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Just How Much Is Screen Time Impacting Your Child’s Brain?

Photo by Ali Smith via Pexels

Just How Much Is Screen Time Impacting Your Child’s Brain?

By Movieguide® Contributor

A new multi-year study into the impacts of screen time on toddlers’ brains reveals just how negative the technology is, and it’s causing experts to rethink their recommendations.

Dr. John Hutton and his team are at the forefront of research into the impact of screen time. They have been tracking children’s brains since a few days after they were born, and now some of their subjects are turning five. This multi-year study provides irrefutable evidence of the impact higher screen time has on development as well as revealing factors that could affect the impact.

The study found that infants with higher screen time can experience a negative impact on their reading and language comprehension along with their decision-making. Dr. Hutton and his team are now advising parents to wait until their children are at least three years old before they introduce regular technology.

“There [are] so many things we make kids wait to do in our society,” Dr. Hutton told TODAY. “We make them wait to drink beer, to vote, to have a gun, but for some reason we’re not doing the same thing with these powerful devices that give access to all content related things. [Smart devices] have been compared to [tobacco]. And parents using cell phones has been compared with secondhand smoke.”

His previous research found that excessive screen time even changes a child’s brain structure.

“These findings of differences in brain structure related to higher digital media use are especially important because the brain is growing so rapidly before age 5 and is exquisitely sensitive to experiences,” he said.

READ MORE: SIDE EFFECTS OF TODDLER SCREEN TIME YOU DIDN’T KNOW ABOUT

Dr. Hutton cautions parents against using technology as a learning device, as at a young age, it might not provide children with growth in the developmental skills that they actually need.

“Parents are a child’s first important teacher. That’s why it’s important that things that are shared experiences, like reading and playing with toys, so they can interact back and forth with language and feelings and emotions and that’s when good things happen with kids,” Dr. Hutton said.

The Cleaveland Clinic advises family-oriented activities like playing outside, helping around the house, crafting, building and puzzles can be great ways to get your children (and yourself) away from screens.

Hutton’s study builds on years of research that unanimously suggests higher screen time has numerous negative effects on a child’s development. While it is easier than ever to stick children on screens when they are an inconvenience, doing so only harms them and causes more problems down the road.

READ MORE: WHY TABLETS AREN’T THE ANSWER TO YOUR CHILD’S TANTRUM


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