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Did you know that too much screen time is bad right? You don't have to take my word for it though, research has consistently shown the negative effects of too much screen time. Sleep problems and sleep deprivation increase risk for attention problems, anxiety and depression, social and behavioral problems, risk of unhealthy weight gain, etc.
The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends the following guidelines for screen time:
2 years and under: avoid screen time almost entirely
3-5 years: one hour per day
6-18 years: two hours per day
Are your kids staying within those perimeters? If not, here are five reasons you need to set limits and stick to them
The side effects of Long Screen Time
Blue Light Damages Eyesight
Screen devices are such handy entertainment for children. One device is enough to keep them occupied for hours without a hint of a meltdown. However, along with convenience comes great consequences that will affect children’s health. Excessive exposure to blue light that is emitted from the screens affects children’s eyesight. Blue light is a light spectrum that makes up the illumination visible to the eyes. An article written by Troy Bedinghaus that was reviewed by a board-certified physicians, mentions that besides providing the usual glow we see on screen devices, blue light also amplifies the mood of a person. This may be the reason why children love staring at these devices for a long time. Prolonged exposure to blue light is damaging to a kid’s eyes. Children are still growing and are yet to attain full maturity of their eyes. At the growing stage, children’s eyes do not have fully developed pigments that protect the eyes by filtering harmful blue light emitted from the screens. Studies have also shown that long exposure to blue light causes retinal stress that will potentially result in a chronic eye disease.
Lack of Sleep
Blue light exposure also causes the suppression of the release of melatonin. The hormone functions as a reminder that tells us when to sleep. As blue light withholds the release of this hormone, children lose sleep and hence, causing more problems to follow like irritability, behavioural issues and weight gain. Researchers at the Penn State College of Medicine discovered that “using any device at bedtime was associated with a statically significant increased use of multiple forms of technology at bedtime and use in the middle of the night, reducing sleep quantity and quality.”
Obesity
According to the American Heart Association, kids are spending an average of seven hours each day in front of screens. The physical inactivity, increased snacking, exposure to food advertisements, and interrupted sleep cycles all slow down the metabolic rate, leading to obesity.
Screen Time and Mental Health
A study published in Preventative Medicine Reports finds kids who spend seven or more hours a day on digital devices are twice as likely to be diagnosed with anxiety and depression than those who spend only an hour each day.Another study by the National Institute of Health has proven that kids who spend seven hours a day consuming media develop a thinning cortex, which is the part of the brain that processes information pertaining to the five senses. In other words, too much screen turns kids into brain-craving zombies.Even worse, your kids might develop a devil horn out of their necks. Yes, the poor posture kids slump into, particularly when they are absorbed into smartphones, can eventually create a bone spur on their neck that protrudes like a misplaced unicorn horn. There’s no chance of this having a positive impact on their mental health. It’s a far worse phenomenon than man boobs, so make sure junior sits up straight and keeps up his chin.
Changing Brain Structure
Too much screen time also affects the brain structure of children. As they are so used to the presence of screen devices in their lives, all they have seen and understood about their world is done through a two-dimensional screen. In real-life situations, they might have a hard time transferring and applying what they have watched and learned from a 2D screen to a 3D environment. For example, stacking building blocks on a screen is way different from stacking real-life blocks in an actual play area. All your child has ever experienced is swiping those blocks on a screen instead of actually touching them, feeling each texture and stacking them in real-life.
Behavior problems associated with excessive screen time were relatively well-known even before the pandemic, including: ramped-up reactions to stress, poorer focus and executive skills, and higher risk of both acting out and internalized depression or anxiety. In some cases, studies have even found students’ technology-related focus problems can be severe enough to be misdiagnosed as attention deficit disorders.
Steps to trim your children's screen time when at home:
Be accountable.Set expectations with your kids, and set goals to be intentional about reducing screen time.
Be realistic.If your kids are spending a lot of leisure time on screens, including watching TV, start by setting smaller, more attainable goals. Instead of jumping right to the recommended one to two hours or less per day, start by cutting their current screen time in half.
Be engaged. After school or work, spend time each day talking face to face with kids and give them your full attention.
Put hand-held devices away.During screen-free hours, put devices away or at a charging station in a common area so they're not attracting your kids' attention.
Create phone-free zones in the home.Making family meal areas a phone-free zone is an easy way to start.
Go outside. Putting down the phone and taking a walk or playing outdoors increases your endorphins and provides that feeling of happiness in your brain, boosting your mood and improving your physical health
This audio collection includes:
Dinosaurs Before Dark: Jack and his younger sister, Annie, stumble upon a tree house filled with books. Before Jack and Annie can figure out the mystery of the tree house, it whisks them back to the prehistoric past. Now they have to figure out how to get home. Can they do it before dark, or will they be become a dinosaur's dinner?
The Knight at Dawn: Peacocks for dinner and boys in skirts. That's what Jack and Annie find when the Magic Tree House transports them back to the Middle Ages for another wild adventure. They find themselves in the middle of an enormous castle and can hear the beginnings of a feast underway in the Great Hall. But Jack and Annie aren't exactly welcome guests!
Mummies in the Morning: Jack and Annie don't need another mummy. But that's what they get when the Magic Tree House whisks them back to ancient Egypt after reading a book on the same subject. There they find themselves in a pyramid face to face with a long dead queen named Hutepi. Will Jack and Annie be able to help her, or will they end up as mummies themselves? ... Read More
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