?? Screens and teens

Hello

If, like me, you‘re the parent of a teen or a tween who’s constantly glued to their phone, you’ll no doubt worry about the impact of all that time spent online. And a documentary being shown on telly tonight probably won’t do much to ease those fears.

MRI scans conducted for ITV’s Tonight programme Smartphones: Time To Live Without Them? showed how the brain reacts to pleasurable experiences such as browsing social media. And it found teenagers are more susceptible than adults to becoming addicted to smartphones as their brains are still developing.

Ciara McCabe, a professor of neuroscience and mental health, said that’s because while an adult brain knows when to stop, teenagers don’t have the same fully developed control centre - making them more prone to addictive behaviour.?

“There's evidence to suggest that adolescent brains or teenage brains respond differently and in particular to rewarding experiences than the adult brain,” said the professor.

Libby, from Bolton, is among those taking part in the documentary. The 17-year-old, who averages nine hours a day online, agrees to swap her smartphone with her grandad Alan’s 'brick' phone, with no access to the internet or social media, for four days.

And the results are pretty dramatic. Following the experiment Libi completed a psychologist’s questionnaire and reported feeling more positive and happier without the distraction of her phone, and that her sleep quality had massively improved.

?“I'll definitely change moving forward,” said Libby. “It has opened my eyes to the fact that I've got so much more to do in life.”

Alan, on the other hand, found having a smartphone a 'nightmare' and said: "I just wonder how she gets through the day because I counted up the other day. There were 290 notifications on the phone."?James Holt has more here??

More TNT vicar?

There were dramatic scenes in Withington yesterday as the bomb squad were called out to a church coffee morning. What started as a show and tell session between two history buffs at St Paul's Church ended in a huge emergency services response as a busy stretch of road came to a standstill.

It’s understood the drama was sparked by an innocent encounter between a churchgoing military enthusiast and a member of the clergy. One of the congregation had brought in some artefacts that had been gathering dust in their home for 20 years - only to find out the collection included a live shell from the Battle of the Somme.

Thankfully it was detonated in a controlled explosion without anyone coming to harm. And it gave Manchester Evening News print editor Paul Smith the chance to produce this pun-filled front page for today’s paper.? Greta Simpson has more here

The 12 year waiting list

Families in Stockport living in 'dire' overcrowded conditions could face waits of up to 12 years to get a council home, it has emerged. A new report revealed there are now more than 8,000 people on the waiting list.

And one councillor said the actual figure could be 'double' that when accounting for family members and partners. Staggeringly around 5,000 are classed as in 'urgent' need and could be facing homelessness, eviction, or living in overcrowded conditions.? Declan Carey has more here

‘We don’t know a lot of the time’

If you’ve not already come down with a cough, cold or the flu this autumn, you almost certainly know someone who has. But the problem is most people aren't sure what they're suffering from.

And for GPs it's no easier to discern exactly what their patients have come down with.With the NHS warning against a 'tripledemic' of viruses this winter, including Covid, flu and RSV respiratory infections, Bolton GP Helen Wall told health reporter Helena Vesty of the difficulties her profession is facing right now.“

We’re seeing a lot of people feeling generally unwell right now. Coughing, achey, feverish. As doctors, we don’t know how to tell a lot of the time. There are some who say this Covid variant might be more severe – but actually, how do we know?

“The only people being tested are in hospital, and they’re going to be the most sick. We’ve probably got a lot of Covid in the community circulating. We just have to treat all coughs and colds based on how unwell the patient is."? Read more

Where do Manchester United go from here?

After Thomas Tuchel was unveiled as the new England manager, where do Manchester United go from here? That’s the question chief United writer Samuel Luckhurst is asking today.

And the answer might be somewhere quite close to home.

Weather etc

Friday: Partly cloudy changing to sunny by late morning, 16C.

Roadworks: Chestergate in Stockport town centre is in both directions closed due to roadworks between Travis Brow and King Street West.

Manchester headlines

Blaze:?Firefighters spent the morning battling a huge blaze on an industrial estate in Stockport. It broke out on Cromwell Road in the Bredbury area around midnight. Pictures showed huge plumes of smoke coming from the scene. Read more

Teen tragedy:?A 'bright and bubbly' 14-year-old girl died of liver failure just a day after a donor was found and a major operation was planned to save her life. Maisie Almond, from Stalybridge, who dreamed of becoming an accountant and had plans to backpack around the world with her friends, died on October 2 - just two weeks after first complaining of a tummy ache. More here

Car park death:?A man has been found dead in a car park stairwell at Manchester Royal Infirmary. Police were called to the scene at around 6am today. There are not believed to be any suspicious circumstances surrounding his death.

Worth a read

As the fight to save Salford Lads Club continues, chief reporter Neal Keeling has spoken to one young man who knows more than most just how valuable it is. Blaine Haney, 19, has volunteered at the club for the last six years, runs the girls football team and? credits it with helping him transform his life.

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