Our mothers worried about plenty of things, but screen time probably wasn’t one of them. There was TV, but since chosen shows appeared at set times, there were natural limits to how long we watched. Atari and Nintendo made an appearance; but options were limited, and depictions were largely innocent and relatively unrealistic.

Our generation of parents is the first to deal with the dilemma of screen time, which, in excess, is associated with physical and mental health issues in kids. With no precedent and scant data on how currently hot technologies affect kids’ brains, we’re all feeling our way through an ever-changing landscape of sometimes-enriching, sometimes-mind-numbing, and occasionally harmful interactive imagery. It’s no wonder, that in a recent survey of Happy Healthy Kids readers, more than two-thirds of you worry your kids get too much screen time, and 70 percent of you describe your children as “obsessed” at times with TVs, phones, tablets, and computers.

It was 2011 when the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) last issued a policy statement specifically addressing young children and media, discouraging parents to allow kids under age 2 any screen time at all. That was a year after Apple launched the first iPad; now, the iPad is in its sixth generation, and the Wall Street Journal recently reported that some 48,000 developers are working on developing kids’ apps, many of which cater to the toddler set. (Apple’s app store’s lowest “searchable” age category is 5 and under, but many of the apps in this section are clearly for babies, not preschoolers.) Two years ago, another AAP policy statement on children and media, focusing on older children, was issued. It prescribed a “media diet” for children, and suggested writing down screen time limits and appropriate choices for children. But with more and more schools—right down to my youngest son’s toddler program—utilizing iPads for classroom work and homework in the two years since, it’s nearly impossible to get a grasp on how many total hours our children are staring at and tapping on screens.

Our survey also revealed that 71 percent of you fight with your kids at least once week about screen time limits. In our house, screen time is a near-daily disagreement. We have basic limits—a half hour of TV or computer before dinner, if homework is done, during the week, and an hour on weekends—but they do everything they can to stretch those limits as often as possible. They “don’t hear” timers. They argue that a brother somehow eked out more than everybody else. And we’re probably to blame. It’s hard to be consistent 100 percent of the time, and if you’re on a phone call or the rice burned or just tired of the whining, it’s easier to give five more minutes than it is to draw a hard line.

In need of some more updated, nuanced perspective than blanket statements, I turned to one of the leading thinkers when it comes to children’s screen time issues: Michael Rich, M.D., a.k.a. The Mediatrician. The Director of The Center for Media and Child Health at Boston Children’s Hospital, the pediatrician and dad of four fields parents’ media-use questions in his online column, Ask the Mediatrician. Here are some main points that Dr. Rich generously shared with me in an email exchange we had last week.

There’s no hard and fast rule about how much screen time kids should get.
Dr. Rich doesn’t think it’s realistic or even helpful anymore for experts to prescribe official screen time limits for any age. “Because screen media devices have become more and more ubiquitous and even expected in communication (i.e., Skyping with distant family) and education (even in preschool), the definition of screen time has become muddied,” he says. Plus, Dr. Rich points out, while there’s evidence that physical, mental, and social health problems tend to increase with greater screen time, there’s no distinct point at which risk outweighs benefit.

…So parents need to understand the risks and benefits about screen time to make calculations about what’s healthy for their own kids.
When deciding on screen rules for your kids, Dr. Rich advises parents to think about media like nutrition: “We have to learn what’s healthy and unhealthy for them, and pay attention to consuming media that helps rather than harms.” He does note evidence that children who watch TV at earlier ages watch much more TV than their peers at later ages, and are at higher risk for obesity, poor sleep, anxiety, attention problems, and more. Changes in social behavior, school performance, moods, or communicativeness all can be signs of too much screen media consumption.

Screen choices may be more important than screen time. 
Dr. Rich resists advocating one type of media over another: “These products change so rapidly that naming better or worse types is bound to be obsolete or downright wrong very quickly,” he says. “The best approach is to recognize that all media are educational—what differs is what they teach and how well they teach it.” If educational benefits are what you’re after, immersive, interactive media where the player controls the narrative and practices over and over (like, yes, certain, non-violent video games) are more effective teachers than receptive media where the viewer passively watches other people’s narratives. There’s evidence that under 30 months, children do not learn anything substantial from receptive media (i.e., most TV shows) at all. Most important in deciding on allowable shows, apps, or games: We should observe our children using media and their subsequent behavior to assess how particular types affect them, good or bad.

Scheduling appropriate screen choices into kids’ increasingly busy days will help enforce whatever media plan you decide on. 
“Engage kids early and often in planning their days, and prioritize activities that they must do (going to school, doing homework, and getting adequate sleep) and that help them stay physically and mentally healthy (sitting down to meals with family and getting some physical activity, preferably outdoors). Make sure their screen time doesn’t blend into time spent doing those activities: Trying to multitask “must-dos” with media “leads to more mistakes and less retention, even for MIT students,” says Dr. Rich. Media that are acceptable to parents can be used in the time remaining.

Have a question for Dr. Rich? Find him on Ask the Mediatrician.

photo credit: Noo via Photo Pin, cc