Don’t deprive children of their screen time, rather ensure supervised limited exposure

‘Screen time’ includes activities that involve a screen. For example, watching television, using a computer and playing video games. Spending time seated in front of a screen is considered sedentary behaviour. Screen time is incredibly energy-efficient. With displays nearly everywhere, it can be challenging to monitor a child’s screen time. The fact that some screen time can be instructive and aid in children’s social development simply makes things more difficult. The American Academy of Paediatrics recommends that young children below 18 months should not utilise media, except for video conferencing.

In a research published in Indian Paediatrics (2022), 53% of children reported having an average daily screen usage of fewer than two hours, and roughly 37% of parents believed that their children’s excessive media exposure had an impact on their conduct, social skills, academic achievement and eating habits. The time that Indian toddlers and preschoolers spend on their devices is higher than prescribed. Today’s kids are exposed to information and entertainment on screens, which has permeated every aspect of their life. It is crucial to assess the effects of screen time during this period since children’s social and intellectual development is malleable throughout this time. In addition to its psychosocial effects, excessive screen time has been linked to linguistic and motor ability developmental delays.

Developmental Delays

While beginning school, many children are inadequately prepared for academic challenges. This is mainly because of the developmental delays that children may face between 6 months and 4 years. These could be delays in language, communication, socioemotional and motor skills. Varadarajan et al, (2021), identified that in India 89% of the kids had been around screens before the recommended age of 24 months. This shows that kids in India are exposed to screens at a young age, which calls for more research. No difference in screen time duration was noted between weekdays and weekends.

According to a study by Madigan et al, (2018), a child’s development is vital during the first five years of life. Young children may miss out on crucial chances to develop their social, motor and communication abilities if they are engaged with screens. For instance, looking at screens that don’t involve interactive or physical components, there is a lack of growth in the development of their gross motor skills due to lesser walking and running.

Screen time also reduces opportunities for verbal and nonverbal social exchanges, which are crucial for promoting the best possible growth and development, and the child’s relationships with carers. Due to the high prevalence of screen time in India, it is important to limit screen time. Also, unsupervised screen time weighs out the positives like skill acquisition.

The Positives

According to Madigan et al, (2018), even though screen time may limit a child’s ability to learn and develop, children with delays may receive additional screen time to help manage challenging behaviours. For instance, it has been shown that young children who struggle with self-control watch more television than their classmates. According to the Canadian Pediatric Society (2017), exposure to screens also fosters imaginative play and favourable racial attitudes as additional cognitive development elements.

According to primary research, interactive media, especially programmes that ask adults to respond to what children say or do may help students retain information. This reactivity, along with age-appropriate content, timing and action intensity, can aid 24-month-olds in picking up new words. By delivering practice with letter recognition, phonics and words, ‘learn to read’ apps and electronic books can encourage early reading.

Parents’ Job

Another study by Putnick et al, (2023), examined the importance of displacing play by screen time. Reading aloud to a child at home throughout their early years fosters their ability to communicate and solve problems. Peer play can be quite beneficial for developing social skills. Since play is crucial for growth in childhood, peer play may be especially significant as kids are innately more similar to one another in terms of ability level.

Children’s social skills can also be helped by engaging more with their peers as they are in the microsystem of the child. Along with them, peers are also in the same system and have a strong influence on adjusting the level of language and play. They also offer special opportunities for learning social skills in a horizontal relationship.

Madigan et al, (2018), also suggested that to promote a child’s development in the best way, screen time should be used responsibly besides engaging in high-quality caregiver-child interactions away from screens. Face-to-face interactions and family time should not be replaced by screen time. Healthcare providers could get in touch with parents and devise media plans, which could include creating screen-free zones along with having device curfews at home, balancing and allocating time for online and offline activities, and defining rules and boundaries on media use based on a kid’s age. Making sure toddlers have enough time to play with other kids will perhaps break the negative relationships that lie between screen time and a child’s development.

To sum up, children should not be deprived of their screen time altogether. Parents need to understand the concept of healthy screen time and adhere to it with their toddlers. Supervised limited exposure to digital videos and shows should be encouraged. For example, during meals under parental supervision. This will be beneficial to both children and their parents. On the contrary, completely depriving children of screen time will hinder their growth as compared to their peers who get sufficient screen time. Thus, parents need to devise and implement a proper plan for their children’s screen time.