June 01, 2024

Screen Time Epidemic

Written by Stephanie Brandt MOT, OTR/L, School-based Occupational Therapist

Once a week, I used to knowingly put myself in a situation that resulted in getting slapped, head-butted, and scratched. It wasn’t just me that was assaulted. My coworkers experienced it every single day. Unfortunately, one coworker got the worst of it. She sustained a concussion from being headbutted and was out of school for several days. Why would we willingly put ourselves in this situation? It’s because we work in education, and this is the result of children getting too much screen time.

This student was non-verbal with autism and spent much of the school day watching the same 10-second clip from a popular cartoon over and over again. One day, I reached my limit of getting hit. I commented to the teacher that we needed to remove the tablet from the room for the safety of the staff. The teacher’s response was, “We can’t do that. He’s addicted to it.” I thought to myself, “Do you help a drug addict by giving him more cocaine?” Fortunately, this story does have a positive ending.

The following school year this student moved on to another teacher who did not allow tablets in her classroom. The first week of school was a big adjustment as he asked for the device repeatedly each day Eventually, he stopped asking, and what happened was amazing. Because of his screen addiction the previous year, he was unable to leave the classroom for recess, art, or PE without a serious meltdown. After removing his access to the tablet, he is now transitioning to other areas of school with little to no issues. I was there the day the former teacher saw him in the hallway. He was utterly shocked to see this student transitioning with ease between classes, and all it took was removing the tablet from this student’s school day.

Screen time is an epidemic. Fifty-six percent of 6-year-olds and 80% of 12 to 18-year-olds have their own cell phones. Twenty-nine percent of infants spend 90 minutes or more per day on screens. Toddlers average 2 hours a day and by age four, it’s up to 4 hours a day. Teens are up to 9 hours a day. These statistics are from Screen Schooled by Joe Clement and Matt Miles. Written in 2018 before the lockdowns, I’m sure these numbers are more staggering today when kids were forced to learn remotely.

These statistics are alarming, but what’s even more shocking is how screens are physically changing the structure of our brains. Remember this commercial from the 80s? It starts with oil sizzling in a frying pan. “Ok, last time, this is drugs.” An egg is then cracked open and dropped into the pan. As the egg cooks, the narrator says, “This is your brain on drugs.” We can easily modernize this commercial and replace it with, “This is your brain on screens.” It may be a bold statement to equate the effects of drugs to screen time, but the research supports this claim.

In 2002, Neuroscientist Dr. George Bartzokis’ showed that drug addiction can damage myelin in the brain. Myelin is the protective coating around nerve fibers that allows communication between nerve cells. The more myelin we have the quicker our response to stimuli because it increases the speed of nerve impulses. In 2012, Dr. Hao Lei’s research discovered that brains of people who had Internet Addiction Disorder also had “myelin integrity abnormalities in the brain regions involving executive attention, decision making and emotional regulation.” Nicholas Kardaras, author of Glow Kids, also concluded that brain damage was similar for drug and screen addiction. Kids who have an overdependence on technology are showing signs of brain atrophy, the literal shrinking of the brain. Studies are showing atrophy in several regions in the brain including the frontal cortex and cerebral cortex. This is leading to diminished cognitive abilities.

To further understand the brain changes, we need to also understand the role of dopamine. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that is released when we partake in activities we find enjoyable. This feel-good sensation we get from the increase of dopamine makes us want to come back for more. But when we want to experience the same level of enjoyment next time, we require a higher level of stimulus.

Let’s apply this to children and screens. The activity on screens will increase a child’s dopamine level. Take the screen away and they go through a withdrawal. The next time they get the screen they will want longer screen time and/or videos or games that are faster paced and more stimulating in order to reach the same dopamine hit they got from their last screen time. Eventually, getting to the point that nothing in real life is stimulating enough to activate the same dopamine levels as screens.

