Aric is a health education specialist and he has published medical papers on this subject.

He challenged the Sixth Form to reflect on how much time they spend on ‘recreational’ screen time and presented medical research evidence, which suggests that too much time spent on screen activities can adversely affect physical and mental health, social skills and relationships as well as academic achievement. Excessive screen time and the blue light on screens can also disrupt sleep. 9 hours’ sleep is recommended for the Sixth Form and Aric emphasised that this is vital for good mental health and for consolidation of memory. Insufficient sleep prevents deeper learning and is also linked with obesity and Type II diabetes. Aric recommended limiting recreational screen time to no more than 2 hours per day and encouraged students to dedicate more time to offline activities. Students asked questions about effects on eyesight (not good), listening to music (calm, instrumental is best) and small children (human interaction is best for developing communication skills). This was a revealing talk and a prompt to use our time wisely. Thank you, Aric!