Which of the following would be an example of the second explanation the author offers?
Every few months a new study reports that screen time is harming teenagers. The studies are usually correlations: children who spend more time online also report lower wellbeing. But a correlation can be explained in several ways. Perhaps screens cause unhappiness; perhaps unhappy teenagers retreat to their screens; perhaps a third factor, such as poor sleep or family conflict, drives both. The honest summary is that we do not yet know. That does not mean we should do nothing. Where the cost of a precaution is low, as with keeping phones out of bedrooms overnight, it is reasonable to act while research continues. What is unreasonable is to present the correlation as proof of damage, or to dismiss it on the grounds that correlation is not causation.
Answer and explanation
Correct answer: B. Teenagers who feel isolated at school spend long hours online
- Step 1: The second explanation is that unhappy teenagers retreat to their screens, so low wellbeing leads to screen use.
- Step 2: Only the isolation example has that direction of cause.
Answer
Teenagers who feel isolated at school spend long hours online.
Why not the others: The video-games example has screens causing tiredness (first explanation); the family conflict example is a third factor; the reading example and the bedroom example do not fit.
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