical,
literary or graphic references," says his new Competency Framework. digital.
In fact, integrating a game like Minecraft into learning history, French, maths and ethics has yielded interesting results in some schools. But the education system will be more and more often questioned.
The Quebec Federation of Electronic Sports has submitted a file to the Ministère de l'Éducation for this activity to be recognized as a sport and to be eligible for a sports-study program eligible for financial support from the Ministère.
And high schools already offer a concentration in "electronic sport", most with the Esports Academy of Montreal.
What does Quebec think?
The government is committed to investing $ 2.5 million over three years in a campaign to prevent cyber addiction among 12-24 year olds.
That's good, but it should also ensure that the school system does not contribute to the harmful overuse of screens.
If the CAQ does not want to do it in a parliamentary committee, let it take another way, by appointing a committee
of experts or by ordering a report to its future health commissioner.
No doubt: video games are serious. Should they be integrated into the school curriculum? It's much less certain. Quebec should first look at the impact of screens on young people, as proposed recently by MP André Fortin.
The screens are not only interactive, they are also adhesive. How to take off children is a constant concern for many parents, including summer.
Is all this time spent playing and watching videos damaging?
The Health and Social Services Commission should examine the impact of digital devices on the health of young people,
suggested Liberal André Fortin last week.
For the party in power, which controls parliamentary committees, it is never very tempting to agree to such a request from the opposition. But this issue transcends party lines. One has only to think of the caquist Eric Cairo, who, in the midst of studying credits,
spoke with emotion about his son being treated for cyberdependence.
Proposals on cyberdependence and digital education of young people will be debated at the meeting of the commission of the succession of the CAQ in a few weeks. And in families so dear to the CAQ, few parents do not wonder about the relationship their children have with the screens.
Studies on exposure to various types of screens (cell, tablet, television, etc.) have also found disturbing associations, especially with overweight, inattention and depression, Quebec Science magazine reported in the spring. .
If we are still far from having an answer to everything, we know enough to be concerned.More hours spent playing video games, using the Internet or watching TV are associated with lower levels of academic achievement, physical activity, attachment to school and self-esteem, says Professor Caroline Fitzpatrick, from Université Sainte-Anne, in a scientific article published last spring.
Video games that overstimulate the brain's reward system and favor the use of the caudate nucleus to the detriment of the hippocampus are of particular concern to Professor Véronique Bohbot of McGill University's Department of Psychiatry.
The caudate nucleus is indeed involved in several neurological and psychiatric diseases, including depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, schizophrenia and Alzheimer's, says Bohbot,who has done a lot of research on the subject.
It would be important for Quebec to hear such experts before getting a head start.
Education Minister Jean-François Roberge has already endorsed the use of video games since elementary school "to exploit historical,
literary or graphic references," says his new Competency Framework. digital.
In fact, integrating a game like Minecraft into learning history, French, maths and ethics has yielded interesting results in some schools. But the education system will be more and more often questioned.
The Quebec Federation of Electronic Sports has submitted a file to the Ministère de l'Éducation for this activity to be recognized as a sport and to be eligible for a sports-study program eligible for financial support from the Ministère.
And high schools already offer a concentration in "electronic sport", most with the Esports Academy of Montreal.
What does Quebec think?
The government is committed to investing $ 2.5 million over three years in a campaign to prevent cyber addiction among 12-24 year olds.
That's good, but it should also ensure that the school system does not contribute to the harmful overuse of screens.
If the CAQ does not want to do it in a parliamentary committee, let it take another way, by appointing a committee
of experts or by ordering a report to its future health commissioner.
Thank you for your visit