By India McCarty
Some parents might think letting their toddler on TikTok isn’t that bad, but a new study has found that early exposure to the app can drastically change your kid’s behavior.
“A team of Chinese researchers has found that pre-schoolers who ‘excessively’ use such platforms are more likely to be aggressive and potentially anti-social than others of the same age,” The Star reported.
The study, published in the British Journal of Developmental Psychology, stated that their findings indicated a need for parents and teachers to address young children’s consumption of short-form videos.
“Short-form video overuse was negatively correlated with prosocial behaviours and positively correlated with aggressive behaviours,” the researchers explained, via MSN.
Related: New Report: How Screen Time Can Negatively Effect Cognitive Development
Prosocial behavior refers to altruistic actions, such as doing nice things for others or working to improve teamwork.
With some parents using tablets as digital pacifiers to soothe their children, a new study finds preschoolers who spend 75 minutes or more in front of a screen showed increased anger and frustration as they got older, along with difficulties in regulating their emotions. pic.twitter.com/jj4EbOGKFe
— CBS Evening News (@CBSEveningNews) August 13, 2024
TikTok has also been proven to alter users’ cognitive function. The endless array of video content the app gives users conditions their brains to move on more quickly and avoid any kind of deeper thinking.
“When we’re overwhelmed with processing so much information, our cognitive resources drain. When they drain, our mind gets fatigued,” psychologist Gloria Mark told CNBC. “There’s a part of the mind that’s called executive function, and that has the job of keeping us on track. It helps us with decision making, filtering out distractions and sticking to goals. When the mind gets fatigued, executive function just can’t do its job.”
TikTok isn’t the only social media platform that encourages antisocial behaviors in children and teens.
“As a species we are very highly attuned to reading social cues,” Catherine Steiner-Adair, EdD, a clinical psychologist, told The Child Mind Institute. “There’s no question kids are missing out on very critical social skills. In a way, texting and online communicating puts everybody in a context where body language, facial expression, and even the smallest kinds of vocal reactions are rendered invisible.”
For parents looking for ways to help their kids cut back on screen time, Donna Wick, EdD, a clinical and developmental psychologist, told CMI, “I use the same advice here that I use when talking about kids and alcohol — try to get as far as you can without anything at all.”
Excessive time spent on social media can have lots of negative side effects, especially on children, whose minds are still developing. It’s important to be conscious of what your kids are doing online and to try and keep their screen time low.
Read Next: New Report Finds TikTok Can Cause Harmful Motor And Verbal Tics
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