Written by: Chris Lake, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
Ok, I know this is a touchy issue. And I'm right there with you. This post is not intended to judge anyone or their parenting skills. The goal here is to make parenting easier. So we're going to dive into what the risks and the benefits of screen time for your children between birth to three years of age. And why this specific age range? As you may or may not know, this is the age where a whopping 80% of the human brain develops. So being both intentional and aware of what can add to or take away from optimal development is valuable. That being said, let's take an honest look at how screen time can affect this window.
Research, studies, and articles have shown the effects of screen time on babies and toddlers. The outlook is generally the same. The longer a child watches screens – be it TV, tablets, or phones – the more likely cognitive, speech, and behavioral delays will develop. Pause. Breathe. Remember that sentence in bold you read at the opening? I am not here to judge. So if you may have allowed your child to watch screens, even in copious amounts it is very likely you were not reading peer-reviewed journal entries before you did, right? So kindly give yourself a break.
The caveat here is if you didn't know before, now you do. Mind you, all screen time is not equal. For example, the American Academy of Pediatrics and other reputable international Health organizations recommend no screen time for babies, but agree face timing is the exception and actually recommended. In comparison, watching 4 hours of “satisfying” ASMR videos of truck wheels running over random objects (yes, this is a very popular channel) is going to hit a hard pause button on your child's cognitive development. But watching Sesame Street or Ms. Rachel will actually promote speech, learning, and even social emotional skills. Screens are simply a tool. Like a microwave. You can microwave leftover salmon, rice, and veggies for dinner. Or you can microwave stale dollar-menu junk food. Either way, it does its job to heat food. But what you choose to put in it, and thus in your body, plays out differently.
Going back to these studies, what exactly is the consensus? And what is the worst-case scenario?
Looking at two screen time studies in particular, we see a sample size of 7,097* and the other had a sample size of 84,030*. Now I'm going to go full-on nerd for a moment. So bear with me. (And if you're already well versed in research methodology, feel free to skip to the next paragraph.) If you are not already aware, the kind of research that is used to look at causal relationships is called quantitative whenever you are looking at numbers. So if we want to know if screen time causes delays – we want to look at how the numbers really stack up across the population. The formula would be something like if a 1-year-old watches 1 hour of TV daily what observable differences can be observed compared to 1 year old who watch none? Or if a 2-year-old has 2-4 hours a day of screen time what differences can be observed compared to same age kid with none? Or what happens with either age watches 4 hours or more or screen time? In order to consider the results of a study as meaningful – you want a sample size (total number of research participants) to be large enough to give you a good idea of how the results would play out in the general public. So typically, the more participants in the study, the more reliable the results. That being said, the sample size of almost 100,000 children between these two studies gives us a really solid footing on how these results play out across worldwide populations.
Nerdy stuff out of the way – what were the results? In a nutshell, the more a 1–3-year old child watches screen time, the more likely they will have delays in speech, fine motor, problem-solving, personal and/or social emotional skillsets. Boys were found to be more sensitive to this as well. And four hours or more really enters a child into the danger zone. Avoid this as best you can.
Drexel University recently did a study that found “early screen exposure, including television and video viewing, in babies and toddlers may lead to atypical sensory behaviors.” In fact, reporting from earth.com goes on to say that “Children exposed to screens by their second birthday showed increased tendencies towards sensation seeking, sensation avoiding, and low registration (delayed response to stimuli) by 33 months.” This isn’t to alarm you, but to give you the honest research that repeats the similar results of other researchers year after year.
Now as stated before, screens are like microwaves. The results will vary from household to household. In large part due to what content that is consumed. So consider if your kids have free reign for hours to watch whatever they please on YouTube. If so, then just as these studies warn, there will likely be delays to natural development. However, if you compare this with the same screen time used to play a variety of education games, apps, and programs – then you will see cognitive developments as new concepts are introduced, repeated, and built upon. Alternatively, if you compare this to the same amount of time facetiming with relatives, then the screen becomes a tool that is going to help develop interpersonal relationships with real people they will be able to interact with in person.
So it's not TV, or your phone, or a tablet that is “causing” delays. Rather, is it the content. Let’s say your child is watching CocoMelon on loop all day. Yes, they will learn the lyrics to songs, and may be able to pick up on some vocabulary, but they will not learn much more than that. And they certainly won't be learning any social skillsets or problem-solving skills. Additionally, the more stimulating content is through its colors, speed, and sounds, then the less stimulating analog in-person interaction will be. This will make it harder for a child to focus on what their brain simply sees as unappealing. Which means one-on-one interaction will have a really dull feel. In some cases, it may even become aversive. You can't blame them, really. And it's not that they can't see this content at all. But when they watch it for hours on end? Let's be real, there are consequences. So plan to set limits.
The non-screen aspect to think about is this: Imagine if you played with your kid for one hour and in that time, you played with some puzzles, read some books, and completed an arts and craft activity or two. In that one hour the child is hearing a variety of vocabulary about things in their environment, that they can go back to and interact with. In that time they are building their dexterity by using their fingers to engage puzzles, books, and markers. They are building preliterate and pre-writing skills through these activities (even though they don't know it). And they are hearing natural speech which allows them a chance to do something babies learning to speak all do – Mouth Gazing. Now this is really important. When kids do this, they will literally look into your mouth to observe how your lips, cheeks, tongue, and teeth are coordinating to make certain sounds consistently. Later, they go to their "lab" and practice. We refer to this practice as “babbling.” Think about this – When you watch TV or look at shows on screens, how often do you see the tongue of people talking? How often can you really gaze inside their mouths. Not often, am I right? Not unless they're being extra. One exception is Ms. Rachel who intentionally shows kids how to form sounds with their mouth using classic Speech Language Pathologist techniques (Again, it's not screens, it's content). Why I bring this up is because if we can't really see inside the mouths of actors (or cartoons), then neither can kids. This means they are missing that key speech developing opportunity while engaged in screen time vs when they spend that one-on-one time with you as you chat about anything. And every time you spot them mouth gazing, keep on chatting. You are literally building their brain.
So what can you do? As I said before, I get it. There are times that you need a moment whether you need to work, or cook, or cut their nails, or just plain go to the bathroom without someone following you in! And in these moments, it is OK to give screen time. It's also OK to give some on those occasions when you straight up just don't have the gas. But the key is to be intentional whenever you are giving them this tool. Limit the nonsense and be honest about what is nonsense. And be intentional about making one-on-one time. Engage in activities that actively build vocab, pre-reading exposure, pre-writing exposure, outdoor fun, pretend play, turn taking, joint play (with same or similar aged peers), and whatever else you can think of! Try to balance out the YouTube time with some dedicated you time. Make time to play without screens. And if your schedule makes that difficult, then remember that YouTube Kids has time limit options available for you to preset. And there are a host of other apps that will limit screen time for you. Take a look and take advantage.
As always, I'm rooting for you! Remember that the healthier the options we give our kids to grow with, the easier parenting will become. The transition may not be easy right out the gates, but as with all things, consistency is the key to success.
Chris Lake, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Chris Lake is a neurodiverse native New Yorker who has worked with children with various developmental delays across the past two decades. He is the author of award-winning book "Help Your Toddler Meet Their Milestones: 101 Behavior Hacks." Through his parent consulting brand – Behavior Booster – he offers content on social media, hosts parent workshops, and provides educational materials that further help with understanding milestones, how to reach them, and how to navigate around challenging behaviors. Chris Lake is dedicated to healing and transformation. His ultimate goal is to make parenting easier.
