Half of Teenagers in US and Japan ‘Addicted’ to Smartphones

一半的美国和日本青少年沉溺智能手机不能自拔

About half of teenagers in the United States and Japan say they are “addicted” to their smartphones.

将近一半的美国和日本青少年表示，自己沉溺于智能手机不能自拔。

To be addicted means an individual is unable to stop doing something -- in this case, using the telephones.

沉溺的意思是个体不能停止去做某件事情——而在这里我们指的是使用手机。

University of Southern California, or USC researchers asked 1,200 Japanese about their use of electronic devices. The researchers are with the Walter Annenberg School for Communications and Journalism. Their findings were compared with an earlier study on digital media use among families in North America.

南加利福尼亚大学的研究人员调查了1200名日本人关于他们使用智能设备的情况。沃尔特安尼伯格通信与新闻学院的人员和研究人员们一起进行了此次调查。之后研究人员将得出的结果与之前对北美家庭使用数字媒体的结果进行了对比。

Willow Bay is head of the Annenberg School. She said, “Advances in digital media and mobile devices are changing the way we engage not only with the world around us, but also with the people who are the closest to us.”

威罗·贝伊是安尼伯格传播学院的院长。威罗表示，数字媒体和移动设备的革新不仅改变了我们与周围世界交流的方式，同时也改变了与身边最亲密人的沟通方式。

James Steyer is founder of Common Sense Media, an organization which helped with the study.

詹姆斯·斯太尔是常识媒体机构的创建者，这个机构推动了研究的进行。

He said, “This is a really big deal. Just think about it, 10 years ago we didn’t even have smart phones.”

詹姆斯表示：“技术的进步真的是一件了不起的事情。想一想，10年之前，我们根本就没有智能手机。”

Among the findings in the USC report: 50 percent of American teenagers and 45 percent of Japanese teens feel addicted to their mobile phones.

USC研究结果表示，50%的美国青少年和45%的日本青少年沉溺于手机。

Sixty-one percent of Japanese parents believe their children are addicted to the devices. That compares to 59 percent of the American parents who were asked.

受访的61%的日本家长认为自己的孩子离不开这些设备。相比而言，59%的美国家长持有此观点。

Also, more than one in three Japanese parents feel they have grown dependent on electronic devices, compared to about one in four American parents.

此外，超过三分之一的日本家长表示自己也依赖电子设备，而此类美国家长只占四分之一。

Leaving your phone at home is ‘one of the worst things’

把手机忘在家里是最糟糕的事情

“Nowadays, one of the worst things that can happen to us is, like, oh, I left my phone at home,” said Alissa Caldwell, a student at the American School in Tokyo. She spoke at the USC Global Conference 2017, which was held in Tokyo.

“现在，我们发生的最糟糕的事情之一，把自己的手机落家里了”艾莉莎·考德韦尔是一名学生。目前求学于东京的美国学校。在于东京举办的2017年USC全球会议上，她发表了上述言论。

A majority of Japanese and American parents said their teenagers used mobile devices too much. But only 17 percent of Japanese teens agreed that they use their devices too much. In the United States, 52 percent of teens said they are spending too much time on mobile devices.

大多数日本和美国家长表示，自己的孩子过度依赖移动设备。但是仅有17%的日本青少年同意自己过多使用移动设备，而这一比例在美国青少年中占52%。

Many respond immediately to messages

多数人会立刻回复消息

About seven-in-10 American teens said they felt a need to react quickly to mobile messages, compared to about half of Japanese teens.

约有十分之七的美国青少年表示，他们觉得有必要立刻回复手机消息，而这一比例在日本青少年中仅占约二分之一。

In Japan, 38 percent of parents and 48 percent of teens look at and use their devices at least once an hour. In the United States, 69 percent of parents and 78 percent of teens say they use their devices every hour.

38%的日本家长和48%的日本青少年至少每小时会查看或者使用手机一次，而69%的美国家长和78%的美国青少年表示，他们每小时都在使用手机。

Naturally, that hourly usage stops when people are sleeping, the researchers said.

当然，研究人员表示，这个每小时使用的频率会在人们睡眠的时候停止。

The devices are a greater cause of conflict among teens and parents in the United States than in Japan. One in three U.S. families reported having an argument every day about mobile device use. Only about one in six Japanese families say they fight every day over mobile devices.

与日本相比，智能手机是美国青少年和家长产生冲突的更大的导火索。三分之一的美国家庭表示每天都会由于使用这些移动设备发生争吵。而这一数据在日本家庭中仅占六分之一。

Care more about devices than your children?

与自己的孩子相比，你是否更关心你的手机呢?

