Analysis: It's Time To Let Go Of Screen Fears

Screentime is bad for people. It can control almost everything we do, and make us disconnected from the real world.

Many parents are becoming concerned with the increased amount of time, children of all ages are using technology. They think that spending less time using media would be healthy. The AAP is proposing that a two-hour limit of screen time for teenagers would provide those health benefits, however, most teens would find this limit impractical and unhelpful in their daily lives. Adults and children alike can learn new educational skills with the help of different apps, programs, and articles available through electronics.

When reading the contrasting passages, Screen Time Limits Are Vital for Children and It's Time to Let Go of Screen Fears, many diffrences are listed in the overall health of children. In regards to the wellbeing of future generations this topic will contiously be explored. That being said, technology has proven it is now a vital part of everyday life. Limiting our children from inevitable screen time will prove more difficult as future generations grow-up with this endless technological world we live in.

Many people have a fear of children spending too much time in front of screens. Screen time isnt always a bad thing though. Technology has improved throughout the years, and it's no longer necessary to fear it. Screen use and technology have been proven to be essential parts of our everyday life. It only makes sense to encourage our children to take part in reaping the many benefits it has to offer.

“Screen-time Is Making Kids Moody, Crazy and Lazy” is an article about how electronics affect a person’s behavior, more specifically, a child’s behavior. Dunckley states, “…interactive screen-time is more likely to cause sleep, mood, and cognitive issues, because it’s more likely to cause hyper arousal and compulsive use.” She lists six reasons how electronics alter our moods.

My stance on the screen debate is children should have the least amount of non-educational screen time as possible. I say non-educational because there are games, shows, and computer programs that do benefit children and teach them new information. Before the age of 2 there should really be no screen time what so ever because this is the time if the most brain development. I wouldn’t want the prime time of my child’s development to be spent watching TV or playing video games. Piaget’s stages of cognitive development are a good example of why children shouldn't be having screen time before 2.

Technology has been part of our daily live more frequently than before. Screen time has been more popularly used on kids and adolescents. On a daily bases many kids seem to spend more time inside on their tablets, instead of having to spend time with other kids. This is a problem that is becoming more popular over the years,on whether kids need to spend that much time on technology or not. Parents either seem to have strict technology usage, or they either don’t. There has always been a huge controversy with experts, who either think that screen time is beneficial or could cause problems later on in life. There are many views towards this topic, from hurting kids brains, to helping them during school, and socially.

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends children under the age of two years have no screen time, with the exception of video chatting. Children younger than two benefit from a hands-on learning approach, therefore, introducing them to a digital device takes away time they need to be socially interactive to develop their cognitive, language, motor, and social-emotional skills. By the age of two, and through the preschool aged years it is recommended that children have no more than 1 ½ hours of screen time per week, and that screen time should be monitored to ensure it is educational as well as age appropriate. There are even television channels and computer applications that are dedicated to creating educational, engaging, and enjoyable content for such young viewers, however, it should be noted that

Due to multiple reasons, my personal stance on the “great screen debate” is that today our kids are spending way too much “screen time”. According to Medline Plus, too much screen time can “make it hard for your child to sleep at night, raise your child’s risk of attention problems, anxiety, and depression, and raise your child’s risk of gaining too much weight” (Screen time and children: MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia). These are only just a few of the many negative effects of too much screen time in developing children.

The 21st Century has brought in a wave of technological advancement. The rapid growth of digital technology has caused unexpected changes to the developmental growth of children. It has become a vital part of everyday use for adults and children. However, the consequences of prolonged screen time negatively affect children's behavior, social, and the well-being of a child.

I agree with Annie Murphy Paul, a writer for the magazine, Good House Keeping point that parents are responsible for children’s usage of technology. In Paul’s article she cited a study that was reported by the American Journal of Epidemiology which reported that “while half of parents surveyed in a 2010 study said they always or often set limits on screen time, 18 percent of their kids really disagreed” (Paul). This highlights a key discrepancy between parents and children. In the eyes of children parents do not restrict children enough. This is exactly what Alessondra Villegas, a researcher at Fordham University, states in her journal. She claims that parents must be able to develop clear rules and that parents must also be firm with the boundaries that are set forth (Villegas 2-3). In Villegas’s research she found that parents use technology to watch their children. Villegas concluded that, “on average, mothers claim to use the television as a babysitter for at least one hour a day,” (6). Her work , which was published in the New York State Communication Association later goes on to say that television

"Screen time" is a term used for activities done in front of a screen such as watching television, playing video games, working on a computer, using a smartphone, smartwatch, or tablet. It is sedentary activity for entertainment purposes for young children, teenagers, and even adults. There is no doubt that screens have changed our lives over the years—some for the better and some not. These changes affect infants through adulthood. Most American children spend about 3 hours a day watching TV. Children aged 5-16, spend an average of six and a half hours a day in front of a screen (Jane Wakefield).

Along with a resistance to change, many educators fear the negative affect that screen time can have on a developing child. According to Cordes and Miller (2000), critics argue that the use of technology may replace essential learning experiences for children, specifically in early education. The fear is that screen time with replace play and social interactions. MORE

The days of waking in the early hours of weekday mornings and making their way to could be drawing to a close for many of the children in the upcoming generations. Better and brighter days of a more accessible, and welcoming learning environment could be on the horizon, however there are many concerns raised by this utopian concept of an electronic based learning system. The classic image of young children completely absorbed by their illuminated screens is one that crops up in the minds of many parents who struggle to tear their child away from their electronic captures. This is a genuine concern that needs to be addressed however. A study done by BBC News in 2015 found that the average US child aged five to sixteen consistently spends nearly six and a half hours in front of a screen, a two hundred percent increase from the three hour average in 1995. It’s a scary thought that school, the only escape from the screen for some of these kids, could soon be incorporated into this disheartening statistic. If learning is moved into the home and onto personal devices, then the number of hours spent on the aforementioned devices could nearly double. Prolonged exposure to electronic devices do not only raise social issues, but also the health of the children.

If kids aren't exposed to the horrors and the wonders of the internet, they aren't going to build up an immunity to the harmful side effects of this magnificent tool. Sara Dewitt spoke in a Ted Talk titled, “3 Fears About Screen