87% of children in America exceed the 1-2 daily average of screen time per day; 75% of children under 2 and 67% of kids ages 2-5 are in front of a screen for long periods of time. Along with this, 20% of children struggle with mental health problems which can be linked back to the high usage of technology.
In this high-tech world we live in today it’s near to impossible for children not to have technology in their life, so the use of technology and screen time needs to be cut down for children to not suffer from the countless horrible effects.
Although every child is different, there is a great contrast between children with a daily average screen time of 1-2 hours and kids with an excessive screen time of 3 plus hours. Children’s brains are sensitive, and when they are looking at a screen, whether it be a TV, phone, tablet, or computer, it’s much easier for them to become overstimulated and overwhelmed.
The most common effects seen in kids with excessive screen time are disrupted sleep, mood swings, depression, and obesity. Whenever kids get overstimulated the part of their brain that creates melatonin is suppressed making it hard for them to go to sleep or sleep through the whole night.
When kids don’t get enough sleep that causes moodiness and irritability. Adding to this, you can’t be active when you're looking at a screen all day, and lack of physical activity leads to obesity, anxiety, and depression. Not being outside and getting enough vitamin d can cause a lack of bone development, depression, and moodiness.
The most significant effect of excessive screen time is mental. Children won’t have social skills because you can’t talk to people and connect with them with your face on a screen. The lack of real-life interactions will cause anxiety when faced with the natural, not a virtual world, where you have to talk to people; this anxiety can cause withdrawal from people in general because you don't want to leave the comforts of your home where you don’t have to interact with people.
Children with low screen time are less likely to suffer from any of these symptoms than one that exceeds the suggested amount for children between the ages of 2-12 which is 2 hours maximum per day. Both kids that exceed the average amount of screen time and kids that don’t are still kids, and we can’t blame them for what is happening- parents need to take responsibility and action against the problems their children will face because of an excessive amount of screen time.
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