By Mallory Mattingly
Is there such a thing as healthy screen time?
“Not all screen time is created equal,” Xioran Sun, an assistant professor at the University of Minnesota who is researching screen time, told CBS News. “The first consideration is about apps that’s being used.”
For starters, Sun found that apps like TikTok, Snapchat and X tend to create body image issues in users. In another study, she found that social media usage among adolescents led to problems with attention spans, whereas video games and TV time did not.
“I would also like to highlight that the timing of screen time, or timing screen use, is very important to consider,” Sun emphasized. Problems arise for all ages when checking social media late at night when they should be sleeping.
Even though screen time comes with many negatives, avenues like education and connection could be some positives.
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“Obviously, if teens are using it for learning purposes and consuming high-quality educational content that could be beneficial for them,” the professor shared.
FaceTime or phone calls with friends can connect people in a deeper way than just texting. In fact, Sun suggested that using tech in this way can boost mental health.
Educational screen time, such as podcasts or videos about what children are learning in school, can also be a benefit.
It seems that the type of content consumed matters more than the amount of screen time, but social psychologist Jonathan Haidt encourages parents to give their children fairly strict guidelines around how they interact with tech.
“No smartphones before high school, no social media before 16, schools should be phone-free, and there should be more independence, free play, and responsibility in the real world,” he advised.
He says a “phone-based childhood” results in “foundational harms,” such as “social deprivation, sleep deprivation, attention fragmentation and addiction.”
“Teens and preteens feel a strong need to belong, and they lack a fully-formed prefrontal cortex with its executive functioning and ‘enough’ cues. They also have time in the day, after school and at night, to spend hours and hours on these ‘entertainment’ platforms, if allowed. Who hasn’t looked up from their phone wondering where the last hour (or three) went?” Haidt shared on social media.
“This is especially true for teens and preteens, because of their growing brains, and it’s why parental supervision and limits on touch-screen device time are absolutely key to a healthy adolescence,” he added.
While screens have some benefits, it seems that avoiding them altogether, especially for young people, might be the best option. If we do give our children access to screens, we should be conscious about the amount of time they’re on them as well as the type of content they are consuming.
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