It’s been all over TikTok or maybe at your local Applebees: a tiny toddler hypnotized by the flashing UV light of an 8×10 rectangle. While it may save parents an unneeded tantrum, the effects of too much screen time can be detrimental. 

Psychotherapist Amy Morin emphasizes that elementary school children with more than two hours of screen time daily are more likely to have emotional, social and attention problems. This was backed up by a long-term study of 2,441 mothers and children that showed poor performance rates of behavioral, cognitive and social development screening tests at 36 months, with higher screen times between the ages of 24-36 months. 

This is because screen time limits children’s ability to read faces, which normally allows them to gain social skills and empathy.

“Until babies develop language, all communication is non-verbal, so they depend heavily on looking at a face and deriving meaning from that face. Is this person happy with me, or are they upset at me,” Nelson Harvard said to UNICEF. 

Many children probably have used IXL or some learning-enriching app that parents have deemed to help their child become the next high school prodigy who would graduate at 16. However, children learn the most from human interaction, not screen time. One of the world’s most renowned neuroscientists, Patricia Kuhl, practiced a study with more than 4,000 babies and found that babies under the age of two should get no screen time at all. Brain scans from exposure to screen time showed minimal developmental learning compared to face-to-face interaction.

Not only may some of the next generation of iPad kids become emotionally unavailable, but research shows significant difficulty when facing academic challenges. Although playing 2048 takes some serious brain power, the National Institute of Health study found that children with more than two hours of screen time scored lower on language and critical thinking tests. 

While this seems like a very rare effect of screen time and our dependence upon the digital realm during the pandemic made limiting our exposure quite tricky, we see the results of too much screen time in everyday scenarios. Such as kids throwing fits for their iPads or phones whenever they’re bored. The unfortunate reality is that the parents give in. 

The underlying problem, however, is that kids need to be bored. Kids need boredom to function in society as it allows them to spark creativity, gain problem-solving skills, develop planning strategies and be flexible. The biggest thing is that boredom teaches kids that life isn’t always in their favor. But when we continuously give them something that would keep them stimulated instead of experiencing the joy of their never-ending tantrums, we damage their ability to adapt to growing up. 

However, it is hard to limit technology given the Meta Age, so how could parents use technology to their advantage and not create an “iPad kid?” The actual content of the screens isn’t harmful; just how much we force children to rely on them is. It seems contradictory, but some programs and applications can aid kids in problem-solving and creative skills and help them discover their passions:making films, coding or photography. Parents should aim to limit how long their child should be on a screen, as it teaches them the importance of experiencing life. However, when children are constantly on a screen, it can limit their potential to grow and develop.