Only a few young generations have experienced screen time at the level of daily use that is standard today. In “What Screen Time Can Really Do to Kids’ Brains” Liraz Margalit, a Ph.D. in Psychology, states some educational advantages of technology use for children and explores the negative side effects of hours spent viewing and interacting with screens. Among the positives, Margalit mentions the development of communication skills and learning opportunities are intuitive and abundant.
However, to be an effective tool for the educational development of children, its use must be limited. Dr. Aric Sigman warns that too much screen time may have the adverse effects such as decreased ability to focus and difficulty sensing others attitudes. The key is when and how much, screen time should be most regulated during the first three years of a child’s life, this is the period that “medical circles” refer to as the critical period.
Margalit then offers fair reasoning that excessive stimuli and “the ability to process multiple actions simultaneously” is what causes the sort of attention deficit warned about.
The advice is actually very lenient by my own standards. Any activity that people conduct so frequently should be studied for addictive properties, especially relatively emergent activities such as screen time.
Sarah Domoff, a research professor at the University of Michigan echoed the same notion that screen addiction was best caught early between the ages of four and eleven. Where Domoff differed from Margalit was the analysis of what constitutes the issue. Domoff listed warning signs of screen addiction that wasn’t dependent on the amount of time spent on screens but on the behavior exhibited because of screen time or lack thereof. Some of the traits listed were a loss of interest in other activities, frustration when screen time is limited, and causing problems with other aspects of their life. “Kids who use media in unhealthy ways have problems with relationships, conduct, and other emotional symptoms,” Domoff said.
So far, my focus has been on the causes of screen time addiction and the related symptoms. I wonder though if the data is skewed by the fact that generally, every child has some exposure to screen time. Behavioral differences would be most evident at the extremes of no screen time vs a lot of screen time. Although, I am unsure if the comparison to a child with no screen time as a controlled variable would be realistic considering that zero daily screen time for anyone is practically unheard of nowadays.
I found it interesting that one of your sources explained how it was important to regulate screen time in the first three years of life. I agree with your point that, this is somewhat lenient. I think screen time should be regulated for as long as a parent can control it. I have four kids, aged 16-11, and I can attest that as they get older regulating screen time becomes more difficult. I do believe that too much screen time can impact children negatively, but I also wonder how much of the behavior would have presented if there were no screen time. Does personality play a role in the negative behaviors that are being blamed on screen time? I think more long-term observation and research is needed to fully understand the impact. Thank you for sharing.
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