While we’ve been hearing about the supposedly deleterious effects or rock music, rap music, or video games on our children for years and years, there might be a more concrete reason to place limits on children and electronic media.
There oughtta be a law! …. or should there?
At the beginning of this year, Taiwan expanded a law called the “Child and Youth Welfare and Protection Act.” Under the Act, the government can fine parents up to the equivalent of 1,595 American Dollars if their child’s (under 18) screen time “exceeds a reasonable time.” While privacy concerns have made this law unpopular, the health concerns are legitimate.
How much is too much?
Interestingly enough, the law in Taiwan that fines parents whose children’s media use “exceeds a reasonable time” doesn’t specify what that “reasonable time” is. If the American Academy of Pediatrics had written the law, the time limit would be two hours. Children under the age of two are not recommended to get any screen time at all. Raise your hand if your children spend more than two hours with electronics!
It’s 10:00 PM. Do you know where your children’s eyes are?
Children and electronic media spend more and more time together. In 2013, Nickelodeon found that children spend an average of 35 hours a week in front of the TV. As smartphones and tablets become increasingly popular, a more recent study found that even 8-year-olds spend eight hours per day in front of a screen.
The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends no TV and no internet in the bedroom. If your child is reading over your shoulder right now, I’m sure you just heard an agonized groan. The thought behind this is, it is harder to monitor how much time is being spent with screens. With Wi-Fi and 3G so prevalent these days, this recommendation might be more well-intended than practical.
Children and electronic media equals health problems
Why is it so important to place limits on your children and electronic media? Sure, you might be concerned about the quality and age-appropriateness of what your offspring are watching. But perhaps even more important are the negative health effects associated with high media consumption.
Very important brain development occurs during a child’s first two years. Young children learn best by interacting with people. Replacing this interaction with a screen could be detrimental to their further development.
Some of these are not so straight forward. For example, the American Journal of Preventive Medicine released a study in 2012 that suggests children who have TVs in their bedroom are more likely to be obese. Watching TV in and of itself does not make one obese. Rather, it is the replacement of physically active leisure activities with the sedentary act of TV watching that encourages weight gain.
Also, it is important to recognize that bedroom TVs generally decrease the amount of sleep your child gets. Reduced amounts of sleep does contribute to weight gain, as well as increasing the risk of mental health issues like attention problems. While you may unplug the set at bedtime, many children with bedroom TVs or who look at their tablet or smartphone for a while before trying to fall asleep experience difficultly sleeping or poor quality sleep.
Blue light from screens prevents the body from releasing melatonin, the hormone that is responsible for making you feel sleepy. This is pretty bad for adults, but for teenagers it’s even worse. A study by light researcher Mariana Figueiro of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, NY found that teens suppressed even more melatonin than adults who were exposed to ten times more blue electronic light before bed.
David Shanks, LCSW is a therapist in Carrboro/Chapel Hill
