Keller @ Large: Internet Addiction Crackdown

BOSTON (CBS) - To the surprise of no one who's either grown up during the explosion of social media and the wireless internet or raised a child through it, the entirely predictable negative effects of constant electronic multitasking have become apparent.

Listen to Jon's commentary:

The Globe reported yesterday that local colleges are starting to crackdown on internet addiction, and you wonder what took so long. A 2009 study by researchers at Stanford found that students who were always surfing the web or checking their blackberries were easily distracted from their work, their writing suffered, and their ability to focus effectively on any given task or topic was impaired. And surprise, surprise, their social skills showed signs of withering away.

The Globe quotes the author of the study noting: "There is not much emotional content on Facebook. You essentially have a generation that is becoming socially autistic because they lack the practicing skills to navigate social and emotional life.''

So, many schools – and the students themselves – are starting to take action.

At the University of Chicago, there's no internet access in lecture halls; at a number of schools, individual professors - sick of competing with shopping and chatting - have banned laptops and handheld devices from class. At Holy Cross, they have so-called "silent retreats" to show the kids what life is like without their gadgets.

And at Tufts, there's no web-surfing allowed in the chapel.

Isn't it sad that they felt they had to even make a rule like that?

We all enjoy the convenience and access to information the web and all its related toys give us. But you don't have to be a genius to see that they are no substitute for real human contact, real conversation, and good old-fashioned thinking.

I predict that the enterprising college that makes itself an entirely web-free zone outside of specific academic uses will be home to a happier, more productive student body and faculty. And you wonder when our high schools will figure this out and take action as well.

You can listen to Keller At Large on WBZ News Radio every weekday at 7:55 a.m. and 12:25 p.m. You can also watch Jon on WBZ-TV News.