手機如今成為很多孩子的必備品，也被很多人視為干擾孩子正常生活的“新毒品”。英國一位專家警告說，給孩子一部手機堪比給他們一克可卡因。

Giving your child a smartphone is like “giving them a gram of cocaine”, a top addiction therapist has warned.
一位頂級的成癮治療師警告說，給孩子一部智能手機就好像“給他們一克可卡因”。

Time spent messaging friends on Snapchat and Instagram can be just as dangerously addictive for teenagers as drugs and alcohol, and should be treated as such, school leaders and teachers were told at an education conference in London.
在倫敦一次教育會議上，學校領導和教師們被告知，在Snapchat和Instagram上花時間給朋友們發消息對青少年來說很上癮，這種上癮的危險性可能和毒品及酒精類似，應被同樣對待。

Speaking alongside experts in technology addiction and adolescent development, Harley Street rehab clinic specialist Mandy Saligari said screen time was too often overlooked as a potential vehicle for addiction in young people.
在與技術上癮和青少年發展的專家一起交談時，哈利街戒癮診所的專家曼迪-薩利嘉里說，屏幕時間也是讓年輕人上癮的潛在媒介，但常被人們忽視。

“I always say to people, when you’re giving your kid a tablet or a phone, you’re really giving them a bottle of wine or a gram of coke,” she said.
她說：“我經常對人們說，當你給孩子平板電腦或手機時，其實你是給了他們一瓶酒或者一克可卡因。”

“Why do we pay so much less attention to those things than we do to drugs and alcohol when they work on the same brain impulses?”
“這能帶來和毒品與酒精一樣的大腦刺激，但為什么和毒品及酒精相比，我們對此卻如此忽略呢？”

Her comments follow news that children as young as 13 are being treated for digital technology – with a third of British children aged 12-15 admitting they do not have a good balance between screen time and other activities.
此前有新聞稱，接受數字技術上癮治療的孩子年齡低至13歲。英國12到15歲的孩子中有三分之一承認他們沒有在屏幕時間和其他活動之間保持良好平衡。

“When people tend to look at addiction, their eyes tend to be on the substance or thing – but really it’s a pattern of behavior that can manifest itself in a number of different ways,” Ms Saligari said, naming food obsessions, self-harm and sexting as examples.
薩利嘉里女士拿食物上癮、自我傷害和色情短信舉例說：“當人們關注上癮時，總是把焦點放在實質性的事物上面，但其實這是一種行為模式，可以以不同的方式表現出來。”

Concern has grown recently over the number of young people seen to be sending or receiving pornographic images, or accessing age inappropriate content online through their devices.
近來，人們越來越關注通過手機發送或接收色情圖片、或者在網絡上瀏覽與年齡不相符的內容的年輕人數量。

Ms Saligari, who heads the Harley Street Charter clinic in London, said around two thirds of her patients were 16-20 year-olds seeking treatment for addiction – a “dramatic increase” on ten years ago - but many of her patients were even younger.
倫敦哈利街特許診所的薩利嘉里女士說，在向她尋求戒癮治療的病人中，大約三分之二年齡在16歲到20歲之間，這比十年前“大幅上升”，但很多病人年齡更小。

In a recent survey of more than 1,500 teachers, around two-thirds said they were aware of pupils sharing sexual content, with as many as one in six of those involved of primary school age.
在最近針對1500多名教師的調查中，大約有三分之二表示他們知道有學生分享與性有關的內容，其中有六分之一是小學生。

More than 2,000 children have been reported to police for crimes linked to indecent images in the past three years.
在過去三年間，超過2000名孩子因與下流圖片有關的犯罪行為被報告給警方。

“So many of my clients are 13 and 14 year-old-girls who are involved in sexting, and describe sexting as ‘completely normal’,” said Ms Saligari.
薩利嘉里女士說：“我的病人中很多是13歲到14歲的女孩，她們參與發送色情短信，并且認為這‘完全正常’”。

Many young girls in particular believe that sending a picture of themselves naked to someone on their mobile phone is “normal”, and that it only becomes “wrong” when a parent or adult finds out, she added.
她補充說，尤其是很多年輕女孩認為用手機給別人發送一張自己的裸照“很正常”，只有被父母或者成年人發現時才會成為“錯誤”。

Ofcom figures suggest more than four in ten parents of 12-15 year-olds find it hard to control their children’s screen time.
英國通信管理局的數據顯示，12歲到15歲孩子的父母中，超過四成發現控制孩子的屏幕時間很困難。

Even three and four year olds consume an average of six and half hours of internet time per week, according to the broadcasting regulators.
據該機構的數據，甚至連三四歲的幼兒每周上網時間平均都在6.5小時。

英文來源：獨立報
翻譯&編審：yaning