I was attending the home opener game for the Chiefs. Sitting in front of me were two middle school boys. They caught my attention because they were on their phones the entire game, from warm up, through the National Anthem, and every Chiefs’ touchdown to the last minute of the game. They were playing games on their phone and constantly snapping selfies for Snapchat. If Super Bowl Champions Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce can’t even gain the attention of two adolescent boys, what hope do parents and teachers have to keep screen obsessed children engaged in everyday life events?

As an occupational therapist, I am very concerned about the changes in children’s brains. These changes are leading to emotional and cognitive damages. We are witnessing a disturbing increase in children who do not have the ability to self-regulate. It is a daily occurrence to witness students screaming, kicking and crying in the halls of today’s elementary schools. They are losing the ability to deal with everyday problems. Jerrica Sannes, a child development specialist, states, “While on a tablet the blood flowing to the child’s frontal lobe decreases and brain chemistry changes while receiving doses of dopamine in rapid fire succession. These changes that occur in children’s brains (which happen quickly) make it incredibly difficult for them to think creatively, regulate emotions, control their impulses, plan a play idea or manage stress. The screen goes off and they become even more whiny, clingy, hyperactive, aggressive or destructive.”

Play is the most important occupation of childhood. This is where kids learn to problem solve, critically think, use creativity and socialize. Play is the building block of learning. When kids are on screens, they are not developing play skills but are simply being entertained. This constant entertainment is also taking away another important skill: learning to be bored. Boredom is what opens the doors to creativity.

The belief that kids need the newest technology to keep up or they will fall beyond their peers is false. I cringe when someone says, “My 4-year-old is a genius and so tech savvy.” Technology is designed to be easy to use and keep you coming back for more, not to be a challenge to use. One Google executive stated, “We make technology as brain-dead easy to use as possible.”

Software developers and computer engineers are aware of the potential dangers these devices are for kids. Steve Jobs did not let his children have an iPad. There are many accounts of those working in Silicon Valley that severely restrict or prohibit screen time. One chief executive of a tech company stated why he and his wife set strict limits on tech use: “That’s because we have seen the dangers of technology firsthand. I’ve seen it myself. I don’t want to see that happen to my kids.” Bill Gates also put strict restrictions on his children’s tech use after noticing his ten-year-old daughter was addicted to video games. Have you heard of Waldorf schools in Silicon Valley? This is a private school system that is technology free, and 75% of students have parents that work in the tech industry.

The increasing amount of technology in schools is disturbing. Computer tablets, iPads, etc., have become a crutch used to pacify students, especially difficult ones. Textbooks are being replaced by online instruction, even though “research shows that the brain retains information better read from paper than a screen and that students who take notes by hand are more successful on tests than those who type their notes on a computer.”

Elementary students are being read books through YouTube instead of the in-person teacher reading to the class. There are elementary classes where students eat lunch at their desk in the classroom while watching videos on a big screen. A third grade student told me they did this because “there is nothing to watch in the lunchroom.”

During indoor recess (for those of us living in areas with inclement weather), students were playing individually on their Chromebooks instead of playing games face to face with peers. All these scenarios are taking away the human connection. It’s no wonder that children are struggling with social skills, depression and anxiety.

The increase in these mental disorders as well as the 41% increase in ADHD in the last decade should be a wake up call for all of us. Dr. Victoria L. Dunckley is taking an unconventional route in treating these conditions in children. She begins treatments with a 4-week digital fast. All electronics are removed from the child’s life. In many of her patients, the symptoms they came in with (irritability, depression, anxiety, sleep problems, lack of focus… just to name a few) are often alleviated during the 4-week digital fast. Instead of resorting to medication as the first step, let’s start with removing the screens that often trigger these conditions. Removing technology is a difficult commitment, but worth the results.

My hope is that more people awaken to the problems we are creating for children with the use of screens. It’s not just children with a diagnosed screen addiction that are struggling. Screens are affecting all kids and adults. Let’s take a serious look at our own screen time. Let’s set the example, put our phones down and prioritize our ‘in real life’ relationships.

References:

Recommended Resources:

Raise Wildflowers, created by Jerrica Sannes
ScreenStrong podcast, hosted by Melanie Hempe.