If this was the London Olympic Games we could be proud, but unfortunately, this ‘victory’ is not something that should bring a smile to any Jewish home. Perhaps the publishing of the report at this time has a hidden relevance as the secular and torah worlds in Israel are clashing over the issue of “sharing the burden”.
This report confirms the lack of values in secular Israeli society for in chareidi homes, generally speaking there are no televisions or internet. Not too many years ago Israelis led in surveys such as reading books but it appears in the secular modern 21st Century country, this is a thing of the past.
According to a World Health Organization report, Israeli youth between the ages of 11-15 are in first place for the amount of hours spent daily surfing the internet. Over 28.5% spend at least four hours surfing. Israel takes the silver medal, second place, in the number of hours daily watching television as well.
Dr. Harel-Fisch of Bar-Ilan University is the WHO organization’s chief researcher in Israel and he reports that the findings that Israeli youth today spend most of their free time in front of a computer of television should be most worrisome.
Harel-Fish blames the social networks, primarily Facebook, and warns parents that the hours dedicated to cyberspace entertainment may not yield desired results. Regarding television, the number has dropped actually for in 2002, 47% of the youth in this category spent four hours daily watching while in 2011that number dropped to 35.8%, signaling more youths are moving to the internet.
The doctor points out the drop in daily TV hours is nothing to applaud for they simply exchanged the television screen for the computer screen.
The doctor explains that over 60% of Israeli youth spend at least four hours in front of one screen or another while 30% spend a minimum of eight hours daily.
Following are some others rankings released in the study:
4 Hours or More Daily Internet (11 to 15-year-olds)
1st place – Israel (28.5%)
2nd place – Romania (27.2%)
3rd place – Macedonia (18.1%)
4th place – Russia (17.3%)
5th place – Angola (16.8%)
15th place – Armenia (12.7%)
26th place – Germany (9.6%)
35th place – USA (6.9%)
Last place – Switzerland (3.8%)
4 Hours or More Daily TV (11 to 15-year-olds)
1st place – Armenia (36.1%)
2nd place – Israel (35.8%)
3rd place – Romania (29.8%)
4th place – Slovakia (27.5%)
15th place – England (22.7%)
20th place – USA (19.7%)
28th place – Germany (15.9%)
36th place – Iceland (10%)
Last place – Switzerland (6.7%)
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
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9 Responses
“If this was the London Olympic Games we could be proud”
Our ancestors went to war against Greek culture – the worship of the physical, the body, sports – and yes the Olympics! – but in the merit of their putting the spiritual and holiness above Greek values were granted a miraculous victory! We were granted the festival of Hanukkah every year since then to commemorate that… I’m not sure how happy or proud they would be with their descendants going back to that culture once again!
No doubt most of those hours the Israeli youth are surfing YWN’s articles. Those in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones.
This is surely because the Israeli school system lets the kids have too many hours free in the afternoons. The kids are free from 2 and have nothing else to do.
I wonder til when the Swiss school day lasts…..
Google “Israeli whiz kids” to find out why they rank the highest on internet surfing, and how they are benefiting!
i think its mainly because israeli kids have the most spare time – they finish school at 1.00pm and have the whole afternoon free unless their parents pay extra for them to go to after school clubs. and most that age have parents who are out working til 5 or 6 in the evening so if they’re at home all afternoon what else should they do?
what is it with Switzerland being in last place? What are parents over there keeping their kids busy with that keeps them off the internet/t.v.?
How exactly does it “confirm the lack of values in Israeli society?” Because it really doesn’t. You don’t know if Israelis are spending time on the Internet doing things like reading the news, or doing one of the other wholesome enriching things that one can in fact do on the internet, or something else. Your conjecture is as much a smear as you accuse the seculars of doing to you.
Tsk.
Baal Habooze why money counting of course its the national pastime.
you are correct #7 (2pence). The loshon hara never stops. What makes it most upsetting is that this is loshon hara that comes from people who appear to be frum, and during the 3 weeks yet!?!? We never seem to learn from the sin of the miraglim! Right, right, right – we don’t have to keep the halochos of loshon hara when it comes to “those people” because blah blah blah…