Smartphones and kids? Not so smart.
Only weeks ago, U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy urged Congress to mandate warning labels on social media platforms similar to those found on cigarette packs, as reported by The Dallas Express.
“The mental health crisis among young people is an emergency, and social media has emerged as an important contributor,” Murthy wrote in an editorial for The New York Times. “Adolescents who spend more than three hours a day on social media face double the risk of anxiety and depression symptoms, and the average daily use in this age group, as of the summer of 2023, was 4.8 hours.”
So, it should not come as any surprise that one of the most prestigious medical journals has published a new study that found children can benefit tremendously from diminished screen time. The New York Post reports on the study’s findings. Here’s the start of the story:
Less screen time means less bad behavior.
In as little as two weeks, parents could see significant improvements in their child’s mental health and behavior by reducing children’s leisure screen time to just three hours weekly, according to a new [study] published in JAMA Network Open.
On average, children spend seven to eight hours per day on screens for entertainment. However, when children drastically reduced their screen time they showed significant improvements in their overall behavior and emotional well-being.
Researchers from the University of Southern Denmark analyzed data collected from 89 families with 181 children and adolescents between four and 17 years old.
Half of the families were asked to limit their children’s leisure screen time to a maximum of three hours per week per person — a major change from the average seven to eight hours a day most children spend.
Those who did found that their child improved internalizing symptoms — behaviors that are often hidden reactions to emotions and stress — and their prosocial behavior — those intended to benefit others.