No doubt that we live an age of technology with glittering touchscreens seemingly everywhere. Many parents and countless educators think that children need to be comfortable with the reality of computers and technology, but there is a dark side to the shiny screen. Other research demonstrates that computer-based learning is different than learning from books or human interaction. This research from JAMA Pediatrics reveals a worrisome effect of screen time on parent-child interactions.
Having grown up prior to the ubiquity of computers, I and others of my generation remember childhoods without smartphones, 3D interactive video games, and virtual reality. We had flat screen video games for sure but not the ability to take them with us everywhere. Today’s generation of children begin their lives with baby monitors, a thousand digital pictures on day 1 of life, and are bathed in a sea of technology as they grow. Simultaneously, many are asking what is happening to our society in terms of communication. On one hand, some bemoan that texting has shortened attention spans and narrowed vocabularies to abbreviations. On another hand, some are beginning to recognize some adverse effects of screen time on child development.
In this study, researchers used a monitoring technology to track and compare the time a child from 12 to 36 months spent interacting with a screen versus their parents. Given the ease of access to cheap babysitting in the form of a computer screen, the potential impact of millions of children growing up with daily hours interacting with computers needs our attention. The results should grab and wrestle every parent’s heartstrings to the ground.
We know that children learn by interacting with others, whether listening and watching adults around them or by responding to these adults in words and actions. The cycle repeats over and over, and in this way the child learns to interact with others.
This study demonstrated that as children spent more time watching a screen, they not only spent less time hearing adults speaking but responded with fewer vocalizations to parents; further, they engaged in less social interactions with their parents. By looking at 220 families (using clothing which monitored whether children were interacting with a screen voice or a real person’s voice), they could measure the variables and assess the outcomes.
In the study, by age 3 years, they found that for every 1 minute of daily screen time, the children spoke 6 fewer words per day with parents and had 1.1 less “conversational turns” with their parents. Basically, children interacted with their parents quite a bit less when they were on the screens longer times each day. Another interesting statistic was that by age 3 years, children were watching an average of 2 hours and 52 minutes of screen time per day. To put this in perspective, just cutting down to 2 hours per day (a 52 minutes decrease) could increase children’s words with parents by 330 each day.
As we wonder why our society is in such chaos, we must do two things. First, we must ask ourselves why this is happening. Second, once we find out the why, we must act to fix it. If parents are asking themselves why they cannot communicate with their children in their teenage years, maybe they should consider how 2-3 hours of screen time are affecting their 1-to-3-year-olds. Helping a future generation live healthier, more abundant lives requires admitting that we have a problem and committing to doing something about it.
Original Article:
Brushe ME, Haag DG, Melhuish EC, Reilly S, Gregory T. Screen Time and Parent-Child Talk When Children Are Aged 12 to 36 Months. JAMA Pediatr. 2024;178(4):369–375. doi:10.1001/jamapediatrics.2023.6790
Sanctuary Functional Medicine, under the direction of Dr Eric Potter, IFMCP MD, provides functional medicine services to Nashville, Middle Tennessee and beyond. We frequently treat patients from Kentucky, Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, Ohio, Indiana, and more... offering the hope of healthier more abundant lives to those with chronic illness.
