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5 Tips to Prevent the Spread of Illnesses

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Screen time for kids: Healthy Head to Toe

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Consequences for kids' of endless screen time

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Ground-breaking look at the impact of screen time on kids' brains

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Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

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CDC NERD Academy Student Quick Learn: How does disease spread?

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Young Atlanta Artist on the Rise Through Social Media

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Young Atlanta Artist on the Rise Through Social Media

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Effects of screen time on brain development

Screen-based entertainment increases central nervous system arousal, which can amplify anxiety.

Millennials are more forgetful than OAP's; they've outsourced their memory to Google, GPS, calendar alerts etc. Columbia University found that when people know that they'll be able to find information online easily, they're less likely to form a memory of it

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Are you worried your child has too much screen time? Find out the potential effects it could have on your child and tips to help limit screen time.

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Alex Lin Helps Reduce E-Waste⎢TakePart TV

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https://www.wired.com/story/brief-history-digital-panic/

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Screen Time May Actually Be Good for Kids

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Screen Time May Actually Be Good for Kids

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Forbes Magazine

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Unrecognizable girl playing game on tablet computer
Getty

It's perhaps one of the biggest parenting faux pas of the 21st century: letting any of our ubiquitous screens act as babysitter. But new research out of Oxford, Cardiff and Cambridge Universities finds that screen time in moderation actually seems to have a positive effect on kids.

The researchers found that children who spend one to two hours daily watching television or using digital devices had higher levels of social and emotional well-being versus those who reported no screen time.

"In light of our findings, calls for blanket technology bans and age restrictions on technology access do not constitute evidence-based or indeed ethical advice, particularly as screen usage in some cases has a net positive impact," said Professor Andrew Przybylski, Director of Research at the Oxford Internet Institute, in a release.

Przybylski is lead author of the new study published in the Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry.

The research is based on survey data from questionnaires filled out by the caregivers of over 35,000 American children about their screen time and observable psychosocial functioning.

Some interesting data points include:

On average children spend one hour and 41 minutes engaged in television-based activities such as gaming and viewing films;

On average, children spend one hour and 53 minutes engaged in device-based activities using tablets and smartphones;

Children could watch over four hours of television-based activities before showing any signs of functioning difficulties;

Children could engage in over five hours of device-based activities before exhibiting significant functioning difficulties.

It's worth noting here that all this data is based on the subjective reporting of the caregivers that were surveyed, which could be prone to considerable biases given the close relationships between caregiver and child.

"We urge others to build on our findings which show the possible influence of digital screen engagement is likely to be smaller and more nuanced that many might first expect," said Dr. Amy Orben, a college research fellow at the University of Cambridge.

Still, this surprising finding, even if preliminary, challenges the popular narrative that screen time is zombie-fying our kids. Could it be the case that society has shifted in recent decades enough that functioning in society may actually require a certain amount of screen time? Or was it just never really a big problem in the first place?

"Very few children, if any, routinely use television and device-based screens enough, on average, to show significantly lower levels of psychological functioning," Przybylski says. "Instead these findings indicate that other aspects of digital engagement, including what is on screens and how caregivers moderate their use, are far more important."

Follow me on Twitter or LinkedIn. Check out my website.

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Screen Time May Actually Be Good For Kids, New Oxford Study Finds

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It's perhaps one of the biggest parenting faux pas of the 21st century: letting any of our ubiquitous screens act as babysitter. But new research out of Oxford, Cardiff and Cambridge Universities finds that screen time in moderation actually seems to have a positive effect on kids.

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Young activist recounts pivotal moments in her fight for black lives

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Nupol Kiazolu, president of Black Lives Matter of Greater New York, discussed what spurred her to activism at a very young age.

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MIT Tech Review

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Andrew Przybylski of the Oxford Internet Institute thinks that's way off base. In a controversial new study published in the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, he and colleagues don't just swipe at the predominant thinking that kids should be exposed to as little screen time as possible-they argue that moderate screen time is actually good for kids.

The study set out to test two ideas. "The first was to test if there were 'optimal' levels of screen time in young people," Przybylski said via email. "The second was to look for a critical value, or tipping point, at which screen engagement was significantly related to well-being outcomes."

Przybylski, along with his colleagues, found "modest positive relations" when kids used devices and/or watched television for up to two hours a day. Contrary to medical recommendations, the team reported that kids would need to be using screens "for more than five hours a day" before parents would notice any differences.

The study's findings are based on data from more than 35,000 American children and caregivers and reported by the National Survey of Children's Health via the US Census Bureau between June 2016 and February 2017. Przybylski says his analysis suggests that children who are using a digital device-a television, video game console, tablet, laptop, smartphone, or any other gadget with a screen-have better social and emotional skills than kids who don't use this technology.

The research overturns dominant thinking about screen time, which has overwhelmingly pointed to worrisome increases in rates of depression, anxiety, and suicidal tendencies.

