We live in an age where looking at a screen dictates a lot of how we spend our day. Kids these days in specific are spending more time than ever in front of screens. As a result, they experience an array of emotions and mood disorders. Chronically, children seem to be going through high arousal levels and irritability due to the internet, television or phones.
These very same arousal levels impact memory, the ability to relate and their capability to pick up on feelings, as well as having academic and social setbacks according to a study published in a journal Computers in Human Behavior . Some of these children get missed diagnosed with ADHD, bipolar disorder or depression instead of getting to the root cause.
Children’s brains are much more sensitive to electronics than a lot of us realize. Contrary to popular belief, it doesn’t take a lot to electronically stimulate a young brain. Some parents mistakenly believe that interactive screen time is better than passive screen time i.e. watching TV. The reality is that interactive screen time is more likely to cause sleep, mood and cognitive issues.
How much screen time is too much?
According to the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), entertainment screen time should be limited to two hours a day for children ages 3-18 and for 2 year olds and younger none at all. Screen time can have lots of negative effects on kids including childhood obesity and irregular sleep patterns to social and behavioral issues.
Is educational screen time better?
Research out of the Joan Ganz Cooney Center, a nonprofit research and production institute suggests that less than half the time kids between the ages of 2 – 10 spend in front of screens is spent consuming educational material. Lower income families reported that their children spent more time engaging with educational screen activities than higher income families.
Still it is hard to avoid screens, they seem to be everywhere. Many children are hooked on electronics, they feel elated when engaging in them maybe because of the release of dopamine to such an extent that on brain scans it looks the same as cocaine use. But when these reward pathways are overused they become less sensitive and then require more and more stimulation in order to feel pleasure.
Some other effects of screen time is, it produces depression and even suicide risk. Sometimes parents are reluctant to restrict electronics use in a child’s bedroom because parents feel like the child will be in a state of despair, but removing it will help them to sleep better at night and give them quality sleep.
Screen time also produces acute and chronic stress which in turn creates changes in brain chemistry and hormones that increase irritability. Also cortisol, the chronic stress hormone, seems to be both a cause and an effect of depression. Also, hyperarousal and addiction pathways which are affected suppress the frontal lobe of the brain which is the same area where mood regulation takes place.
Screen time also overloads the sensory system and fractures attention. Experts often feel that behind a lot of children’s explosive behavior may be due to poor focus. When your attention suffers so does the inability to process one’s internal and external environment so making small demands become big ones.
Screen time also reduces activity levels in children and lowers their ability to interact outdoors and with nature making kids lazy. Interacting outdoors with nature restores attention, lowers stress and reduces aggression. Limitations with screen time needs to be enforced in children.
Families should encourage a healthy media diet for their children. Parents and kids need to work together to decide on how much screen time is appropriate. They also need to come up with ways that family time is spent through physical and social interaction instead of occupying time with screen.