In an increasingly media-saturated world, it tin can be challenging for providers and parents to continue up with current recommendations for good for you media use for children. Parents often express business organisation regarding how much screen time is too much, how to differentiate "practiced" versus "bad" media and whether or not excessive media usage can contribute to psychological symptoms. These questions tin be challenging to answer because recommendations vary by developmental stage, arrangement and even by blazon of media. Furthermore, there is not a single gear up of recommendations that are suitable for every family unit. This cursory article volition provide an overview of research on media usage and health outcomes in children followed past current recommendations and interventions designed to reduce screen fourth dimension when indicated. Here, media is defined as any interaction with a screen, including watching telly/content, internet, social media and app use, gaming, etc., on any platform (phones, tablets, computers, television, etc.).

How much time are kids spending on screens?

Although estimates of media usage vary, children under age two spend approximately one 60 minutes per solar day on screen media, while children between two and eight spend an average of 2 hours per day (Five. J. Rideout, 2013). Children between eight and 12 spend approximately four to 6 hours per day on screen media. Adolescents over 12 spend an average of seven to nine hours per day (Media, 2011; V. Rideout, 2016). A major claiming is determining whether the media young children are exposed to has the potential to enrich learning or backbite from activities that would take more developmental value. Tv remains the most widely-used platform among younger children. High quality programs that engage children tin serve as learning tools, specially if parents co-view the program and talk over it with them (Santomero, 2018). The question of the quality of media is especially critical during sensitive periods of brain evolution.

The developing brain and screen time

Excessive media use in children has been associated with a number of undesirable health outcomes, such as reduced sleep (Unhurt & Guan, 2015), increased obesity, and linguistic communication and social emotional delays (AAP, 2016). Even so, the effects of media usage on brain development and health outcomes are non fully understood at this time. Early childhood is a time of rapid brain evolution; structural connections increase equally brain networks go more segregated and specialized (Mills et al., 2016). These developments are related to a wide range of cognitive developments and are associated with cocky-regulatory processes. At that place is business organisation that excessive media use may contribute to problems with attention, however, show is mixed. Smart telephone employ and media multitasking (using multiple forms at once), has been associated with worse curt-term attentional control, but long-term consequences are unknown (Wilmer, Sherman & Chein, 2017). Heavy smartphone usage has been associated with preferences for smaller, more immediate rewards (Hadar, Eliraz, Lazarovits, Alyagon & Zangen, 2015). Feedback from social media has been associated with activations in reward related encephalon regions (Wilmer et al., 2017), and has been shown to exist weakly correlated with negative indicators of psychological well-beingness (Huang, 2017). Nevertheless, findings are often mixed or contradictory, which is likely related to the lack of specificity in self-reported measures and correlational designs. For young children, the best way to teach higher-order cognitive skills (including attentional and emotional command) is through parent-child interactions, unstructured and social play (AAP, 2016). Letting toddlers employ or view media on their own should be avoided. In older children, more inquiry is needed to understand how specific periods of brain development relate to media use.

Recommendations

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) released a set of guidelines for media use based on a child'due south developmental phase which are highlighted below.

  • Age 2 and under: avoid media use (except video chatting).
  • Preschoolers: No more than one hour of loftier-quality programming per day.
  • Grade-schoolers/Teens: Don't permit media displace other important activities such every bit quality sleep, regular do, family meals, "unplugged" downtime.
  • All ages: Exist a media mentor. Co-view media with your kids.

While it is crucial to moderate media use in children and ensure safe practices, it is also important to consider the specific values of the family and the feasibility of implementing such recommendations. A helpful place to start is the APA'due south digital guidelines. Parents of immature children part every bit the gatekeepers of media usage early in life — and parent media use has been strongly related to child media employ (Jago et al., 2012). Digital monitoring (tracking/checking usage) is i suggested do which may be necessary when safety concerns are nowadays but could cross privacy boundaries for some parents. Research on parental mediation indicates that some forms, such as co-viewing, can be beneficial (see (Coyne et al., 2017) for additional information). Importantly, children whose parents attempt to limit media exposure (e.yard., not putting a TV in a kid'south bedroom), actually spend less fourth dimension using media. Based on the electric current data available, recommendations regarding media employ should encourage cocky-regulation, such as:

  • Parents modeling good for you media use — including limiting phone interruptions.
  • Blueprint a program with children that includes media free time and limits exposure 1 to ii hours before bedtime.
  • Co-viewing media and discussing information technology when possible to enhance learning.

