Screen time, technology, and kids
Screen time. What is a parent to do? When is the right time to introduce screens to your kids? How much is too much and how do you ensure that your kids are watching and interacting with quality apps and programs? Many thanks to Stephanie Putzier of Youngstown, OH for this excellent topic!
Successfully navigating and setting reasonable limitations on screen time is one of the more challenging aspect of modern parenting. Screens are everywhere. Often, it feels like avoiding them is nearly impossible. Of course screens are so convenient, kids love them, and it probably is the quickest way to quiet your child in a stressful situation. This being said, nearly every parent has probably wondered how much the screens may be harming their child versus how much benefit a child may be gaining by being seemingly engaged by an “educational” app.
Many organizations and researchers are working to answer these questions. This is a rapidly evolving field and we are learning more every day of the risks and benefits of screen time for our children. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has devoted considerable resources to studying this topic. In 2016, the AAP published a report that outlined guidelines for parents to help provide a framework for how to best introduce and utilize screens with our children. In summary, the report recommends the following:
No media use at all for children under the age of 18 months.
May use video chatting (FaceTime, Skype) with children starting at age 18 months (as a way to keep in contact with distant relatives and friends).
Only high quality programming with an actively engaged adult for children from 18-24 months.
Limit time to no more than one hour per day for children ages 2-5 years that is co-viewed with a parent.
Choose high quality programming that has been previewed by the parent and/or watched/played together with the child. Parents should aim for this content to be interactive, educational, and then should be discussed to ensure that children are understanding what is being watched.
Develop a Family Media Plan to establish rules that every member in the family can follow.
No screens during meals or 1 hour prior to bedtime.
No screens in the child’s room. Turn off any media when not in use.
So, what is the rationale behind these recommendations? Most of the guidelines stem from an understanding of childhood development and the variety of factors that impact a child’s ability to mentally and socially thrive. Others are based at the neurotransmitter level of the brain, which is involved in how the brain sleeps, grows, and perceives enjoyment from the world.
One of challenges with screens is that screen time—especially excessive, unlimited time—replaces the time that children should be engaged in other activities. Every minute that a child spends looking at a screen is one minutes less that they are playing outside, reading a book, engaging in interactive pro-social play with other children, having reciprocal conversations with their parents, exercising, or sleeping.
Multiple studies have shown that young children who engage is excessive screen time are found to have an increased risk of cognitive, social-emotional, and language delays. Play—both with parents and other children—is well established as major contributor to the development of pro-social behaviors such as sharing, communication, and problem solving. Language development is fostered by interactive conversations, hearing adult speech, and reading books aloud with parents or other adults.
Beyond this, if screens are used as a mode of “soothing” the child, it impairs the child’s own ability to develop appropriate self-regulatory behaviors. In other words, if a screen is put in front of a child’s face every time that she cries, not only is she learning that “If I cry, I get to have screen time,” but it is also preventing her from learning other ways to calm herself.
It has also been established that screens are increasingly addictive to children’s brains. The more screens children watch, the higher the addictive potential becomes. Our brains make a hormone called dopamine which is often referred to as the “pleasure hormone”. Dopamine is released during pleasurable activities and provides positive reinforcement to our bodies to continue to engage in that activity. When a child is watching and experiencing enjoyment from a screen, dopamine is secreted and this makes that child feel good. Over time, similar to other addictive substances such as drugs and alcohol, your brain requires increasing amounts of the activity to have the same “good” effect. And thus, the addiction potential grows. Even worse, there is concern that children who become addicted to screens, especially those children who are exposed very young, will also seek out and have a lower threshold for more serious addictions to other undesirable activities.
This is all pretty scary stuff. On the surface, no parent wants to cause, or even passively allow, anything to negatively impact the development of their child’s brain. However, as we said before, screens are nearly unavoidable. Our best defense is to educate ourselves and make a well thought out plan for how to optimize your child’s screen time. Let’s discuss some ideas to help you better navigate this major challenge.
UNDER the age of 24 months:
When your children are very young, sit down with your partner and make a plan. Make sure that you are explicit in making your plan known to everyone who will be caring for your child. Decide together to keep screens out of your child’s life until at least 18 months of age. Know that there is no developmental advantage to giving your child a screen prior to 18 months. Parenting is tough, but you got this—there’s better, safer ways to soothe and entertain your infant.
OLDER than 24 months:
1) Establish that ALL devices belong to the parent and children must ask BEFORE using. It is not “Madeleine’s iPad”. It is MOM’s iPad and MOM is LETTING Madeleine use it. Period.