Jean Twenge is one of the most prominent critics of letting children have screen time and the author of the book , which argues that technology is making kids less happy. She said in an email she found the study "very strange," particularly because she and her colleagues used the same census data as Przybylski in a paper last year and found the opposite results: heavy screen use led to almost three times the rate of psychosocial issues in kids. Przybylski's interpretation of the same data was that the differences between heavy and light use were small, a discrepancy Twenge said was puzzling.

Przybylski stood firmly by his team's results despite the criticism, even going so far as to suggest that previous research in the area has been statistically suspect. "Nearly all the studies on this topic are very poorly done; most don't share their data, code, or conform to best research practices," he said. "More than results, what sets our research ... apart is an emphasis on empirical rigor."

Twenge conceded that her statistical methods were up for debate, but she stood by her overall conclusion that screen time was unhealthy for children. The data "do not show benefits for moderate use," she said. "Instead, the best outcomes appear at light use for teens. For younger children, the best outcomes are at no use or very light use."

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Here's what the American Academy of Pediatrics says about screen time for kids: children between 2 and 5 should be limited to "one hour a day of high-quality programming" infants between 18 and 24 months can have screen time so long as it's high quality and with a caregiver babies shouldn't be exposed to screens...

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Watch Sunday Morning: Student David Hogg on Florida school shooting - Full show on CBS

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David Hogg, the 17-year-old head of the student TV station at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., talks about Wednesday's mass shooting that killed seventeen classmates and teachers, and how the American people should respond to political leaders who do not address the dangers of gun violence.

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Screen Time and Kids: "Parents Need to Worry Less About Hours Logged," CNN

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Screen Time and Kids: "Parents Need to Worry Less About Hours Logged," CNN

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Screen time and kids: Parents need to worry less about hours logged | CNN

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When it comes to screen time, parents should start worrying less about the amount of time their teenagers are online and instead focus on the quality of the content.

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A patient receives an IV drip as face masks hang from the IV pole at a hospital in Portland, Ore., in August. (Jenny Kane/AP)

Dressed in blue scrubs and carrying a stethoscope around her neck, an oncology nurse in Salem, Ore., looked to the Grinch as inspiration while suggesting that she ignored coronavirus guidelines outside of work.

In a TikTok video posted Friday, she lip-dubbed a scene from "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" to get her point across to her unaware colleagues: She does not wear a mask in public when she's not working at Salem Hospital.

"When my co-workers find out I still travel, don't wear a mask when I'm out and let my kids have play dates," the nurse wrote in a caption accompanying the video, which has since been deleted.

Following swift online backlash from critics, her employer, Salem Health, announced Saturday that the nurse had been placed on administrative leave. In a statement, the hospital said the nurse "displayed cavalier disregard for the seriousness of this pandemic and her indifference towards physical distancing and masking out of work."

A hospital official identified the nurse as Ashley Grames in an email sent to The Washington Post on Monday.

"We also want to assure you that this one careless statement does not reflect the position of Salem Health or the hardworking and dedicated caregivers who work here," said the hospital, adding that an investigation is underway.

In March and April 2020, The Post asked five nurses across the U.S. to describe what life is like working on the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic. (Video: The Washington Post)

The nurse's video offers a startling and rare glimpse of a front-line health-care worker blatantly playing down a virus that has killed at least 266,000 Americans. It also has been seen in some coronavirus patients, some on their deathbeds, who still refuse to believe the pandemic is real.

South Dakota nurse says many patients deny the coronavirus exists - right up until death

The incident comes at a time when Oregon has continued to see a spike in new coronavirus cases and virus-related hospitalizations. Just last week, the state's daily reported deaths and hospitalizations rose by 33.3 and 24.2 percent respectively, according to The Post's coronavirus tracker. At least 74,120 Oregonians have been infected with the virus since late February; 905 of them have died.

The clip posted to TikTok on Friday shows Grames mocking the health guidelines while using audio from a scene in which the Grinch reveals his true identity to Cindy Lou Who.

Although the original video was removed, TikTok users have shared a "duet" video posted by another user critical of the nurse, which had more than 274,000 reactions as of early Monday.

Soon after Grames posted the clip, hundreds took to social media and the hospital's Facebook page to report the nurse's video and demand an official response from her employer. Some requested that Grames be removed from her position and that her license be revoked.

Hospital officials told The Post that the investigation is aiming to figure out which other staff members and patients have come in contact with the nurse, who works in the oncology department.

Catch up on the biggest developments in the pandemic at the end of the day with our free coronavirus newsletter

But for some, the hospital's apologies and actions were not enough.

"The video supplied should be evidence enough," one Facebook user commented. "She needs to be FIRED. Not on PAID leave. As someone fighting cancer, I can only imagine how her patients feel after seeing this news."

The hospital thanked those who alerted them of the incident, emphasizing that its staff, patients and visitors must adhere to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines.

