Screen time does not affect child development
oii.ox.ac.uk
oii.ox.ac.uk
TFA: A doesn't cause B.
1: I see A and B together.
2: It may be that B causes A.
3: That doesn't matter, because A causes B.
I agree with parent poster, we've got to be very careful about correlation and causation here. The screen kids I know, yes they definitely do seem to have poorer mental health, but there also tends to be a lot more questionable stuff than just the kid's own screen time happening in their homes. Notably, their parents are often so completely keyed into their own priorities (which may or may not be Wordle) that the kids don't really have anything else to do, anyway. So another decent hypothesis is that the kids just aren't getting as much good social interaction, period, and that's what's really affecting their social-emotional development. If that's true, then that might imply that the screen is more of a coping mechanism on the kid's part (and therefore might even be beneficial given the context) than a primary cause of the problem.
Sounds like a little local bubble to me.
It seems to be very new, and one article claiming it was coined on Tik Tok, which would explain why nobody I talk to uses it, though.
Regardless if the term is popular in your area, the concept in general has been a thing since the invention of the IPad.
I'll admit protecting kids from the internet is kind of a minority opinion. Most parents I've known don't control screen time at all.
It's complicated. Some kids gravitate to screens, for reasons good and bad. Some parents are more permissive with screen time, but permissiveness over quantity of screen time is different than enforcement of quality of screen time.
When you talk in extremes it's not helpful.
There's evidence that from a very young age, kids with ASD are more attracted to screens and tend to stay longer on them; because this starts earlier than the age at which ASD is diagnosed, its often been spun (especially in the popular press) as screens contributing to ASD, but there is a lots of reason to believe that the connection is more the other way around.
The study's input data were self-reported screen usage, and brain scans.
The study didn't measure actual screen time, or measure children's behaviour or performance in tests.
I can’t read the article at this time as it says that the site has reached its limit and I have been rate limited and blocked. Some kind of wordpress add on called wordfence?
Sure, but they also do that when you take away dessert. So you're on to something, ice cream causes developmental growth.
The poster you’re replying to is saying:
Kids screaming and throwing tantrums when their screens are taken away implies that screens are bad for the kids’ development.
So, kids screaming and throwing tantrums when their ice cream is taken away implies that ice cream is bad, not good, for the kids’ development according to the poster’s logic.
I suspect most people do agree with the latter, that ice cream is bad for kids’ development, which is why everyone from doctors, parents, etc will recommend greatly moderating ice cream consumption, which is probably what most are recommending for screen time as well.
This premise seems just flatout wrong though. Kids get mad when you take stuff from them, regardless of what they’re holding. I feel like I must be misunderstanding what’s being argued, because “if a kid gets mad that it’s taken away, it’s bad for them” seems at face value absolutely ridiculous and pretty verifiably untrue? Give a kid a bottle and then take it away and they’ll cry…
I have negative experiences with mindless scrolling youtube or reddit as an adult and understand that I have an unhealthy relationship with them due to the addictive nature and I feel my attention span has reduced over the years. If adults can have unhealthy habits with technology, why can’t small children?
Reducing the child’s dependence on a screen to stay entertained or to behave in a public setting is more like cutting your child off after a few cookies and not letting them just eat several dozen cookies for dinner than taking the bottle away.
Phones aren’t necessary like a bottle of milk is for babies.
Ice cream was an arbitrary choice, I could well have said French fries, or something unrelated to dietary choices.
Taking things away as a method of enforcement doesn't seem to be all that effective and it undermines the kid's self determination. The only thing it does make kids angry and disappointed. A lot of kids have to live by arbitrary rules that don't make any sense, or if they do, haven't been explained to the kid. "Go to your room" and taking things away need to go away from the parenting toolkit, they just lead to kids who get accustomed to going behind the parents' back.
This is really the behavior you’re trying to correct. Your kid needs to learn low trust behaviors are absolutely not acceptable. You won’t have many friends or responsibilities if you don’t learn this.
A lot of parenting is teaching your kids how to remain trustworthy when it’s hard. Anything above that (go to your room, did you do your homework, make sure you’re home at 9) is relatively inconsequential.
Yes, and that’s what all humans experience throughout their whole lives.
If kids aren’t exposed to measured loss and frustration in the thoughtful safety of their home, they won’t develop the skills needed for adulthood, where loss and frustration may not be so measured and constructive.
While lying is one coping skill they might develop, there are many others, and a helping role of the parent is in helping the kid find good alternatives.
I’m not saying that no one is just ripping the phone right out of the kids hands but my experience is that when the phone battery dies, the screen addicted kids begin to meltdown until you fix it.
task failed successfully, judging by every comment so far
The trope of basement nerds is happening to the lower iq as the technology barriers of entry get removed.
I find the children with far less screen time can communicate in meaningful ways and above their peers who are on tablets for hours on end.