Video Killed the Radio Star (An eighties hit by a band called The Buggles)
Every school holidays I catch up with a group of girlfriends I went to university with, so suffice to say we’ve known each other a long time, and we are all still in education. One girlfriend has recently become a grandmother and told us a story about her daughter’s mothers’ group*. There are about 17 young first-time mums in the group, who get together to share experiences and socialise. It came to light over a period of time that out of the 17 mums in the group, my girlfriend’s daughter was the only one who didn’t entertain her child with a screen, ever, or allow her child to sit in front of a TV to be entertained! Every other mum used an ipad, phone or TV with their child. The age of these children, around 8 months old! You can imagine my indignation and horror at what would be happening to these children’s brains already at such a young age and then paying forward to how that was going to impact learning when they got to school. I wanted to schedule a meeting with these mums then and there!
If you read my first blog you will already know a little about brain development, and the basics for successful brain growth in the early years. Screen time is not one of those basics. And uncontrolled, regular, early screen time has a knock-on effect when children are older, as it triggers serotonin release in the brain, which is addictive because it feels good, which means we want more of it, which means more screen time. And we know that addictive screen time seriously impacts mental health and wellbeing.
This space in current research has been coined as ‘the great rewiring of childhood’ by Jonathan Haidt and started with what he considers to be the end of the play-based childhood and the birth of the phone-based childhood. Longitudinal research shows that teen mental health started to drastically plummet, and hospitalisations for self-harm, especially in girls exploding, with the beginning of smart phones and social media. Australian students are among the world’s biggest users of digital devices at school, yet academic results released in December 2023 showed teens have fallen a full academic year behind those who went to school in 2000s, according to the Programme for International Students Assessment (PISA). **
Overuse of screen time and social media causes social deprivation, sleep deprivation, attention fragmentation, behavioural addiction, visual social comparison, perfectionism, relational aggression, anxiety, and sadness. It facilitates exposure to sexual predation and harassment, which becomes normalised, especially for girls. Boys retreat or withdraw from the real world and just stop doing things or making an effort, which means they don’t experience the failures or setbacks that would strengthen them to grow into men. They replace physical contact/movement with immersive and addictive violence (war and sports) in video games and sex with pornography. The biggest correlations between social media use and mental health problems are between the ages of 11 and 13 for girls.
In younger children screen time can impact one of the basic senses, their sight. Children under three exposed to screens have a higher risk of becoming short-sighted. More than three hours of screen time a day is associated with a four-times-increased risk of developing myopia compared to one hour, and the risk is particularly impactful for children aged six or seven. In the case of the above-mentioned mothers’ group, those children are already on their way to needing glasses. ***
So, what’s the answer? How do we get to parents of very young children before these habits and disturbing impacts start to manifest and take hold? And how do we manage screen time with older children?
We must educate, talk and be visible as community members and organisations who know better. Child health nurses focus on health and development and have a limited schedule of free visits and check-ins, and probably not the educational knowledge to address early brain development and how it relates to learning. The WA government doesn’t appear to fund any education-based programs as part of its WA Child and Adolescent Health Service Parenting Groups for new parents and what is currently on offer doesn’t touch at all on early brain development and how that impacts future social, emotional and educational outcomes. In my opinion, this is where society can have the most impact, getting access to new parents through the community child health service.
For primary aged children, don’t give them smartphones before high school, just a phone that makes calls and texts. The current call is for no social media before 16 as social media is an experience blocker, and that is something parents need to decide on and monitor. Provide more childhood independence and free play. Play wires up our brains. If you are going to reduce screen time for kids, give them back something fun such as time to play with each other, hang out with each other, have adventures with each other. As adults, model healthy relationships with technology by putting screens away while interacting with others. Remember being present with your child (eye contact and them seeing your face) grows their brain and enhances brain development. Give kids experiences they can’t get from phones, especially outdoor experiences in the light, sunshine or in nature. And agree on screen-free timeframes such as at the dinner table, one day a weekend, before or after school, or at a certain time of the day.
So that’s it. Please don’t let video kill the radio star for your children. Don’t make screens your first go to for entertainment or behaviour management. Instead, protect their brains and mental wellbeing with back to basics such as physical/hands on games and activities, playing outside, allowing for down or quiet time with nothing scheduled, being present with your kids, having conversations and encouraging them to interact with others.
Still want to know more? Check out these resources and research.
Screen time | How much is too much? | eSafety Commissioner
How does screen time affect kids’ health? – The University of Sydney
Child and Adolescent Health Service | CAHS – Resources Play/Learning Ideas and Resources from Birth to 5 Years.
*On a side note, I have to say mothers’ group is one of the best things you can be part of when you have a newborn, as it supports mums in so many ways. I still am close to many of my mother’s group girlfriends and our kids are also still close friends.
** This information has been taken from the book: The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness by Jonathan Haidt. The school has a copy of this book for parents to borrow. The Anxious Generation | Jonathan Haidt
*** This information has been taken from the book The Natural Advantage by Dr Jenny Brockis. The Natural Advantage by Dr Jenny Brockis WA GP and Public Speaker