Do your kids spend a lot of time in front of screens? You’re not alone.
A new study from the Faculty of Education has found something that might make parents think twice about letting their children watch TV or play games on tablets for hours.
Too much screen time might make kids feel sad or worried.
Kids Are Watching Screens More Than Ever
Researchers looked at how much time kids were spending on screens during the COVID-19 pandemic. They found that some children were watching screens for nearly 13 hours a day!
That’s almost all the time they are awake. The average time was around six hours per day. This was surprising because, in Canada, experts say that children over five should only spend two hours a day on screens.
Screen Time Might Be Making Kids Feel Sad
The study also found that the more time children spent watching screens, the more likely they were to feel anxious or depressed.
Anxiety means feeling worried or scared, and depression means feeling very sad for a long time. This was a big surprise to the researchers. They didn’t expect to find such a strong connection.
Parents’ Stress Might Be a Part of the Problem
Something else interesting came up in the study. If parents were stressed, their children spent more time on screens. The researchers aren’t sure why this is happening, but they think it’s important.
What Can We Do About It?
Now that we know this information, what can we do to help our children? Emma Duerden, the leader of the study, has some ideas.
- Keep an Eye on Screen Time: Parents should pay attention to how much time their kids spend on screens. If it’s more than two hours a day, it might be a good idea to cut back.
- Create Screen-Free Times or Places: Making certain times or areas of the house where screens are not allowed can be helpful. It might be during dinner or in the bedrooms.
- Parents Should Show the Way: If parents spend less time on screens, children might follow their example. So if there’s a no-screen rule for the kids, it should be the same for the adults too.
Conclusion: The Bigger Picture
The study about children’s screen time is part of a bigger issue that people all over the world are dealing with.
We’re all spending more time on computers, phones, and other devices. It’s not just a problem for kids. Older people are affected too.
But for children, the problem seems more urgent. When kids are young, they learn habits that they often keep for life.
If they get used to watching screens all the time, they might do it when they’re older too. And if that makes them feel sad or worried, it’s something we should think about now.
Emma Duerden’s study has shown us that there might be some real problems with letting kids spend too much time on screens. We need to know more, and more research will help us understand better.
But for now, it’s something for parents and caregivers to think about. Maybe it’s time to turn off the TV, put down the tablet, and find other ways for kids to have fun and learn.
If you care about mental health, please read studies about 6 foods you can eat to improve mental health, and B vitamins could help prevent depression and anxiety.
For more information about mental health, please see recent studies about how dairy foods may influence depression risk, and results showing Omega-3 fats may help reduce depression.
The study was published in BMC Psychology.
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