The Effects of Screen Time on Children: What You need to About Screens (2020)

0:00 did you guys know that one-third of Internet users worldwide are children Wow that statistic surprised me so in today's video we're gonna start the conversation about screens I'm gonna be talking about the recommended amount of use of screens based on your child's age I'm also gonna be sharing the risks and the benefits of screens on your child's developing brain and then I'm gonna end with how we as parents can maximize our child's screen time so that we make sure

0:31 that they're learning and that we're promoting optimal brain development so let's get into it [Music] hi hello and welcome back to my channel if you are new here I am dr. Jasmin from the mom psychologist comm and you should consider subscribing cuz I upload videos every Wednesday and I would love to have you a part of the family okay so subscribe ok y'all so give this video a thumbs up if your child wash

1:04 your screens on a regular basis I know I would have to raise my hand on this one because I have two young children to their two and three and they watch screens on a regular basis and so I wanted to create this video to start this dialogue and to help hopefully reduce some shame some stigma some guilt around screens because I know in the parent community there's a lot of shame when it comes to screens but now more

1:33 than ever considering what's going on in the world right now we are relying on our screens more than ever before so I want to share some information that I've learned some things that you can consider so that we're a little bit more intentional and hopefully we don't feel as guilty because that's not what this video is about okay I don't want to increase anybody stress levels okay so according to the American Academy of Pediatrics they do not recommend screen

2:02 time for children under 18 months they say as long I mean with the exception of FaceTime they're okay with FaceTime and video chatting family members and friends but when it comes to watching videos and games so they do not recommend screen time for kiddos between they really say between 18 months and 24 months you should consider it not using screens and then for children between the ages of 2 and 5 they say okay one hour is fine as long

2:34 as it's high quality educational programs and ideally the parent is watching the programs with their child and we're gonna talk a little bit about that when I talk about how to maximize our screens but that's the recommended amount of time take it with a grain of salt adjust it as you see fit let's talk about some of the benefits of screens and then I'm gonna get into some of the drawbacks of screens based on some research that I have gathered so some of

3:04 the benefits of screens is that it increases hand-eye coordination right if they're tracing or doing some of the games right it also increases their processing speed if they're playing certain games they have to process things very quickly make quick decisions it also helps with their memory skills if they're playing memory games and it can increase their literacy skills if they are engaged in high quality programs devoted to enhancing their

3:34 communication skills now see that's the important thing to keep in mind is that if your child is engaging in very high quality educational programs it does have an impact a positive impact on their brain development old enroll are the thing that I like to consider when it comes to screens is instead of focusing on the amount of time that they are focused or that they are on screens I like to consider well what are other opportunities have they had for

4:01 stimulation and growth and learning right is there a good balance in between so some of the things to keep in mind and to make sure that your child has plenty of is sleep right we never want screens to be interfering with sleep and also play y'all know I'm a huge fan of play and when they're on their screens they're not playing okay so we want to keep in mind have they had plenty of opportunities and I'm talking

4:28 about hours of playtime going along with that is physical activity so for children under 5 they need ample amounts of physical activity the actual recommended amount is 3 hours a day ok so they need 3 hours a day you could think about it as an hour and a half of the morning an hour and a half in the afternoon but they need plenty of opportunities to run jump play around move their body it's really good for

4:58 their physical development and their brain development and also they need plenty of opportunities to socialize and communicate with real people so let's let's kind of think about it as a scale right on one end we have our screens and then on the other hand we have play we have sleep we have eating we have socializing and we have physical activity ok they need to need to be balanced right so if you are providing your child with all of this stuff then

5:29 hopefully that reduces your guilt when it comes to screens because you know ok they have a very stimulating engaging and educational environment ok studies have shown that the blue light that is emitted from screens actually reduces the hormone production of melatonin which is responsible for helping you fall asleep so therefore it's suggested that screens can interfere with your child's sleep cycles and interfere with their quality of sleep there's also

