“Screen time” is increasing for our kids. Is this healthy? 

Us grownups seem to be more and more concerned about “screen time” for our kids and grandkids. 

According to UPI.com,
‘Half of young Americans between the ages of 12 and 17 spend at least four hours each day on their smartphones, computers or televisions, a new survey shows.’ 

I'm not so much concerned about the number of hours of screen time as I am the information that the four hours of screen time Contains. The real telling statistic was that the research indicated approximately 27% of teens with four hours plus of screen time felt anxiety over the past two weeks. For those teens that used less than 4 hours, it was approximately 12.3%. 

When I was a teenager, it's safe to say that I had probably up to four hours of screen time, but the screen was the TV only. The content that I consumed was only what was available on the TV and much more benign. (Although I always thought JP patches was very subversive.) Screen time for teenagers these days of course includes your cell phone, your laptop, your TV (local and cable) and social media. It's what I consider to be a much more toxic environment for teenage minds.

According to upi.com,
‘The new data comes from answers given by U.S. teens to a federal survey conducted between mid-2021 and the end of 2023. The survey found little difference in screen use by gender -- just over 48% of boys watched TV or stared at their phones or computers for four or more hours per day, as did 52.5% of girls.’ 

It would be great to find a way to limit the amount of screen time that a teenager actually has on a daily basis, but to me that turns into a slippery slope. How do you regulate it? Who oversees that? Is that the government? Is it the parents? Is it the school?  

I do feel that it's appropriate to have teenagers lock up their cell phones when they go to school and not have access until they leave school in the afternoon. Studies show that when this is done, the kids learn more and better. 

Somebody smarter than me is going to have to come up with the answer to this. 

Survey: Half of U.S. teens stare at screens more than 4 hours per day - UPI.com
Products - Data Briefs - Number 513 -October 2024
How Much Screen Time Is OK for My Kids? | Common Sense Media