Parents are ditching screen time limits for kids against expert advice

Good morning. It’s Wednesday, June 26. This is Jenny Gold. I cover early childhood education for The Times. Here’s what you need to know to start your day.

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Parents basically ignore screen time limits for young kids

My husband and I have tried to follow the American Academy of Pediatrics’ recommendations on screen time for our two young children, much to their chagrin. Avoid screens as much as possible for the first two years. Limit screen time to one hour a day of high-quality content from ages 2 to 5.

But then I recently went on a work trip to New York, I came home and soon heard my toddler had a new favorite word: CoComelon. My husband had turned on the TV to distract the kids to cook dinner and do other chores. Our 22-month-old son ratted him out, and CoComelon’s tinkling nursery rhymes have been stuck in my head ever since.

Turns out, my family is far from alone with screen time challenges.

Should parents limit screen time for kids?

A national Common Sense Media survey from 2020 found that few families were coming anywhere close to following the screen time limits recommended by pediatricians — and that was before device use exploded when schools and child-care centers closed during the COVID-19 pandemic. Researchers interviewed 1,500 parents of children who were infants to age 8 and found:

• Children under 2 were watching an average of 49 minutes of digital media a day;
• Children ages 2 to 4 watch an average of 2.5 hours a day;
• Children 5 to 8 watch slightly more than three hours a day.

But despite the dire predictions of experts about the risks of excessive screen time for young children — obesity, behavioral problems, sleep issues, speech and developmental delays — parents don’t seem particularly concerned.

The majority of parents surveyed said that they weren’t worried about the amount of time their kids spend with screens, the effect screen media could have on their child or the quality of the content available to them. In fact, they thought screen time was a net positive — helping their children learn to read, boosting creativity and even improving their social skills.

Why is saying no to screens so hard?

It doesn’t help that screens are everywhere. Nearly half of kids ages 2 to 4 and two-thirds of kids ages 5 to 8 have their own mobile device, according to Common Sense Media.

“I really think it’s more complicated than it was for prior generations,” said Dr. Whitney Casares, a Portland pediatrician and author of the book “Doing It All.” Although TVs have been been popular since the 1950s, they were limited to the home. Cars, restaurants, parks and most other spaces were screen-free zones.

“The access was really different. Sure, kids sat in front of the TV. But parents could turn it off, there weren’t as many options, and it wasn’t on-demand,” Casares said.

Adding to the issue, working parents need to have some type of distraction for their kids, and “screens tend to be the easiest option, the lowest hanging fruit,” she said.

Does screen time affect children’s brain development?

The biggest problem with screen time is what young children aren’t doing while they’re watching — exploring the world and having back-and-forth interactions with caregivers. That’s how babies and toddlers learn, and when they are watching digital media, they lose that time to grow and learn.

This is particularly true for babies and toddlers, because there isn’t a lot of evidence showing they can learn much of anything through screens.

There’s also some limited studies suggesting that children who watched more than the recommended one hour a day had lower development in the parts of the brain dedicated language and early literacy skills.

Will screen time ruin a child?

For preschoolers, there’s evidence that educational shows such as “Sesame Street” can actually help improve literacy and social development, though only in limited amounts.

So to make the most of a child’s screen time, try to limit what they watch to high-quality, educational programming with as few commercials as possible. And whenever possible, watch with them, talk about what you are viewing and ask questions.

When it comes to online videos, it can be much harder to control what your child is watching, and inappropriate content abounds.

A Common Sense Media report on YouTube use found that just 1 in 4 videos viewed by infants to 8-year-olds were educational, and the rest were entertainment. More than a quarter were intended for older audiences, such as gaming videos or compilations of violent content. And 1 in 5 videos showed inappropriate commercials such as ads for lingerie and whiskey.

In general, Jill Murphy, Common Sense Media’s chief content officer, said it’s safer to stick with branded content from a production company that’s intended for young children, which often have child development staff or advisors.

Today’s top stories

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More big stories

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Commentary and opinions

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Artists Adam Miller and Devon Oder, co-owners of The Pit art galleries in Los Angeles and Palm Springs, enjoy the backyard of their Yucca Valley home.

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