5:59 research to suggest that it interferes with their ability to dream ok so you really do want to be mindful of screens especially as we are approaching bedtime third thing the third drawback of screens is that it's highly addictive when we are watching screens our brain is secreting dopamine give me which is a feel-good hormone it's very addicting it's actually the same chemical that is secreted in when we

6:31 engage in drugs and alcohol it's very addictive right so consider that the more screens your child is watching the more likely they're going to get addicted to it they want more and more and more of it because it's very pleasurable on a chemical level right our brains literally change their chemistry when we watch screens so it's something to be mindful of as well as to have some compassion for your child knowing it's hard to stop watching

6:56 screens because they're so pleasurable they're so fun just so enjoyable and on a chemical level the fourth drawback to screens is that research has suggested that it stunts the development of the frontal lobe which is right here and involved in higher-order thinking a part of the frontal lobe is your ability to communicate and socialize read social cues and develop empathy and researchers are suggesting about watching screens stunts that development and basically

7:27 that your child is they run the risk of having limited social skills the more that they watch screens and the fifth drawback of screens is that it has been shown to increase the stress hormone cortisol partly or researchers are artists that are thinking it's because it's very stimulating and sometimes over stimulating right there's music there's noises there's light flashing things are changing around and sometimes that can be actually over Stanley stimulating to

7:59 the little little ones and their growing brain in that it can actually increase their stress levels the other thing to keep in mind when it comes to screens is that the experience is very different from let's say you reading a book with your child right when you're reading a book with your child they have to focus they have to use their imagination to kind of follow the story and imagine the characters in their mind versus when

8:21 they're watching a TV program I mean there's lights there's music there's things flashing everything's changing constantly so that keeps the naturally engage they don't have to work hard to focus and concentrate and they don't have to work hard to use their imagination because all of the images literally play-by-play are being provided for them answers are suggesting it can get in the way of their concentration skills as well as their imagination overall okay so let's get into some quick tips of how we can be

8:50 intentional about screens and how we can maximize our child's exposure to screens I think the very first thing and what I would refer to earlier in this video to make sure that balance and moderation is the key right that they're not on their screens all day long but they have a stimulating well-rounded environment and also I think quality is really important when we think about screens and the program's really being selective selective and mindful of the quality of

9:18 programs some things to keep in mind when it comes to quality so make sure that the person that they're watching is very warm very friendly very positive and engaging also that they repeat themselves over and over and over this is really important for learning you have noticed already your child needs you to repeat things a lot for them to learn it and that's no different from when they're when they're trying to learn something from screens they need

9:45 it repeated over and over and that can really help what they're learning it's also really beneficial if the person that they are learning from is taking time to pause allow some silence so that not only your child can't think about what they're learning but that they can respond and be more interactive to the content that they learn that they're learning if you notice some programs will pause and ask questions and then you're like red they're like red or

10:15 whatever because they're engaging with the content that's really important to learning is that your child is engaging and that leads me to my other tip is that ideally you are with them interacting with the content there's a lot of research that suggests that children don't understand the content but they're exposed to when it comes to screens and they're they're very literal there's like a popcorn study that I was reading about where the researchers showed a picture of popcorn on the

10:46 screen and then they asked the kids well if we shake the TV and turn it upside down will the popcorn spill out and a lot of the kids are like yeah duh they will have a very literal not realizing that it's just a picture on the screen and so that's really important to keep in mind is to in order to enhance their educational experience when they're watching screens it's important that you interact with them help them understand

11:11 and explain to them what they're learning about ask questions have an interaction with them to really maximize their screen time so question of the day is do you struggle with shame and guilt when it comes to screens and also question number two would be do you limit your child's exposure to screens do you struggle with this at all let me know in the comments below I would love to hear from you guys don't forget to give this video a thumbs up it really

11:41 does help my channel and be sure to check out my recent videos I have ones on sibling conflict sharing tantrums as well as aggressive behaviors so feel free to check those out and I will see you guys in the next one bye