These are the alarming effects screen time has on a child's brain The study uses MRI scans to track the changes in the brains of children who use screens at varying amounts.Early results revealed that kids who use screens for more than 7 hours per day show physical changes to the brain in the form of premature thinning of the cortex.It will likely be decades before scientists truly understand how smartphones and other technologies affect the brain. How does screen time affect the developing brains of young kids? That's the big question behind a $300-million study conducted by the National Institutes of Health that's using MRI scans to examine changes in brain structure among children who use smartphones and other screen devices. Alarmingly, kids who spent more than seven hours per day on electronic devices showed premature thinning of the cortex, which Dr. "We don't know if it's being caused by the screen time," said Dowling. It will take a few years to get answers to some of the questions raised by the study. Many kids are themselves concerned.
Screentime Is Making Kids Moody, Crazy and Lazy Source: pathdoc/fotolia Children or teens who are “revved up” and prone to rages or—alternatively—who are depressed and apathetic have become disturbingly commonplace. Chronically irritable children are often in a state of abnormally high arousal, and may seem “wired and tired.” article continues after advertisement At some point, a child with these symptoms may be given a mental-health diagnosis such as major depression, bipolar disorder, or ADHD, and offered corresponding treatments, including therapy and medication. What’s happening? Both parents and clinicians may be “barking up the wrong tree.” If done correctly, this intervention can produce deeper sleep, a brighter and more even mood, better focus and organization, and an increase in physical activity. It’s a beautiful thing. At the same time, the electronic fast reduces or eliminates the need for medication while rendering other treatments more effective. But why is the electronic fast intervention so effective? 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.
Screen Time Guidelines by MSF Screen time is the time you spend each day using devices with screens, like TVs, video consoles, smartphones and tablets. There are benefits and risks to using these devices, so a healthy family lifestyle includes limits on daily screen time. What is screen time? Screen time is the time you spend watching TV or DVDs, using computers, playing video or hand-held computer games, or using tablets or smartphones. Screen time can be: interactive – for example, playing video games, communicating via Skype, or using online tools to draw pictures not interactive – for example, sitting still and watching movies, TV programmes or YouTube videos educational – for example, doing maths homework online recreational – for example, playing games or watching videos for fun. Screen time guidelines Child development experts recommend limiting children’s daily screen time. The latest guidelines from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) suggest that: What do screen time limits mean for your child? Safety
Overload of Screen Time ‘Causes Depression in Children’ British children who spend most time in front of televisions and computer screens have lower self-esteem and greater emotional problems, according to a study published today by Public Health England. The report found that excessive “screen time” – more than four hours a day – was linked to anxiety and depression and was responsible for limiting a child’s opportunity for social interaction and physical activity. “The greater the time spent in front of the screen, the greater the negative impact on both behavioural and emotional issues relating to the child’s development,” said Professor Kevin Fenton, director of health and wellbeing at PHE. Professor Fenton said that too much screen time limited a child’s opportunities for physical activity and face-to-face social interaction with friends and family, which are key factors in reducing childhood anxiety. We’ll tell you what’s true. From 15p €0.18 $0.18 USD 0.27 a day, more exclusives, analysis and extras. Increased TV viewing Physical activity
Managing Screen Time Tips Apple's iOS 12 "Screen Time" Source: Mike Brooks/personal Let's be honest. We all struggle with screen time. We are all part of a vast, sociological experiment that is unfolding in all of our lives...and that of our kids. Our screens, with advances such as widespread access to high speed Internet, smartphones, and social media, are changing the way we connect with one another, work, and play. article continues after advertisement How Much Screen Time? As parents, we are alarmed at how much time our kids are on their devices. Screens, of course, aren't inherently bad. Good News! Mathematician, physicist, and engineer, Lord Kelvin, once said, "If you cannot measure it, you cannot improve it." With these features, parents can: What Does the Future Hold? With the tools that we now have to track our digital presence on smartphones, we will see some solid data and research on: How much time are we, and our kids, REALLY spending on our phones? Not a Panacea
Dangers of Too Much Screen Time Baby John Tan loves spending time with his friends Dave and Ava, but his parents are concerned about his choice of company. Although Dave and Ava help the 16-month-old learn English through nursery rhymes, they live behind an electronic tablet screen. John is allowed to watch them on YouTube at his grandparents' house when his parents are at work. But John's parents, Mr Tan Wei Yi, 32, and his wife Stacy, 33, keep him away from a screen at home. The dilemma they face is increasingly common in Singapore. The use of screens, from mobile devices to computers and television, is ubiquitous, fuelled by the availability of smartphones and tablets. A 2015 study published in the Early Childhood Education Journal showed that children under the age of seven in Singapore spend at least an hour a day on smartphones and touchscreen tablets. This figure may be under- reported, said Dr Jiow Hee Jhee, 45, associate professor of health and social science at the Singapore Institute of Technology. 1. 2. 3. 1.
