https://www.pexels.com/photo/a-girl-using-a-tablet-at-bedtime-7414096
Screen Use and Parent’s Worries
Children and teenagers have greater access to devices with screens than ever before. Many are equipped with tablets at a young age or find themselves watching television for hours at a time. As adolescents get older, they are presented with yet even more screens like cell phones and personal computers. However, the time spent in front of these screens have been known to bring negative outcomes to the growing minds and bodies of these adolescents which is why parents are taking the initiative of limiting children’s access to screens and regulating the content available to their kids with more rigor than ever before.
According to an article by the Pew Research Center, parents’ concern over their children’s screen use is high. “Parents overall are also apprehensive about the long-term effects of smartphones on children’s development: 71% believe the widespread use of smartphones by young children might potentially result in more harm than benefits.” (Auxier, et al.). The harm that these parents are seeing or find themselves worrying about, varies. From excessive weight gain and obesity to depression and anxiety, parents are worried about their children more than ever as a result of these screens, and the potential harms of these screens don’t stop there. According to a PubMed Central article, large amounts of screen time can also lead to negative impacts on development, Cardiovascular disease, mental health, diet, child–parent relationship, sleep, lowered physical activity, eyesight, and headaches, (Priftis and Panagiotakos).
Harms of Excessive Screen Time
Limiting screen time can have a plethora of benefits. First, is the physical benefits. Sitting in front of a screen watching internet videos, television shows, and movies sounds great, but can lead to problems for a person’s body. For example, sitting in front of a screen is found to increase the amount of over-processed foods eaten as it leads to mindless eating. Removing screens from meals lets a child listen to their body and tell when they are full. This prevents excessive weight gain and helps prevent conditions like type 2 diabetes and heart disease. Another way in which the body is harmed is through poor posture. Sitting at a desk staring at a computer screen for hours on end is a problem that faces many children. Playing video games or working on online work can lead to back, shoulder, and neck pain. Finding alternate activities that allow movement can be beneficial to prevent the development of chronic problems.
Using screens has also been shown to harm eyesight and sleep schedules. The PubMed Central article explains the results of another article focusing on the effects of excessive screen time (ST). “Kahn M et al. used actigraphy to study sleep patterns and ST. Their findings suggest that excessive ST leads to poorer quality and shorter duration of sleep and later sleep onset,” (Priftis and Panagiotakos). Using screened devices for extended periods of time can lead to disturbed sleep and also harmed eyesight. The same study explains that excessive screen time leads to problems with eyesight since it can lead to dry eyes and eye discomfort since high concentrations tasks such as using screens leads to lower blinking rates and tear break-up time which can cause dryness and refraction problems, (Priftis and Panagiotakos). So, less screen time use can lead to healthier sleep and decreased eye issues.
Excessive screen time has also been proven to harm children’s mental wellbeing and development. In a separate PubMed Central article, it is explained that excessive screen use can affect cognitive development as well as language development. In particular, it was found the extended screened media multitasking led to “a negative impact on executive functioning in teenagers, notably on working memory, inhibition, and the capacity to switch between tasks,” (Muppalla). The diminished language development is due to lessened interaction with parents thanks to screen use like television which reduces opportunities for children to practice their language skills. However, while excessive screen time is a large problem, screens can be useful in teaching children and can provide positive educational benefits (Muppalla).
Benefits of Reduced Screen Time
https://www.pexels.com/photo/a-boy-in-gray-jacket-holding-a-kite-7104284
Another benefit of decreased screen time use is that it allows time for adolescents to make social connections with friends and family. Excessive screen use can lead to adolescents to have improved focus on their social connections. Screen-free family meals or activities can lead to more interpersonal interaction with family members, which can result in healthier family relations.
Reduced screen use can also increase children’s creativity and activity. While watching screened programs like movies and television shows can open a child’s mind to what’s possible, too much screen use limits a child’s time to use their creativity for activities that these screens or other activities can inspire, like reading or activities that take place out in the world such as museum visits or playing in parks. Less time for actions like coloring and playing pretend can stilt a child’s creative mind. Limiting screen time can also lead to increased exercise as it adds time for activities that can benefit a child’s health, like sports and playing games that require movement. These activities, like sports, can also increase a child’s socialization as it encourages kids to meet other children and broaden their social horizons.
Benefits of Educational Screen Time
Educational tools that are specifically designed to help provide early education, such as high-quality television programs or content that is made to help improve adolescents’ social and language skills. These can serve as additional supplements or tools to improve children’s literacy development as well as “cognitive development, promote positive racial attitudes, and encourage imaginative play,” (Muppalla), which can help children lead healthier childhoods.
Schools all over the United States and in countless other countries use screens daily in the education of America’s youth. Students can use tablets or laptops in schools for testing, schoolwork, homework, activities, communication, and educational games. These devices have large boons associated with them. Thanks to their internet access, students can use them for finding academic sources for essays, reading, accessing textbooks, and communicating with teachers and professors to ask for assistance for a variety of reasons, such as when a student is out sick. Screens can be very helpful in education when used properly. However, excessive screen use in and out of school can be harmful to children and teenagers. This is why it is important that a child’s life is not lived through screens.
Resources
Auxier, Brooke, et al. “Parenting Children in the Age of Screens.” Pew Research Center, 15 Oct. 2025, www.pewresearch.org/internet/2020/07/28/parenting-children-in-the-age-of-screens.
Mysoon, Ayuob. “5 Ways Slimming Screen Time Is Good for Your Health.” Mayo Clinic Health System, 29 May 2024, www.mayoclinichealthsystem.org/hometown-health/featured-topic/5-ways-slimming-screen-time-is-good-for-your-health.
Muppalla, Sudheer Kumar, et al. “Effects of Excessive Screen Time on Child Development: An Updated Review and Strategies for Management.” Cureus, vol. 15, no. 6, June 2023, p. e40608. https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.40608.
Priftis, Nikos, and Demosthenes Panagiotakos. “Screen Time and Its Health Consequences in Children and Adolescents.” Children, vol. 10, no. 10, Oct. 2023, p. 1665. https://doi.org/10.3390/children10101665.