But 20 percent of Japanese teens said they sometimes feel that their parents think their mobile device is more important than they are. The percentage of U.S. teens saying they feel this way is six percent.

但是五分之一的日本青少年表示有时候觉得父母认为他们的手机比儿女更重要。而这一比例在美国青少年中仅占6%。

In the United States, 15 percent of parents say their teens’ use of mobile devices worsens the family’s personal relationships. Eleven percent of teens feel their parents’ use of mobile devices is not good for their relationship.

15%的美国父母表示，青少年使用移动设备会恶化家庭人际关系。而11%的青少年认为父母使用移动设备不利于家庭关系。

The USC research was based on an April 2017 study of 600 Japanese parents and 600 Japanese teenagers. Opinions from American parents and teenagers were collected in a study done earlier by Common Sense Media.

此项研究是基于2017年4月对600名日本家长和600明天日本青少年的调查进行的。而美国家长和青少年的意见取材于之前常识媒体做的调查。

Willow Bay, the Annenberg School of Communications dean, said the research raises critical questions about the effect of digital devices on family life.

威罗·贝伊,安尼伯格传播学院的院长,表示，此项研究提出了数字设备对家庭生活影响相关的重要问题。

She said the cultural effects may differ from country to country, but “this is clearly a global issue.”

她还表示，文化影响在各个国家可能会有差异，但是手机效应显然是一个全球问题。

I’m Bruce Alpert. And I'm Jill Robbins.

布鲁斯·阿尔伯特，吉尔·罗宾斯为您报道。

Half of Teenagers in US and Japan ‘Addicted’ to Smartphones

About half of teenagers in the United States and Japan say they are “addicted” to their smartphones.

To be addicted means an individual is unable to stop doing something -- in this case, using the telephones.

University of Southern California, or USC researchers asked 1,200 Japanese about their use of electronic devices. The researchers are with the Walter Annenberg School for Communications and Journalism. Their findings were compared with an earlier study on digital media use among families in North America.

Willow Bay is head of the Annenberg School. She said, “Advances in digital media and mobile devices are changing the way we engage not only with the world around us, but also with the people who are the closest to us.”

James Steyer is founder of Common Sense Media, an organization which helped with the study.

He said, “This is a really big deal. Just think about it, 10 years ago we didn’t even have smart phones.”

Among the findings in the USC report: 50 percent of American teenagers and 45 percent of Japanese teens feel addicted to their mobile phones.

Sixty-one percent of Japanese parents believe their children are addicted to the devices. That compares to 59 percent of the American parents who were asked.

Also, more than one in three Japanese parents feel they have grown dependent on electronic devices, compared to about one in four American parents.

Leaving your phone at home is ‘one of the worst things’

“Nowadays, one of the worst things that can happen to us is, like, oh, I left my phone at home,” said Alissa Caldwell, a student at the American School in Tokyo. She spoke at the USC Global Conference 2017, which was held in Tokyo.

A majority of Japanese and American parents said their teenagers used mobile devices too much. But only 17 percent of Japanese teens agreed that they use their devices too much. In the United States, 52 percent of teens said they are spending too much time on mobile devices.

Many respond immediately to messages

About seven-in-10 American teens said they felt a need to react quickly to mobile messages, compared to about half of Japanese teens.

In Japan, 38 percent of parents and 48 percent of teens look at and use their devices at least once an hour. In the United States, 69 percent of parents and 78 percent of teens say they use their devices every hour.

Naturally, that hourly usage stops when people are sleeping, the researchers said.

The devices are a greater cause of conflict among teens and parents in the United States than in Japan. One in three U.S. families reported having an argument every day about mobile device use. Only about one in six Japanese families say they fight every day over mobile devices.

Care more about devices than your children?

But 20 percent of Japanese teens said they sometimes feel that their parents think their mobile device is more important than they are. The percentage of U.S. teens saying they feel this way is six percent.

In the United States, 15 percent of parents say their teens’ use of mobile devices worsens the family’s personal relationships. Eleven percent of teens feel their parents’ use of mobile devices is not good for their relationship.

The USC research was based on an April 2017 study of 600 Japanese parents and 600 Japanese teenagers. Opinions from American parents and teenagers were collected in a study done earlier by Common Sense Media.

Willow Bay, the Annenberg School of Communications dean, said the research raises critical questions about the effect of digital devices on family life.

She said the cultural effects may differ from country to country, but “this is clearly a global issue.”

I’m Bruce Alpert.And I'm Jill Robbins.

________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

smartphone – n. a telephone with computer software programs

digital - adj. using or characterized by computer technology

advance - v. to move forward

engage - v. to do something

mobile – adj. something with the ability to be moved; changeable