2) Establish strict guidelines for use, including when and where a child is able to use the device. The AAP has created a Family Media Plan to help you specifically outlines all of these rules.
3) When age appropriate, discuss respectful and safe behavior when using screens and especially any social media accounts. Include in your family media plan that all apps must be approved by parents prior to use and that parents will have access (including user names and passwords) to any and all accounts that are used by the child.
4) Make your children EARN their time on the screens. Screens should be considered a privilege that can only be obtained after the child has demonstrated good behavior when not using the screen. For example:
____ chore = ____ minutes of screen time
____ minutes of outside play = ______ minutes of screen time
All homework must be completed prior to any screens being turned on
Failure to turn off a screen at the appropriate time one day means the child lose the privilege on a subsequent day
Breaking any of the rules of screen time respect (as outlines in the family media plan) means loss of screen time privileges until the child has regained the parent’s trust.
5) Give the device a curfew. In other words, turn all media off at a set time and no devices should be charged in the child’s room at night. (And, don’t forget, no TVs in their rooms either!)
6) While not always easy, whenever your child is on a screen, prioritize this as time that you are spending together, especially for kids under age 5. The more interactive the screen time activity is with the parents, the better for that little brain’s development. Whether you are watching a movie or playing a video game, spending time talking about the activity during and afterwards will help to boost your child’s brain experience.
7) Take the time to vet all of the media your child is using. I highly recommend using www.commonsensemedia.org as a resource to help you determine the quality of the media. Remember that even if an app or show claims to be “educational,” many of these were not developed by educators or persons trained in childhood development. All media is not made equal. If you going to allow your child to spend their precious brain time on a screen, make sure it is valuable.
RECOMMENDED SITES for elementary aged children and younger:
1) https://www.sesameworkshop.org
8) Make sure to use the controls within the device to set timers on how long a device or program can be used. If you aren’t sure how to use this, at the very least, set physical timers such as a good old fashioned kitchen timer. Children can watch these tick down and will know when their time is about to end.
9) Make sure to set a good example. Follow your own rules and don’t forget that it is very hypocritical to expect your children to limit their screen time when you are not doing so yourself. Not to mention, the quality of the time you spend with your children is dramatically affected when it is interrupted by you checking text messages, email, or whatever else is taking your attention. Put your phone on “do not disturb” mode; little is more important than the quality time you give your children.
10) Take a deep breath, you’ve got this!
Learning how to navigate the inevitable challenges of managing your child’s screen time is a skill all parents need to embrace. It will certainly not always be easy, but setting firm ground rules from the start will help. Remember: children who have limited, safe, and appropriate use of screens throughout their childhood are better positioned to become their best selves when they are adults.
References:
1) Media and Young Minds. Council on Communications and Media, American Academy of Pediatrics. October 21, 2016. https://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/pediatrics/early/2016/10/19/peds.2016-2591.full.pdf
2) Family Media Plan. American Academy of Pediatrics. https://www.healthychildren.org/English/media/Pages/default.aspx
3) Talking with Children Matters: Defending the 30 million word gap. The Brookings Institute. May 21, 2018. https://www.brookings.edu/blog/education-plus-development/2018/05/21/defending-the-30-million-word-gap-disadvantaged-children-dont-hear-enough-child-directed-words/
4) Wolf, C, Wolf, S., Weiss, M, Nino, G., Children’s Environmental Health in the Digital Era: Understanding Early Screen Exposure as a Preventable Risk Factor for Obesity and Sleep Disorders. Children (Basel). 2018, Feb; 5(2): 31. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5836000/
5) Garrison M.M., Liekweg K., Christakis D.A. Media Use and Child Sleep: The Impact of Content, Timing, and Environment. Pediatrics. 2011;128:29–35. doi: 10.1542/peds.2010-3304
6) Cheung C.H.M., Bedford R., Saez De Urabain I.R., Karmiloff-Smith A., Smith T.J. Daily touchscreen use in infants and toddlers is associated with reduced sleep and delayed sleep onset. Sci. Rep. 2017;7:46104. doi: 10.1038/srep46104.
7) Vijakkhana N., Wilaisakditipakorn T., Ruedeekhajorn K., Pruksananonda C., Chonchaiya W. Evening media exposure reduces night-time sleep. Acta Paediatr. 2015;104:306–312. doi: 10.1111/apa.12904.