"These policies are strictly enforced among staff from the moment they leave their cars at work to the moment they start driving home," hospital officials told The Post.

Coronavirus: What you need to know

Vaccines: The CDC recommends that everyone age 5 and older get an updated covid booster shot. New federal data shows adults who received the updated shots cut their risk of being hospitalized with covid-19 by 50 percent. Here's guidance on when you should get the omicron booster and how vaccine efficacy could be affected by your prior infections.

New covid variant: XBB.1.5, a new covid variant pegged by the World Health Organization as "the most transmissible" descendant yet of the omicron variant, is quickly becoming the dominant strain in the U.S.

Guidance: CDC guidelines have been confusing - if you get covid, here's how to tell when you're no longer contagious. We've also created a guide to help you decide when to keep wearing face coverings.

Where do things stand? See the latest coronavirus numbers in the U.S. and across the world. In the U.S., pandemic trends have shifted and now White people are more likely to die from covid than Black people. Nearly nine out of 10 covid deaths are people over the age 65.
For the latest news, sign up for our free newsletter.

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An Oregon nurse bragged on TikTok about not wearing a mask outside of work. She's now on administrative leave.

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Dressed in blue scrubs and carrying a stethoscope around her neck, an oncology nurse in Salem, Ore., looked to the Grinch as inspiration while suggesting that she ignored coronavirus guidelines outside of work.

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First Time I Saw Me: Trans Voices | Jazz Jennings | Netflix + GLAAD

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Screen Time Guidelines for Babies and Toddlers

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Screen Time Guidelines for Babies and Toddlers

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Most of a baby's brain development happens in the first 2 years of life. That's why it's so important for babies and toddlers to explore their environment and experience many sights, sounds, tastes, and textures. Interacting and playing with others helps children learn about the world around them.

So experts recommend limiting the amount of time that babies and toddlers spend in front of a screen. That's good advice - but in today's world, it can be tough to keep babies and toddlers away from all the TVs, tablets, computers, smartphones, and gaming systems they'll see.

How Much Is Too Much?

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends that babies younger than 18 months get no screen time at all. The exception to this rule is video chatting with grandparents or other family members or friends, which is considered quality time interacting with others.

Toddlers 18 months to 24 months old can start to enjoy some screen time with a parent or caregiver. Children this age can learn when an adult is there to reinforce lessons.

By ages 2 and 3, it's OK for kids to watch up to 1 hour a day of high-quality educational programming.

Media Use Tips

When introducing media to toddlers:

Be with young kids when they use electronic devices. That can mean playing an educational game or talking about something you see together in an age-appropriate TV show or video.

Research games and apps before getting them for your child. Thousands of apps and games claim to be educational, but not all of them are. Search online to see which ones educators and doctors consider the best. Common Sense Media has information about age and content appropriateness of video games and other media. When possible, preview the media before sharing with your child.

Schedule plenty of non-screen time into your child's day. Playtime is important for learning and building creativity. Schedule lots of time for hands-on learning and interacting with caregivers and friends. Also, encourage your child to be physically active every day.

Turn off devices during meals and at least 1 hour before bed. Keep TVs and other electronics out of the bedroom.

Set a good example. Turn off TVs and other devices when not in use. Don't leave screens on in the background and turn off your phone when you are with your child. This can distract from your interactions and your child's play.

Talk to your doctor if you have any questions or concerns about managing your child's media use.

Date reviewed: August 2022

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Not sure how much screen time is appropriate for your baby or toddler? Get advice here.

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When did dogs become the best friends to humans all around the globe? "There's still a lot we don't know about how wolves went from fairy tale villains to our canine companions," explains paleontologist Kallie Moore in this fascinating, research-filled episode of PBS Eons.

"What we can say from studies of dog and wolf genomes is that wolves and dogs began to genetically diverge from each other sometime between about 40,000 and 27,000 years ago.

And figuring out the exact timing is tough, because it looks like the split happened over a very short period of time, and there was probably interbreeding between domestic dogs and wild wolves along human migration routes. So dogs still looked pretty wolf-like at the start of domestication.

It's also complicated because these two species diverging genetically isn't necessarily the same thing as domestication; one's just a split in the gene pool, while the other's the whole behavioral and genetic process that humans were involved in. But one of the key genetic traits wolves and modern dogs share, that has been really strongly selected for in modern dogs, seems to be hyper sociability, which is the tendency for adult animals to initiate social contact even with members of other species.

And for some wolves, this tendency, along with other behaviors, like scavenging for food, could've made them a better fit for eventual domestication."

Related to that hyper sociability, Eons also explores the deep emotional bond humans have had with dogs throughout history, citing Late Pleistocene to the Mid-Holocene Epoch dog burial finds across Europe, Asia, Africa, and North America.

Moore also touches on more recent history with the expansion of dog breeds during the Victorian era.

Related reading atNational Geographic: Are These the Oldest Images of Dogs?

