I’m curious if there have been real studies around this. Like, how does watching 30 minutes of simple cartoons a day (bebefinn etc) affect a toddler’s brain? What are the consequences?
In: Biology
Dr. Emily Oster talks a lot about the opportunity cost of screen time. If kids are watching TV, what aren’t they doing with that time?
They could be playing outside: exercise, vitamin D, avoiding obesity.
They could be making friends: better social and emotional skills, better communication skills, kids learn language much better from talking to real people instead of watching a screen.
They could be reading: great for language skills and stretching the brain.
They could be coloring, building craft projects, playing with their siblings, doing chores around the house, doing homework… All of these train valuable life skills. TV is just a waste of time.
There are also some studies that show screens could lead to a tiny increase in issues with ADHD, poor attention span, and language delays, but it’s hard to adjust the data for outside factors.
Her recommendation is there’s nothing wrong with screen time if you’ve got nothing better to do. Need to keep your kid entertained on a long airplane flight? Go ahead and give them a device to keep them occupied, because they have to sit there quietly anyway. But if they could be doing something better with their time, make them do something better with their time.
To me, the primary concern is that screen time is basically addictive. TV and games give a very easy dopamine hit that is pleasurable and causes the kid to want more. Very few things in real life can compete, so the kid wants more screen time and less time playing pretend, playing outside, playing with toys, interacting with family, etc. and will often fight doing all of those things because they want more screen time.
This is basically true for adults to, but the idea is that the child’s brain is more malleable at a young age, and they have less ability to reason their way to better choices (I spend too much time on reddit, but I also make myself work, exercise, cook meals, etc.).
Well for one, when kids interact with each other they learn empathy. you can poke a screen all day and nothing happen. you poke your friend in the eye and they poke you back, you learn to treat others how you want to be treated.
I work in eyecare and the studies show that more outdoor time = delay in becoming nearsighted. More outdoor time would mean less time in front of a screen. That’s a good reason on its own aside from other added benefits such as exercise, improved mental health, vitamin d.
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