Screen save us
SEVERAL recent news items invite us to reflect on our use of digital social media, and especially children’s screen time.
The Victorian Government recently announced a ban on mobile phone use during school hours in public primary and secondary schools from next year, primarily to reduce distraction and online bullying. I believe such efforts to contain digital media and screen use among children are justified.
Apart from teachers’ concerns, other indications of excessive digital media use include a recent report by musculoskeletal researchers that described that more than 40 per cent of young Australian adults sampled were found to have bone spurs, or bony lumps, at the back of their skull. They suggested this unexpectedly large incidence was attributable to poor posture from lengthy periods looking downwards at screens.
A Perth study of more than 5000 kindergarten and primaryschool-aged children found that the children’s physical skills, including balance, running, jumping, throwing and catching had deteriorated relative to young children 25 years earlier. For example, kindergarten children a generation earlier performed about 50 per cent better on tasks such as standing on one leg or quickly bouncing and catching a ball.
Digital screen time can certainly be fun and relaxing, is sometimes educational and can help us be in touch with friends. However, it can also be strongly habit-forming to the point of becoming addictive.
This is especially the case with internet-based games and social media. Winning games and receiving social media likes can boost the release of the neurotransmitter dopamine, which bolsters persistent motivation to continue with the particular activity. This is the basis of most forms of addiction. Children and teenagers do not have fully
developed frontal lobes, meaning that they typically have a compromised capacity to self-limit or contain certain behaviours. At times it is important for parents to help set limits by acting as their children’s frontal lobes for them.
Even though a majority of parents admit to not monitoring their children’s digital media and screen time use, it is generally helpful for them to do so in order to reduce the risk of addiction.
Signs of digital screen time becoming a problem, similar to other addictions, include a person showing increased obsession or spending so much time on an activity that it detracts from other areas of life, such as work or study, relationships or sleep.
At excessive levels it can interfere with healthy eating habits and disrupt concentration.
A warning sign of increasing addiction includes if children — or adults, for that matter — feel irritated or angry when they have to turn off their device.
To reduce the risk of disruptive effects of addiction it helps to contain daily screen time, perhaps by applying recommended limits of no screen time for infants under two, no more than an hour for children up to five years of age and no more than two hours per day for older children.
Conflict over children’s screen use can be a common source of stress in family life. This is probably best managed by directly addressing it with some sort of digital media policy worked out with each child, based partly on age. The younger the children when such discussions are started, the more likely they are to be productive. Any policy would be easier to uphold if parents take a collaborative approach and demonstrate thoughtful containment around their own screen use.
As a start, it helps to establish screen-free zones and times, such as no screens in younger children’s bedrooms and no screens for anyone at mealtimes. It also improves sleep to have screens turned off at least an hour before bedtime. Monitoring apps are available to help keep track of use.
For children, it can help to schedule breaks as long as the most recent session of screen time. A psychologist colleague recommends that younger children have at least 20 minutes break after 20 minutes of screen time.
Parents can simultaneously encourage their children’s involvement in other positive activities such as ‘green time’, or leisure time and exercise in nature settings. Just 20 to 30 minutes in nature will reliably reduce cortisol, a stress hormone.
Anecdotal reports from schools that have already introduced mobile phone bans at recess and lunchtimes suggest that children spend more time playing outside and directly interacting with each other.
There are compelling reasons to follow these schools’ lead. Chris Mackey is a Fellow of The Australian Psychological Society. More tips about mental health and wellbeing can be found at chrismackey.com.au /resources.