And more about Dogor at Smithsonian Mag: Was This 18,000-Year-Old Puppy Frozen in Siberian Permafrost the Ancestor of Wolves, Dogs or Both?

Watch these related dog and genetics videos next:
* Why Dogs Have Floppy Ears, an animated tale
* Who was the first human?
* How Mendel's pea plants helped us understand genetics

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Wolf to Dog Evolution: How Dogs (Eventually) Became Our Best Friends | The Kid Should See This

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When did dogs become the best friends to humans all around the globe? "There's still a lot we don't know about how wolves went from fairy tale villains to our canine companions," explains paleontologist Kallie Moore in this fascinating, research-filled episode of PBS Eons.

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Anya Kamenetz is the author of The Art of Screen Time: How Your Family Can Balance Digital Media and Real Life. She believes a healthy life includes limited screen time.

Have you ever argued with your parents about putting away the tablet or turning off a video game? Most families are fighting these battles. In 2018, Brigham Young University and Deseret News conducted their American Family Survey. It showed that the Number 1 fear for parents of teenagers was too much technology.

You may not remember a time before there were smartphones and tablets everywhere. The iPhone was introduced in 2007. The iPad came out in 2010. But screen time is nothing new. When your parents were growing up, they watched television. They probably played video games, too.

Mobile × mobile BETSIE VAN DER MEER able to carried from place to place (adjective) My parents said that when I turn 13, they will buy me my own mobile phone. devices are different, though. This is because they can come with us wherever we go: to the dinner table, into the car, into the bedroom when we're going to sleep. They are programmed to remind us to pick them up or to keep using them. That's part of what makes smartphones smart! But it also means they interrupt us when we're trying to have family time and fun with friends. Everyone is now distracted by his or her own little machine.

Scientists who study the effects of media × media DAVID FINCH/GETTY IMAGES the radio stations, television programs, newspapers, websites, etc., that communicate information to the public (noun) The Olympics attract a lot of attention in the media. say too much screen time can cause problems. More than two hours a day of screen time raises your risk of being overweight. Too much screen time at night stops you from getting healthy sleep. Children who grow up with the most screen time can have a hard time focusing. And many families fight about screen time. That's no fun for anyone.

The solution is to talk about screen time. Make an agreement with your family about where, when, and how you are going to use your devices. No more than an hour a day is recommended for kids during the school week.

And take some time to enjoy your device with your family, perhaps by watching a movie. The American Academy of Pediatrics calls this "joint media engagement." The group says it's the best way for kids to grow up healthy in our digital world.

Stop & Think! How is an opinion essay different from a news article? What evidence does Anya Kamenetz use to support her opinion? Do you agree with her? Why or why not?

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Anya Kamenetz is the author of The Art of Screen Time: How Your Family Can Balance Digital Media and Real Life. She believes a healthy life includes limited screen time. Have you ever argued with your parents about putting away...

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How Mendels Pea Plants Helped Us Understand Genetics

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How Mendels Pea Plants Helped Us Understand Genetics

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How Mendel's pea plants helped us understand genetics | The Kid Should See This

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How Mendel's pea plants helped us understand genetics. Also explained in a single vintage illustration. Complement with why we are all related. From

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Star Bound: A NASA engineer talks with his nephew | The Kid Should See This

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“Why do you like space so much?” asks Joey Jefferson, a Mission Operations Engineer at NASA, of his nephew Jerry Morrison. The space-obsessed 6-year-old

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"James Cameron and his team pull together a new CGI of how they believe the Titanic sank and reached the ocean floor...". In this video from National Geographic, we learn more about the physics of it - how it sunk and broke in half from the stress, its size and weight, falling and hitting bottom in water, and more.

Having already seen National Geographic's April 15th, 2012 issue for the 100th anniversary of the Titanic sinking, watching the magazine's still images turned into this animation was a treat for our kid editorial team.

More NatGeo and Cameron: What protects human deep divers down in the Mariana Trench?

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"James Cameron and his team pull together a new CGI of how they believe the Titanic sank and reached the ocean floor...". In this video from National

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Bill Nye Is Here to Demonstrate That Face Masks Get the Job Done

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The internet's favorite science guy took to TikTok with an important mask-wearing message

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Finding Ways to Keep Children Occupied During These Challenging Times

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Finding Ways to Keep Children Occupied During These Challenging Times

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Families are doing their part to help contain the spread of the novel coronavirus by keeping children at home, which means finding creative ways to keep everyone calm, healthy and engaged in constructive work and play.
Families will face an unprecedented challenge in the coming weeks as their children move schooling into their homes while parents juggle work and childcare responsibilities, and emotional and potential financial stresses. Keeping children at home is an important part of containing the novel coronavirus so that the health care system does not get overwhelmed, but some families may have a particularly hard time.

As families adjust to this situation, the AAP urges parents to preserve offline experiences, which help families connect emotionally, process difficult experiences, and heal. While limits are still important, under these stressful circumstances, kids' screen media use will likely increase. Parents can take steps to ensure that this media use is positive and helps the family and community, according to the AAP.

