Screen Time: How Much Is Too Much?
Many children spend a lot of time watching or playing with electronic media—from televisions to video games, computers and other devices. Perhaps parents now should ease up on their concerns about screen time, at least for older boys and girls.
Until last year, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) suggested that children and teenagers have no more than two hours of screen time a day. It also suggests that parents balance a child's screen time with other activities.
Christopher Ferguson, who teaches psychology at Stetson University in Florida, notes a lack of evidence supporting reports that too many hours spent playing video games or watching TV is truly harmful.
Ferguson seems interested in one idea: the link between video games and violent or risky behavior. When he saw results from a recent British survey on screen time, he wanted to know more. The British study found a small negative effect—about a one percent increase—in aggression and depression among children who had six or more hours of screen time a day. So, Ferguson and his team examined answers from a survey on risky behaviors. The study involved about 6,000 boys and girls in Florida, whose average age was 16.
Data from this survey found that American children are also fairly resistant to the negative effects of electronic media. Among those who used screens up to six hours a day, the survey found: a 0.5 percent increase in criminal behavior; a 1.7 percent increase in signs of depression; and a 1.2 percent negative effect on school grades. To further argue his point that screen time is not harmful, Ferguson adds that children should become familiar with screen technology. Electronic devices, he says, are a part of our everyday lives.
A. Some negative experiences on social media can and do affect some children.
B. However, some experts question claims that too much screen time is harmful.
C. He wanted to see if there was a similar effect among young people in the United States.
D. So, it is natural that parents should wonder about all the time children spend looking at a screen.
E. The researchers found no increase in risky sex or driving behaviors, use of illegal substances or eating disorders.
F. The researchers suggested that for those children, technology use might get in the way of taking part in other important activities.
