Screen Time & Your Child’s Mental Development

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For parents wishing to limit screen time for their children, it is becoming increasingly difficult with every new game or product launch. As challenging as it was before, complications and shutdowns occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic brought about an even greater reliance on smart technology, not only among adults but also for kids. While parents were telecommuting to work and attending Zoom conferences, schools around the world predominantly moved learning online. Even though kids in Beijing are back on campus, there are many more that are still caught in the distance learning loop, unable to unglue their eyes from their devices. And this techno-vortex has not only sucked kids into it, but has dragged parents in right along with them, as now parental feedback and even parent-teacher conferences are performed online. Want to help your kid with their homework? Well, pull up a chair and turn on the computer screen!

This situation is bound to be a source of great alarm for parents who might pine nostalgically for bygone years when the worst thing that could happen to kids was watching too much TV. But the world is inextricably linked to technology and kids need to not only have a functional understanding of how these devices operate but also must become savants in their own right if they are to fit into this ever-changing, increasingly digitized world.

A survey conducted by Common Sense Media found that in the US alone, 53% of children have their first smartphone by the age of 11, while tweens between eight to 12 years old were spending an average of five hours a day on their devices, with the average coming in at seven hours for teens. By the age of 17, at least 88% of teens have a smartphone. These statistics do not include desktop computers and laptops as these are considered ubiquitous in most households.

Nonetheless, these statistics could be alarming for a tech conscious parent who fears any negative effects that such early and extensive exposure to technology might have.

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How Much Is Too Much?

On to the burning question. Is exposing children to technology, especially smartphones and computer screens, all that bad? We spoke to Dr. Elly Wong, a psychologist at Oasis International Hospital, to answer this and other key questions that parents might have. According to Dr. Wong, screen time might not be all that bad.

As she explains, “Recent studies indicate that learning can be more effective through games and play-based activities. If your child is watching high-quality television programming or educational apps, they’re likely experiencing interactive storytelling. This can also encourage learning processing to take place.” Furthermore, those dreaded video games most kids are obsessed with might not be the bane they initially appear to be, as they could encourage better hand-eye coordination and more, as beijingkids reported in our November issue.

Does this then mean that kids should be exposed to screens and other forms of tech as early as possible? Certainly sounds like it. But before you prop your six-month-old in front of a screen, Wong has a disclaimer for you. “According to the American Academy of Pediatrics: for zero to two years, screen time should be avoided. Try to keep your child engaged in activities that will help them reach physical and developmental markers. For two to five years, your child should limit their screen time to one hour of their day. This screen time should be used on high-quality, educational apps or children’s viewing programs. While for six-year-olds and above, limit screen time to two hours per day,” explains Dr. Wong.

Warning signs for screen addiction, according to Dr. Wong:

• If you have tried cutting back on their screen time and they were very resistant.
  
  

• If they are more interested in screen time than any other activities.
  
  

• If they only talk about things they see on their screens.
  
  

• If your child isn’t communicating and socializing because they want to bring a screen to every social gathering.
  
  

• If they get in a better mood when you allow them unlimited screen time.
  
  

• If they lie or try to deny their obsessive amount of screen time.
  
  

But My Child Is Different!

Some parents might find this conservative approach far too extreme, possibly offering personal anecdotes of their own children’s extended screen exposure and how relatively harmless it has been to the child. But therein lies the problem. Extended screen time could work insidiously to negatively affect your child’s overall psychological and even physical health, going so far as to affect their information acquisition capabilities. As Dr. Wong warns, “Too much screen time has been linked to poor social skills in children. One of the major skills children learn as they grow is how to communicate with others. The brain is wired to learn language from actively listening to adults (which doesn’t happen when the child is focused on a screen) and engaging in in-person interactions and conversations. When a child is looking at a screen, they aren’t looking at other people hence they are missing out on picking up nonverbal cues and learning how to read others’ faces.” And the negative effects don’t quite end there. “According to a recent study, increased screen time in young children is associated with negative health outcomes such as decreased cognitive ability, impaired language development, mood, and autistic-like behavior including hyperactivity, short attention span, and irritability,” explains Dr. Wong.

Children with autistic spectrum disorders (ASD) are particularly vulnerable. According to Dr. Wong, “Screen time — particularly the interactive kind — acts as a stimulant, and children with autism are often sensitive to stimulants of all kinds. Stimulants tend to make children with autism irritable, weepy, over-focused, more obsessive-compulsive, and unable to sleep.”

So how can parents ensure that screen time is an enriching experience?

What can parents do to help? Dr. Wong has some useful advice:

• Preview programs, games, and apps before allowing your child to view or play with them. Better yet, watch, play, or use them with your child.
  
  

• Seek out interactive options that engage your child, rather than those that just require pushing and swiping or staring at the screen.
  
  

• Use parental controls to block or filter internet content.
  
  

• Make sure your child is close by during screen time so that you can supervise his or her activities.
  
  

• Ask your child regularly what programs, games, and apps he or she has played with during the day.
  
  

• When watching programming with your child, discuss what you’re watching and educate him or her about advertising and commercials.
  
  

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Photos: Unsplash, Pexels

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