The AAP offers the following tips, which may be used by media outlets with attribution:

Make a plan. Talk with your kids about what your daily structure will be, how you will handle stress, and when you will take breaks from tele-work or schoolwork to relax and connect with each other.

Communicate with teachers about what educational online and offline activities your children can do. Schools districts may be able to help connect low-income families to free Wi-Fi or devices.

For preschoolers, good options include PBS Kids ( https://www.pbs.org/parents), which is sending out a daily newsletter with show and activity ideas.

Use social media for good! Check in with neighbors, friends and loved ones. If schools are closed, find out if there are ways to help students who need meals or internet access for at-home learning.

Use media for social connection: Social distancing can be isolating. If kids are missing their school friends or other family, try video chats or social media to stay in touch.

Be selective about what your children watch. Use trusted sources to find positive content, such as Common Sense Media, which has been compiling lots of ideas for families hunkering down right now. https://www.commonsensemedia.org/blog/what-to-watch-read-and-play-while-your-kids-are-stuck-indoors

Use media together. This is a great opportunity to monitor what your older children are seeing online and follow what your children are learning. Even watching a family movie together can help everyone relax while you appreciate the storytelling and meaning that movies can bring.

Parents working from home may need to adjust expectations during this time. But it's also a chance to show kids a part of their world. Encouraging imaginative "work" play may be a way to apply "take your child to work day" without ever leaving home!

Podcasts and audiobooks are great ways to keep children's minds engaged while parents get things done.

Find offline activities that help family relax and communicate. Take walks outside, play board games, read together, have family dance parties. Know which activities spark your children's interest (kicking the ball around? baking?) and make time for them.

Create the space for family members to talk about their worries.

Parents - notice your own technology use. When you're getting too sucked into news or social media feeds and it's stressing you out, children can notice. Take a break to protect your own mental health too.

Limits are still important. As the timeline of social distancing is uncertain, try to stick to routines. Make sure technology use does not take the place of sleep, physical activity, reading, reflective downtime, or family connection.

Make a plan about how much time kids can play video games online with friends, and where their devices will charge at night. Challenge children to practice "tech self-control" and turn off the TV, tablet, or video game themselves - rather than parents reminding them.

Consider what offline activities are enjoyable for your family. Help other families by sharing those ideas.
The American Academy of Pediatrics is an organization of 67,000 primary care pediatricians, pediatric medical subspecialists and pediatric surgical specialists dedicated to the health, safety and well-being of infants, children, adolescents and young adults.

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AAP: Finding Ways to Keep Children Occupied During These Challenging Times

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Families are doing their part to help contain the spread of the novel coronavirus by keeping children at home, which means finding creative ways to keep everyone calm, healthy and engaged in constructive work and play.

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Genetic EngineeringA guide for kids by Tiki the Penguin Genetic engineering is a way humans have found to modify the genes which you find in all living things. Genes are the instructions for building the body that contains them. That body can be a shrimp, a snail, a whale, a human, a potato...

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In spite of almost two hundred thousand recorded deaths from COVID-19 in the U.S. at the time of writing, people are still refusing to wear masks in public.

Only six months ago, I would've never guessed that every time I left my house, I'd always have to have a mask on hand. That after walking down the street to start my run, I'd need to turn around because I realized I had forgotten my mask. Unfortunately, that's our new reality, and we need to accept it.

There never even should've been a debate in the first place. It's simple; people need to wear face coverings when in public to stop the spread of COVID-19. Masks are not political; they're a form of protection.

Currently, only 34 states and the District of Columbia have mandates for wearing face masks in public. Even with these mandates in place, people are still walking around without face masks, only putting them on when required by businesses.

We don't have to look very hard to see why we should be wearing masks whenever we're in public. This past week the five states with the greatest increase of new COVID-19 cases were Alabama, Kansas, South Dakota, North Dakota, and Iowa. Three of those five states have no facemask requirements in public, and of the two that do, Alabama and Kansas, most of Kansas' counties are opting out of the facemask order.

Everyone should be wearing masks regardless of whether there's a mandate in place. However, even with a mandate, all you have to do is go to the nearest shopping center to see people without masks.

Masks have been proven to help stop the spread of COVID-19, and yet some people are still refusing to wear them in public places. Wearing masks only when required to by stores defeats the purpose of the masks when you're still out in public and unable to social distance.

People who don't wear masks seem to have the same mentality as people who think they could never be the ones to get into an accident while driving under the influence. It's important to consider not only the dangers we expose ourselves to by not wearing a mask in public but the consequences of exposing other people as well. If it isn't enough to want to protect yourself from COVID-19, think about everyone who isn't lucky enough to have a good enough immune system to fight off the virus. We owe it to them to do the bare minimum and always wear a mask in public.

Just like you don't wear a shirt and shoes only when required to by restaurants, you shouldn't only wear a mask when required to by stores.

