6 THE VOICE, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2016

EDITOR ANNA TILLEY

lewpoints

Sleep should
come before
our screens

Ithough in this day and age
fs Vas time is something

almost unavoidable, people
must learn how to put down
technology to gain the sleep they
truly need.

With our current technology-
fuelled society, it’s hard to put our
phones down. For those, like myself,
who have experienced insomnia, it’s
even more difficult. Doctors will
prescribe screen-free time before
bed, which can be seriously difficult
if most of your life or work exists in

a screen.

People are
busier than ever.
Smartphones,
tablets and
laptops are
consuming more
and more of our
time.

Social media
and texting are
major culprits,
but if you’re a
busy person,
you’re using your phone and laptop
late into the night for work and are
perhaps unaware that technology is
disrupting much-needed sack-time.

In a Norwegian study, published
in the online journal BMJ Open, it
was found that the more you stare at
a screen before bed, the worse the
quality of your sleep will be. Screens
throw off our circadian rhythm, that
internal clock that tells us when it’s
time to wake up and fall asleep.

But how do busy people avoid
screens at night?

Create a bedtime routine. Send
those last-minute emails, texts and
tweets an hour before you want to
be asleep.

If you must look at your phone
(can’t the cat memes wait until the
morning?), adjust the light. Blue
light has been said to be particularly
harmful, but the iPhone’s newest
update comes with a nightshift
feature that changes the screen to
warmer tones.

Turn that time you used to spend
tossing and turning into waking up
an hour earlier, feeling refreshed.

Using your phone as alarm clock
is a bad idea. If you must, set your
phone to night shift, and turn off all
notifications while you sleep.

Of course, not all late-night screen
time is used for work. Apps such as
Twitter brings in users before bed
as well. But overall, sleep is more
important than tweets and cat
memes. Your body will thank you.

OPINION

LAUREN BOOTHBY

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ore like Pokémon No

ith the cold season upon

us, it’s now time for

Pokémon Go, the game

that captured hearts over
the summer, to be laid to rest.

Year after year people are finding
more ways to look down at a screen
rather then up to nature. Pokémon
Go has turned people into “gotta
catch em all” robots, and it’s time for
that to end.

People argue that Pokémon Go
gets people outside and active. This
may be true that the app caused
many to spend time outside (at
really any hour), but were they
really outside mentally? Not likely.

People need to better appreciate
what nature has to offer. The ability
to turn off everything, without
anxiety, is very important.

Pokémon Go had players outside,
but they weren’t appreciating their
surroundings.

Users weren’t out for the sake of
taking in fresh air or to enjoy the
company of others. They were out
for one reason only, to catch
Pokémon.

Not only did this app cause users
to ignore how beautiful their
surroundings were, it also caused
mindless and dangerous accidents.

People crossed highways, played
while driving, and in one incident,
two men fell off a cliff. These
accidents all occurred in the pursuit
of something that isn’t even really
there.

The nostalgia Pokémon Go
provided is something to appreciate,
but overall, it has had its time. It’s

just another app that took up a big
chunk of users day to day lives, and
fueled society’s appreciation of
technology over nature.

Throughout the
upcoming months
of falling leaves
and frosty
windows,
hopefully
Pokémon Go
quietly and
respectfully
disappears off
phones and
allowing its users
to look up and
appreciate life
just a little more. There’s a whole
world out there that doesn’t need an
app to be explored.

OPINION

ANNA TILLEY

VERONNICA MacKILLOP comic

Science literacy is needed for all

essential for every person living

in Canada, but according to
Langara College, scientific literacy
is something only science students
need rather than every student.

Next January, Langara will

introduce two science literacy cours-
es to its science program. This takes
a solid step towards helping its
science students compete academi-
cally and profes-
sionally. Yet,
while these new
courses will
acknowledge the
essential role of
critical thinking

| being able to read, is

Or a
im Se
Nees’
A NY |
\

and communica- iS
tion in science,

the college OPI N ION
ignores the need

for those skills for BONNIE LEE

the rest of the LA MADELEINE

student population.

Science literacy extends beyond
professional success. It is a social
skill needed by everyone, regardless
of their proximity from the work of
scientists. If no effort is made to
improve the scientific literacy of the
population at large, the gap between
those who understand the role of
science in society and those who
don’t will grow wider.

As that gap grows, distrust in
science will increase. Our lives are
increasingly based on scientific and
technological advancements that
are more finely woven into our lives
than the screens all around us. Yet,
there are few of us who understand
the technical complexity or subtlety
of that integration.

A recent Ontario Science Centre
survey found that about 19 per cent
of Canadians rely on intuition when
making decisions about the food

they eat or the vaccinations they
give their children, and 40 per cent
of Canadians surveyed do not
understand enough about how
science is done to understand how
the climate is changing and why it
matters. These findings are similar
to those in the United States and the
United Kingdom.

Science literacy programs at
Langara should not focus solely on
the professional development of
science students; they should be a
part of every student’s education.
All Langara graduates should be
able to understand and assess
scientific insights and products. The
key to making informed choices in a
society now experimenting with
genetic and cyborg-like enhance-
ments, and experiencing daily
interactions with automation and
robotics, is an understanding of how
science works.

Fil fay ce)

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