Screen time for kids under 2 more than doubles, study finds Researchers used parent diary data previously collected by the Child Development Supplement Panel Study of Income Dynamics at the University of Michigan, for which the first available year was 1997 and the latest was 2014. For children under the age of 2, daily screen time went from 1.32 hours in 1997 to 3.05 hours in 2014, with television accounting for over 2½ hours of screen time in 2014, compared to half an hour in 1997. For children ages 3 to 5, screen time averaged 2.47 hours in 1997 and did not change significantly by 2014, but TV also came to represent the majority of the screen time; going from just over an hour in 1997 to over two hours in 2014. Weiwei Chen, lead author of the study and an assistant professor at the Department of Health Policy and Management at Florida International University, explains that as a health economist and parent, she wanted to understand how long kids are spending on screens. Dr. Not all screens are created equal Screen time and a developing brain
Too Much Screen Time May Be Damaging Children’s Eyesight There is new evidence that spending too much time using digital devices could hurt children's eyesight. A study published in the journal PLOS One finds school-aged children who spent seven hours or more a week using computers or mobile video games tripled their risk for myopia, or nearsightedness. Rates of myopia have increased worldwide in recent years. In the United States and Europe, nearly half of young adults have the condition -- double the prevalence of 50 years ago. One reason for this is the increasing amount of time kids are spending in front of screens. "The reason why that's a problem is not so much that the device is sending some magic signal to the eye that's damaging it, it's that when you're on those devices you tend to be inside and not outdoors in the sunlight," Dr. Sunlight plays an important role in protecting vision, as it triggers dopamine, a neurotransmitter which keeps the eye from getting too elongated during childhood.
This sectin will give a background on how screen time... The Harmful Effects of Too Much Screen Time for Kids Today’s children have grown up with a vast array of electronic devices at their fingertips. They can't imagine a world without smartphones, tablets, and the internet. The advances in technology mean today's parents are the first generation who have to figure out how to limit screen time for children. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends parents place a reasonable limit on entertainment media. Many parents struggle to impose healthy limits on themselves too. It's important to understand how too much screen time could be harming everyone in the whole family. The Negative Effects of Too Much Screen Time Whether you keep the TV on all the time or the whole family sits around staring at their smartphones, too much screen time could be harmful. Digital Devices Can Harm Family Relationships Most of the conversations about the dangers of screen time focus on children. Establishing Family Rules With Electronics Here are a few household rules you might want to establish to curb screen time:
This section will dive into the problems and effects... Windows parental controls, interesting features but.... “85% of desktop devices run Windows.” These devices are everywhere and kids usually have unrestricted access to them, they are shared between the whole family. So how do you manage your kids time on them and make sure that they don’t over indulge? Introducing Microsoft Family Safety Since Windows 7 and Vista there have been parental controls built into Windows, that allow us parents to schedule usage, control what games are played and block the apps that we don’t want to be used. Family Safety is part of Windows Live Essentials but it can be used independently if you don’t want to use all of the features live Live Mail and Movie Maker. Getting going The first thing that you’ll need to do is log into the Family Safety web portal, which you can do from any web browser, although there are reports of the web portal not working very well on browsers that aren’t from Microsoft, which is an age-old problem with various Microsoft products. What’s under the hood? Recent Activity Web Browsing Loopholes
This is Sara DeWitt, and she is challenging the mindset that screen time for children may not be necessarily bad for children. She shares her experiences as she began her research on children and websites and how technology has changed to allow children to express themselves even better. She also shares how games for kids have become a household essential that has added curiosity and fun moments into homes, where adults too, cannot wait to experience it for themselves. She uses games from the PBS Kids programme to illustrate these experiences.
The three fears of a parent regarding screen time are, one, those screens are a passive tool that keeps our children away from physical activities, two, screen devices keep children away from their education and lastly, three, screens pull parents away from their children.
For each of these fears, DeWhitt uses current game technology to help the audience understand how technology and screen time can be an asset to a child's life. Interactive games that detect body movement allows children to participate actively to complete the game and as an extension, continue reinforcing learning (by themselves) by repeating those movements when the game is over. Performance of children in problem-solving games may serve as an accurate indicator of children's performance in a math standardized test. Parents can engage their children in meaningful conversations of their screen time experiences just like how they would enquiring about their day out at the park. by aneesa_nazeer Apr 18