How screens affect our children

“Reset Your Child’s Brain,” by American psychiatrist, author and screen expert, Victoria L. Dunckley, MD., presents the dangers of screens for our children, the symptoms a child may experience as a result of prolonged interaction with screens, and recommends that parents take a 4-week abstinence period to restore the child to a normal physical and psychological state.In addition to scientific explanations for every single effect that screens have on our children, it also has real-life examples of children who had severe symptoms and relapsed within the first few days of abstinence. Some of these stories follow the path of children not only in the immediate period after abstinence, but also over time, in their adulthood.

So what can children’s screen time do? And how dangerous is it?

According to the book, screen time:

• It affects and delays children’s brain development
• It affects children’s ability to concentrate
• It promotes addiction, not just to technology, but in general
• It isolates children socially because they are not as comfortable as children their age
• It blocks children’s ability to control their impulses
• Increases aggression
• It undermines children’s ability to empathize with and understand others
• It limits children’s imagination
• It reduces children’s natural curiosity about the world
• t makes it difficult for children to find toys and activities on their own
• The effect on the body is much greater than the duration of being on the screen itself
• It disturbs children’s sleep
• It affects children’s performance in school
• It poses health risks to children resulting from the radiation they receive when they are in front of a screen
  And more

All of the above is multiplied for children who are more sensitive (with disorders such as ADHD, autism, emotional disorders, etc.).

And all of the above, regardless of the content that children watch. The only major distinction made is between passive forms of viewing, such as television, and active forms of viewing, such as video games, in which the child interacts with the screen and its effect is much more intense.

Unfortunately, research shows that the majority of very young children far exceed the safe amount of screen time each day, and older children can spend up to 10 and 12 hours a day on screen.

The so-called Electronic Screen Syndrome (ESS), in other words, the set of effects mentioned above, largely mimics a wide range of neurological, psychiatric and behavioral disorders, such as autism, ADHD, bipolar disorder, depression, etc.Many children are diagnosed with these disorders without actually having them, and undergo medication and other very expensive invasive procedures to control their symptoms.

But since their relationship to the screen remains the same, the improvement observed is small, if not non-existent.

It will take some time for the scientific community to attribute the rapid increase in these (mis)diagnoses to the use of monitors, as the well-being of industry and the economy comes first, as usual.

For Dunkley, the connection couldn’t be clearer.

So in the meantime, what are we parents to do? Start by observing your child.

So ask yourself:

• Does your child seem irritable often?
• Does he rebel over things and situations of little importance?
• Does it explode without limits?
• Has he become more reactive, disobedient or disorganized?
• Is he irritable when you tell him it’s time to turn off the screen?
• Have you noticed his pupils bulging after using the screen?
• Does she have a hard time making eye contact with you after she’s on screen or in general?
• Would you say your child is strongly attracted to screens?
• Do you ever feel like your child isn’t as happy as they should be or as happy as they could be?
• That your child doesn’t enjoy some activities as much as they used to?
• Does he have trouble making new friends or keeping existing ones because of his immature behavior?
• Are you worried that your child’s interests have declined lately? Or that his interests mostly revolve around screens?
• You feel that his thirst for learning and curiosity about the world has disappeared
• Are his grades falling at school? Or is it not performing to its full potential and you haven’t identified the reason?
• Have specialists recommended that your child be evaluated for ADHD, bipolar disorder, depression, or anxiety disorders without a family history?
• Have you received conflicting diagnoses from different specialists?
• Does your child have a pre-existing condition, such as autism or ADHD, whose symptoms seem to be getting worse?
• Does your child seem overworked or overtired and can’t sleep? Or is he sleeping but not feeling rested?
• Do you see your child leaning towards laziness and lacking attention to detail?
• Would you describe your child as restless without being able to pinpoint clear reasons for this?

If any of the above apply, it’s worth asking if screen time needs to be reconsidered.

The book recommends abstaining from screens for 4 weeks if you notice any of the above symptoms in order to assess whether abstinence resolves them. If they subside, you can continue abstinence for as long as you think is necessary, or indefinitely, or reintroduce the screen into the child’s life, watching to see if symptoms return.In most cases, they recur if the child returns to previous limits, so you need to make the necessary screen time management interventions to prevent this from happening.

Although children react strongly at first, it is impressive how quickly they stop asking for screens, as their lives improve on many levels.

The basic argument is that children should live their age, and live like all other children, as they risk being alienated from their peers if they do not have the same habits as them. However, the opposite is true. Children who are not isolated by screens are more able to relate to those around them.They make and maintain friendships more easily and perform better in school and in life in general.

For the ease that screen time offers us to secure free time for us parents, which is a major reason for exceeding limits in most cases, it is important to mention that we can create the conditions to secure this time without giving our children screens. This is done by slowly teaching them to be able to ‘stand’ without needing a screen.It’s definitely not that easy, but it’s doable and worth trying. If we remove the screens, and the child is left to deal with other things, his natural tendency to explore the world and do things developmentally appropriate for his age, will help us significantly so that he can very quickly ‘stand’ without a screen.

During screen time, as described above, we may need to be close to our child for the first few days to help him adjust to the new situation, but we won’t need to be involved to the same extent afterwards.

The issue of safe use of screens is particularly important. Electronic screen syndrome has the power to undermine our efforts to raise our children in the best way possible, even if we are doing everything right.

That’s why Parenting is committed to keeping up with the latest developments around screens, so we can suggest ways you can handle it, always depending on the age of your children and the needs of your own family, and provide you with the tools you’ll need every step of the way.