Limiting screen times – The daily blog of behavioral and cognitive economics

Can This City Make Residents Put Down Their Smartphones?

The authorities in Toyoake, Japan, introduced a rule limiting the use of digital devices to two hours per day outside of work and school. Some residents say it is an overreach. The idea came to Masafumi Kouki, the energetic mayor of the Japanese city of Toyoake, on a summer day as he pondered rising truancy rates at local schools. Toyoake’s nearly 68,000 residents, especially children, seemed increasingly addicted to their digital devices, he thought, so why not try to reduce the amount of time they spent staring at screens? ….[READ]