Regent Park Youth Discuss the Merits and Problems of Screen Time

By Daiem Mohammad
Daiem is a community journalist with FOCUS MEDIA ARTS CENTRE, working as a volunteer under the direction of Dimitrije Martinovic and Fred Alvarado, journalists with the Local Journalism Initiative, funded by the Government of Canada).

It wasn’t so long ago that young people growing up in the low-income community of Regent Park, once Canada’s largest community housing complex, would venture outside their community to neighbuorhoods and the city beyond.   Today, with the popularity and use of cell phones, Regent Park youth have the world at their fingertips. 

The advent of modern technology is something that shook the core of the world. It fundamentally changed the way we perceive our own humanity, has changed our habits, exposes us to new worlds, connects us to the larger world, and has completely uprooted the established normality of the upbringing of young people. The current generation of young adults, teenagers, and kids are growing up in a world with resources that would be beyond belief to previous generations of Regent Parkers just a few decades ago. 

Because these young people were born into a world where these technological advancements were in the process of being made as they grew up, they lack the context and are completely oblivious to the idea of a culture without things like the internet and the myriad of applications that come with a cell phone. At any given time, a young person today carries what would be the equivalent of a camera, a photo album, an audio recorder, a flashlight, a calculator, a notebook,   a record player (and record collection), a calendar, a wristwatch, a stopwatch, an alarm clock, and a map of the world in their pocket. 

In this episode of 4GetAboutIt TV’s, four youth from Regent Park, Daiem Mohammad, Saima Islam, Jamelia Parnell, and Samir Abdella, sit and discuss how much time they really spend using their cell phones. They discuss the merits of said screen time, whether or not it is a bad thing and how it affects their psyche. We also get to see the group discuss their feelings and experiences towards Tiktok, a popular video-sharing app that has taken the market by storm. Expect tons of laughs, a game of Rock, Paper, Scissors, and insightful discussion on this episode of 4GetAboutit TV.