We need to accept that for now, as masks are the new dress code.

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Opinion: Masks should be mandatory in public

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In spite of almost two hundred thousand recorded deaths from COVID-19 in the U.S. at the time of writing, people are still refusing to wear masks in public. Only six months ago, I would've never guessed that every time I left my house, I'd always have to have a mask on hand.

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Future Women of America: Meet Mari Copeny

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What do we really know about kids and screen time? 

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What do we really know about kids and screen time? 

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By the time research on screen time reaches the public, it's often framed in black-and-white terms: guidelines setting out strict time limits, or news reports with titles like "Are Screens Bad for Kids?"

In reality, though, screen time research has been less than definitive, mainly owing to a lack of strong longitudinal studies to date. That's now beginning to change as psychologists and other child development experts take a deeper and increasingly nuanced look at children's and teens' use of tablets, phones and other screens. Researchers are now paying close attention to the kinds of content kids are consuming via digital devices. They're looking at the environment that surrounds screen time, including parenting and socioeconomic status. And they're buckling down for the long haul, building new longitudinal studies that will help answer complex questions about kids, teens and screens.

In particular, they're studying both the potential benefits of screens-if they can be used as teaching tools-and the potential physical and mental health drawbacks.

The picture that has emerged suggests that the youngest children don't learn well from screens. As kids get older, they can learn meaningful information from screens, but the ubiquity of digital devices also means that children can easily spend far too much time being sedentary. Nevertheless, total abstinence from recreational screen time may backfire for older kids and teens.

Meanwhile, many questions remain about how much screen time is too much and about the effects of different types of activities that involve screens.

"As psychologists, it's really important for us to have scientific-based evidence behind what we're recommending. We're not there yet," says Jerri Lynn Hogg, PhD, a media psychologist at Fielding Graduate University. "We have ideas, but the problem is that the technology is getting more and more sophisticated and more ubiquitous."

The challenges of screen time

In all the popular-media hubbub and scientific debate over screen time, it's easy to forget how quickly these issues have evolved: The first-generation iPhone was introduced only 13 years ago, in 2007, the same year Netflix introduced streaming services. The iPad just saw its 10th birthday. Television and video games have been around for decades, of course, but never so portably and easily accessed.

Amid this rapid change, professional organizations such as the World Health Organization (WHO) and American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) have stepped in with recommendations. AAP calls for no screen time at all for children until 18 to 24 months, except for video chatting, and says kids ages 2 to 5 should get an hour or less of screen time per day. It has also developed the Family Media Use Plan for older kids, in which parents and children negotiate limits and boundaries around screen usage. In its guidelines on physical activity, sedentary behavior and sleep for young children, WHO similarly recommends no screens for kids under 2, and less than an hour a day for kids 2 to 5.

However, some critics charge that much of the research backing up the guidelines is correlational, cross-sectional or based upon self-report-though there are longitudinal studies in the mix, too. And not all research effectively differentiates between different types of screen time. Many studies lump all screen time together into one category, though it seems unlikely that video chatting with Grandma, for example, would have much in common with playing "Grand Theft Auto V."

Isolating the effects of screens from all the other experiences kids are exposed to is a challenge as well. It would be difficult indeed to run a long-term, randomized study in which children were assigned to different amounts of screen time each day and then tracked over their life spans to measure well-being outcomes. Imagine the look on a parent's face when told their child would be required to watch six hours of television every day-or that they could never watch a screen at all.

What is clear is that many parents often don't enforce the screen time limits suggested by the guidelines. For example, a study led by economist Weiwei Chen, PhD, of Florida International University, found that, as of 2014, children age 2 and under in the United States averaged 3 hours, 3 minutes a day of screen time, up from 1 hour, 19 minutes a day in 1997. Three- to 5-year-olds got 2 hours, 28 minutes a day of screen time, on average, during that time period (JAMA Pediatrics , Vol. 173, No. 4, 2019).

Qualitative studies suggest several reasons for the widespread screen use. One survey of 133 parents of preschool-age kids led by Rutgers University professor of nutritional sciences Carol Byrd-Bredbenner, PhD, for example, found that many parents reported lacking affordable alternative entertainment for their kids. Others cited factors such as their own exhaustion, the need to get things done around the house and bad weather for excess screen time (Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior , Vol. 47, No. 4, 2015).

Babies, toddlers, preschoolers and screens

Research has, however, turned up evidence to support limiting screen time for babies and young children. One longitudinal study of 2,441 mothers and children, led by University of Calgary psychologist Sheri Madigan, PhD, found that more time per week spent on screens at ages 24 months and 36 months was linked with poorer performance on screening tests for behavioral, cognitive and social development at 36 months (JAMA Pediatrics , Vol. 173, No. 3, 2019 ). The opposite association (poorer development leading to more screen time) was not seen, suggesting that the linkage wasn't a matter of parents leaning on screen time to handle a challenging child. Instead, the excessive screen time seemed to precede the developmental difficulties.

