- For children aged 2 months to 4 years old, screen time cuts into the parent-child interaction that is crucial to developing language skills resulting in speech delays and development of smaller vocabularies. (Seattle Children’s Research Institute, 2009)
- Most studies of children who use video games conclude that children learn aggressive behaviors and attitudes.
- Children who are inactive, watching TV are prone to obesity for three reasons: inactivity, snacking while watching TV and the commercials influence them to ask for junk food.
- TV and video use is associated with attention-span problems across the age spectrum, especially more stimulating, rapidly sequenced content. (Pediatrics, March 2011).
- Children engaged in screen time have less time for social interaction and free play, both of which are needed for healthy development.
- Children who watch violent programs become desensitized to real world violence.
- Children who watch violent programs develop fear of being victimized.
- Children under two who watch TV programs designed to “teach” or help with “brain development learn less than children who spend time playing or interacting with adults.
- Children and teens do not develop critical thinking skills when watching TV. Parents need to teach the child to evaluate the commercials and programs that they see on TV and the content that they are exposed to on the internet for its validity and point of view.
- Children are distracted when the TV is on in the background.
- Youth who are heavy consumers of media (16 hours [21% of youth are heavy users])report lower grades and lower levels of personal contentment (sad, unhappy, bored) than youth who have less screen time.
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