The goal is to inform and encourage, not shame or guilt parents. When used interactively and in moderation, media tin raise learning and strengthen family unit connectedness. The key is to find and maintain a salubrious human relationship with media (allowing room for imperfection and adjustment). The following resources may helpful for reducing or improving the quality of media utilize.

  • Discuss and model healthy media utilise with your children. Mutual Sense Media provides toolkits for parents.
  • The AAP suggests that families create a tailored family media utilize plan.
  • A helpful volume for identifying high quality programming with a focus on social-emotional learning is Preschool Clues by Angela Santomero, creator of Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood.
  • There are a number of apps for monitoring and limiting screen usage and additional interventions for reducing screen fourth dimension be, see the APA'due south commodity on "Treating the misuse of digital devices." It is farther recommended that parents seek counseling from a pediatrician or psychologist for guidance.

References

AAP. (2016). Media and immature minds. Pediatrics. http://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2016-2591.

Coyne, South.Yard., Radesky, J., Collier, Grand.Thou., Gentile, D.A., Linder, J.R., Nathanson, A.I., … Rogers, J. (2017). Parenting and digital media. Pediatrics. http://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2016-1758N.

Crone, Eastward. A., & Konijn, East. A. (2018). Media employ and encephalon development during adolescence. Nature Communications. http://doi.org/x.1038/s41467-018-03126-x.

Hadar, A.A., Eliraz, D., Lazarovits, A., Alyagon, U., & Zangen, A. (2015). Using longitudinal exposure to causally link smartphone usage to changes in behavior, noesis and right prefrontal neural activity. Brain Stimulation. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.brs.2015.01.032.

Hale, L., & Guan, S. (2015). Screen time and sleep among schoolhouse-aged children and adolescents: A systematic literature review. Sleep Medicine Reviews. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.smrv.2014.07.007.

Huang, C. (2017). Time Spent on Social Network Sites and Psychological Well-Beingness: A Meta-Analysis. Cyberpsychology, Beliefs, and Social Networking. http://doi.org/x.1089/cyber.2016.0758.

Jago, R., Stamatakis, East., Gama, A., Carvalhal, I.M., Nogueira, H., Rosado, 5., & Padez, C. (2012). Parent and child screen-viewing fourth dimension and home media surroundings. American Journal of Preventive Medicine. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.amepre.2012.04.012.

Media, C.Due south. (2011). Zero to eight: Children'southward media use in America. Common Sense Media.

Mills, K.L., Goddings, A.L., Herting, M.M., Meuwese, R., Blakemore, South.J., Crone, E.A., … Tamnes, C.Yard. (2016). Structural brain development between childhood and adulthood: Convergence across four longitudinal samples. NeuroImage. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2016.07.044.

Rideout, 5. (2016). Measuring time spent with media: The Common Sense census of media employ by US viii- to 18-yr-olds. Journal of Children and Media. http://doi.org/10.1080/17482798.2016.1129808.

Rideout, V.J. (2013). Zero to eight: Children's media use in America 2013. Pridobljeno.

Santomero, A. (2018). Preschool Clues. New York: Touchstone.

Wilmer, H.H., Sherman, L.Due east., & Chein, J.M. (2017). Smartphones and cognition: A review of inquiry exploring the links between mobile engineering habits and cognitive operation. Frontiers in Psychology. http://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00605.

Well-nigh the author

2019-05-cyf-hawkey Elizabeth Hawkey, MA, is currently a doctoral candidate in clinical psychology at Washington University in St. Louis. Her research explores how executive function in early childhood relates to the development of brain network organization and the expression of neurodevelopmental disorders such as ADHD. Her current clinical practicum placement in child psychiatry at the Washington University School of Medicine has allowed her to provide social-emotional interventions for immature children.