Despite experts' concerns, media for babies and toddlers has been on the market for years, often with promises of stimulation and education-the "Baby Einstein" videos are one prominent example. But the evidence is strong that screens aren't an effective teaching tool for the baby and toddler set, and they could displace the kinds of face-to-face interactions that actually help young kids learn. A 2005 review led by developmental psychologist Daniel Anderson, PhD, now a professor emeritus at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, found that television viewing consistently failed to teach kids age 2 and younger as much as live interaction (American Behavioral Scientist , Vol. 48, No. 5, 2005 ). This "video deficit" was seen in simple imitation tasks, in language learning and in emotional learning.

"The basic pattern that has been found in dozens of studies is that children learn better from a person who is with them face-to-face than from a person on a screen, even if it's the exact same person doing the exact same thing," says Georgene Troseth, PhD, a psychologist at Vanderbilt University.

More recently, researchers like Troseth are trying to understand why this screen learning gap occurs in toddlers. That toddlers struggle to learn from videos does not seem to be perceptual, Troseth says, but conceptual: Until they're around age 3, kids seem to view video as irrelevant to real life. In numerous studies, toddlers shown video of an experimenter hiding a toy in the room next door are terrible at finding that toy in the real room immediately afterward. In one study co-authored by Troseth, however, toddlers who watched a toy being hidden on a screen disguised to look like a window were much better at finding the toy than toddlers who saw the toy hidden on a regular screen (Child Development , Vol. 69, No. 4, 1998 ). "When they were told they were watching through a window, they were willing to take in the information," Troseth says. "The idea when they're watching on TV seems to be, 'You're not going to fool me, I know that's not real.'"

Though screen time recommendations for the youngest kids now make exceptions for video chatting, the evidence also suggests that toddlers find this medium confusing and that they struggle to make sense of video chat unless they have help from an adult who is physically present. In one study by Troseth and her colleagues, for example, 2-year-olds were assigned to either watch a prerecorded video intended to teach them new words or to engage in a word-learning video chat session with an experimenter. In half of the cases, the child's parent simply sat with the child. In the other half, the parent followed the experimenter's directions, modeling interactions with the video screen. A live video chat kept the kids' attention better than a prerecorded video, but only kids whose parents participated alongside them were able to learn new words from the screen (Journal of Experimental Child Psychology , Vol. 166, 2018 ).

Three- to 5-year-olds, on the other hand, are a bit more savvy. Since the early days of "Sesame Street," research has found that this age group can learn from slow-paced, thoughtfully designed children's media. For example, in tests of prereading skills such as alphabet recognition and letter sounds, kids who were randomly assigned to watch a 20-episode run of the literacy show "Super Why!" outperformed kids who were assigned to watch an educational science series, according to a study of 171 preschoolers conducted by Deborah Nichols, PhD, the director of the Children's Media Lab at Purdue University ( International Journal for Cross-Disciplinary Subjects in Education , Vol. 6, No. 1, 2015 ). Children from low socioeconomic backgrounds generally saw greater gains than children in the wealthiest families, possibly because the more privileged children were already exposed to more literacy enrichment than the less-advantaged group.

Television's educational potential isn't limited to academic skills: A study of the PBS show "Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood" led by Texas Tech University media researcher Eric Rasmussen, PhD, found that kids who were randomly assigned to watch the program showed greater emotion recognition, empathy and self-efficacy-if those children also came from homes where parents consistently talked to their children about their TV viewing ( Journal of Children and Media , Vol. 10, No. 4, 2016 ). As with toddlers, preschoolers seem to benefit from adults co-viewing their media.

Co-viewing may seem a steep price to pay for parents who are desperate to use their child's screen time to make dinner or pack tomorrow's lunch, but it doesn't have to be a full-time job, Hogg says. Rather, she recommends parents should aim to scaffold their child's screen time, first watching a few episodes with them and talking about the content, then stepping back and checking in as the child becomes familiar with how media works.

Growing up digital

As children mature, they're exposed to more screens, with more diverse content via television, video games and social media. A report released in October 2019 by the nonprofit organization Common Sense Media found that 8- to 12-year-olds in the United States now use screens for entertainment for an average of 4 hours, 44 minutes a day, and 13- to 18-year-olds are on screens for an average of 7 hours, 22 minutes each day (The Common Sense Census: Media Use by Tweens and Teens , 2019). These numbers don't count time using screens for schoolwork or homework.

