Screens: What the research tells us

My New Life

Screens are so effective at distraction, but equally effective at causing parents angst! In today’s interview, Jessica Rolph is joined by Lovevery expert, Dr. Zach Stuckelman, to get to the bottom of the research on screens and young brains.

They examine which content is better than others, and whether those learning apps are really teaching our kids anything. They also explore the value of video chatting and looking at family pictures or videos together on a phone.

Highlights:

[2:01] Are screens bad? How much is too much?

[5:18] Zach breaks down the age bands for screens to help parents navigate what to do when.

[7:08] How do we pick the best screen content for our children? What is the difference between something like Little Bear, Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood and Powerpuff Girls?

[10:14] Is video chatting with family members different than “regular screen time”?

[11:18] How about screen time on a long trip with an 18-month-old?

[12:40] Is it ok to let children look at pictures of their family and videos of themselves playing?

[13:47] What kind of time limits should parents enforce?

[14:50] What to do when an older sibling gets access to a screen and the younger child is below the ideal age range?

[17:12] Jessica shares her takeaways from the conversation.

Mentioned in this episode:

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You’ll find tips on how to scale back on screen time in Jessica’s interview with Meghan Owenz from September of 2020.