Toddlers Who Have More Screen Time Have Fewer Conversations With Their Parents

Tuesday, March 5th, 2024

Today’s newsletter is: 908 words; 4 min.

KNEAD TO KNOW

The U.N. found “reasonable grounds” to believe Hamas committed sexual violence on October 7. The agency’s envoy focusing on sexual violence believes Hamas committed rape, sexualized torture, and other cruel and inhumane treatment of women during the attack.

The Supreme Court ruled Trump can stay on Colorado’s 2024 ballot. All nine justices agreed on the outcome of the case, but Justice Amy Coney Barret in a separate opinion and the Court’s three liberal members in another said their colleagues went too far in deciding who enforces Section 3 of the 14th Amendment and how it’s done.

Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito temporarily blocked a Texas law allowing the state to arrest migrants entering the U.S. The order freezes a lower court decision that would have allowed the law to go into effect this Sunday. 

French lawmakers made abortion a constitutional right. The country is the second in world history to enshrine abortion rights into its national constitution.

QUICK BITES

Toddlers Who Have More Screen Time Have Fewer Conversations With Their Parents

A new study by researchers at the University of Western Australia found, for every additional minute of screen time, children ages 12 to 36 months hear fewer adult words, speak fewer vocalizations of their own, and engage in fewer back-and-forth interactions.

Talk to your kids: 

• It’s widely known that children who grow up in language-rich environments receive developmental boosts, like stronger social skills, higher IQs, and potentially better brain functioning.

• The present study’s findings align with the concept of “technoference,” which suggests increases in screen time have reduced parent-child interactions across ages.

The Racial Turnout Gap Is Growing

A new report by the Brennan Center for Justice found the nationwide racial turnout gap (the difference in voting rates between white voters and voters of color) grew by 5 percentage points between 2010 and 2022.

Recent elections: 

• The turnout gap was around 12 percentage points in 2020, meaning, if voters of color had voted at the same rate as white voters, another 9 million ballots would have been cast. In 2022, it grew to 18 points, meaning another 14 million would have been cast.

• The report found the gap has grown nearly twice as fast in places that, until the Supreme Court’s 2013 Shelby County v. Holder decision, were subject to Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act, which provided federal oversight to ensure voting changes weren’t discriminatory (a process called “preclearance”). 

Daily Cannabis Use Is Linked to Heart Problems

A new study by researchers at the University of California, San Francisco found daily cannabis use (whether smoked, vaped, or eaten) is associated with a 25% higher risk of heart attack and a 42% higher risk of stroke, compared to no use. 

Smoking problems: 

• The study doesn’t draw causal connections between cannabis use and heart problems, but the researchers are nonetheless concerned about the potential impacts of smoking cannabis.

• Cannabis smoke isn’t all that different from tobacco smoke (aside from the psychoactive compound and social acceptability of each) and the findings suggest smoking cannabis (rather than eating or vaping it) may be as harmful as smoking tobacco.

PLAIN SMART

Carmakers Have to Bring Back Buttons in the E.U.

Euro NCAP, Europe’s automotive safety body, introduced new guidance for 2026, requiring carmakers to include physical buttons and switches to earn its highest safety rating.

• The organization is requiring five essential controls be performed by physical buttons or switches: turn signals, hazard lights, windshield wipers, the horn, and any SOS features (like the E.U.’s eCall system).

Taking aim:

If, like many people, you assumed cars would always have buttons, then the past few years have been one hell of a realization, especially if you’ve been in a newer car and dared to try to move your seat back or turn on the A/C. 

• Euro NCAP’s decision is aimed at reining in carmakers’ overreliance on touch screens, which the organization’s director of strategic development Matthew Avery says is “an industry-wide problem” that raises the risk of crashes due to distracted driving.

Why it matters:

The requirements aren’t mandatory (Euro NCAP doesn’t have that power), but carmakers that refuse to comply will lose valuable safety points, potentially costing it Euro NCAP’s coveted five-star rating.

• A five-star rating from Euro NCAP is a strong selling point – similar to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety’s coveted “Top Safety Pick” here in the U.S. – so the pressure won’t go unnoticed.

OVEN-FRESH STATS

• 350 - The number of LGBTQ+, civil rights groups, and public figures calling for the removal of Oklahoma superintendent of public instruction Ryan Walters. The move comes after Nex Benedict, a 16-year-old transgender student, died after being attacked in a bathroom at Owasso High School.

• $22 million - How much the hackers behind the Change Healthcare ransomware attack were paid in bitcoin on March 1. While it’s not yet clear whether the transaction was indeed a ransom payment, the firm that uncovered the transaction believes it likely is.

• 80 mph - The speed at which a 6.5-mile-long fracture formed in Antarctica’s Pine Island Glacier in 2012, the fastest glacier fracture ever recorded, according to a new study by researchers at the University of Washington. 

• $81.5 million - The domestic weekend box office for Dune 2, making it the year’s largest opening and the industry’s biggest since Taylor Swift’s concert film The Eras Tour premiered last October ($93 million).

EXTRA SCHMEAR

Long Video. Watch a mortician walk through every step a body goes through at a funeral home. (14 min) 

Short Video. Is Chandigarh the perfect city? (5 min)

Fun Video. Get a sneak peak at Fantasy Springs, coming soon to Tokyo Disneysea. (2 min) 

Good Read. Here’s what American men can learn from Danish masculinity. (947 words; 4 min)

Neat List. Jeff Bezos unseated Elon Musk atop the latest Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

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Written by Ryan Wittler