Common Sense Media's data also reveal a substantial disparity in media use based on socioeconomic status, with 8- to 12-year-olds from high income families using 1 hour, 50 minutes less of media each day than kids of the same age from low income families. Teens show a similar gap. Previous research has suggested that increased screen time in poorer families may be an attempt by parents to protect their children; studies in multiple countries have found that parent anxiety about neighborhood safety and actual neighborhood safety are linked to more screen time and less physical activity. For example, health researchers Valerie Carson, PhD, of the University of Alberta, and Ian Janssen, PhD, of Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, found that kids who lived in neighborhoods with the highest social and physical disorder (such as crime, graffiti and gang activity) had a 40% to 60% higher likelihood of high screen use (International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity , Vol. 9, No. 66, 2012). Higher-income families may also have more alternatives to screen time available, in the form of extracurricular activities and safe recreation areas.

As with young children, there are reasons for concern over large amounts of screen time in tweens and teens. Correlational studies have shown that 8- to 11-year-olds who exceed screen time recommendations scored lower on cognitive assessments, with compliance with recommendations explaining about a fifth of the overall variance in cognitive scores (The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health , Vol. 2, No. 11, 2018). A combination of screen time and too little sleep has also been associated with heightened impulsivity in the same age group (Pediatrics , Vol. 144, No. 3, 2019).

These studies weren't designed to show causal relationships, though, says Gary Goldfield, PhD, a psychologist at the University of Ottawa who coauthored both studies. It could be that increased impulsivity or struggles with cognition drive the excess screen time. Nevertheless, in numerous studies, Goldfield and his team have consistently found the best mental health and cognitive outcomes in teens who do one hour of physical activity each day, sleep eight to 10 hours a day and use screens recreationally less than two hours a day.

Researchers have also found links between screen time and various health outcomes in teens, though again, establishing definitive causal relationships is difficult. The firmest associations are between screen time and obesity and screen time and depressive symptoms, according to a systematic review of reviews published by University College London (UCL) psychologist Neza Stiglic, PhD, and Russell Viner, PhD, a professor of adolescent health at UCL (BMJ Open , Vol. 9, No. 1, 2019). Most research on obesity focused on television viewing and found that more time spent watching TV was associated with a higher body mass index or body fat composition. Multiple studies also found that screen use of more than two hours a day was correlated with depressive symptoms. The reviewers found moderate evidence linking screen time to poorer quality of life, higher caloric intake and less-healthy diets. Evidence linking screen time to other problems, such as behavior issues, anxiety, and low feelings of well-being and self-esteem, was weak, with studies on these outcomes returning mixed results.

A study led by psychologists Amy Orben, PhD, of the University of Cambridge, and Andrew Przybylski, PhD, of the University of Oxford, found that screen time as measured by time-use diaries (as opposed to retrospective self-reports, which many studies use) in large did not have noticeable effects on teen psychological well-being, according to nationally representative data sets in the United States, United Kingdom and Ireland (Psychological Science , Vol. 30, No. 5, 2019). But other research points to complicated relationships between screen time and well-being. For example, a study led by physician Pierre-André Michaud, MD, of the Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine in Lausanne, Switzerland, found a U-shaped relationship between internet use and adolescent mental and physical heath, such that moderate users were the best off (Pediatrics , Vol. 127, No. 2, 2011).

"A lot depends on how kids are using media, how much their parents are monitoring their use, how much time they're spending and what exactly they're watching and using," says Victor Strasburger, MD, a pediatrician and professor emeritus at the University of New Mexico School of Medicine.

Future research and recommendations

Fortunately, a new longitudinal data set may help illuminate some of the outstanding questions about adolescents and screen time. In 2015, the National Institutes of Health began funding the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study, the largest ever longitudinal study on teen brain and behavioral development in the United States. More than 10,000 9- to 10-year-olds have been recruited and are being followed to young adulthood. Screen time data are among the information being collected, and researchers are already using the first wave: Goldfield's cognition and impulsivity studies drew from ABCD data. "We're pretty excited about this database," he says.

In the meantime, some experts recommend a mindful approach to media. Simply banning screens may backfire, says Jon Lasser, PhD, a psychologist at Texas State University and co-author, with Mike Brooks, PhD, of the 2018 book "Tech Generation: Raising Balanced Kids in a Hyper-Connected World."

"It's important for kids to develop the capacity to self-regulate," Lasser says, "and parents who try to micromanage screen time may inadvertently interfere with that self-regulatory development."

Lasser and Brooks include a tool in their book called the Family Assessment of Screen Time, or FAST, which family members can use to gauge their feelings about screen time-their own and each other's. The tool is similar to AAP's Family Media Use Plan, in which parents and children, 5 years and older, negotiate limits and boundaries around screen usage.

Finally, parents should keep co-viewing media with their kids. Keeping an open line of communication around media helps protect kids when they inevitably run into content they aren't ready to see, Strasburger says. A healthy, nonrancorous relationship around media also makes it easier to enforce boundaries when required.

"The number one recommendation that we give to parents is [to] spend time engaged with their kids," Lasser says. "It's simple, it's good parenting and it promotes a healthy relationship."

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What do we really know about kids and screens?

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Researchers are now paying close attention to the kinds of content kids are consuming via digital devices as well as the environment that surrounds screen time, including parenting and socioeconomic status.