7News Spotlight: May 12

On Sunday 7NEWS Spotlight investigates the growing epidemic of screen addiction among young people, featuring scientific evidence of how technology is shrinking young minds and fuelling violence.

Host Michael Usher says, “It’s a problem we’ve all spoken about in families but have no easy answers,” he said. “The kids and families we follow need help. They’re being lost in cyberspace. But why isn’t this addiction being given urgent attention by the government and the gaming companies earning billions of dollars.

“We ask them why they’re letting our kids get hooked, without help.”

7NEWS Spotlight goes inside households across Australia to show the scale of this growing crisis, meeting desperate parents in the grips of dealing with their children’s tech addictions and associated emotional and aggressive behaviour. Renowned experts and leading authorities on gaming disorders, Professor Wayne Warburton and psychologist Brad Marshall, offer invaluable insights into the severity of the problem.

But there is hope, as 7NEWS Spotlight outlines the techniques parents can adopt right now to beat their children’s growing addition to tech. Cameras follow a group of four despairing families as they embark on two experimental detox methods currently available in Australia in the hope they can bring their children back into the “real world”.

Sunday at 8.40pm on Seven.