Six Screen-Time Studies That Changed My Parenting Approach
Screen time is one of the biggest headaches in my parenting life, and it’s only gotten more stressful as my two sons have gotten older and more capable with consoles, tablets, and computers. In fact, the overriding theme of Christmas 2017 in my house was a running battle over screen time.
At least it was an educated battle, from my perspective.
Over the past couple years of writing about kids and technology, I’ve encountered a number of screen-time studies that challenged some of my assumptions and changed my parenting approach in this area. Here are six that continue to strike a chord.
Screen-Time Guidelines Aren’t Set in Stone
What’s the Study?
Researchers from the Oxford Internet Institute and Cardiff University interviewed 20,000 parents of two-to-five-year-olds, asking about their children’s screen usage and its impact on their happiness and behavior. The study’s aim was to find out whether the often-quoted guidance from the American Academy of Pediatrics—limiting screen time to one hour a day for two-to-five-year-olds—remains correct.
Key Finding
“Taken together, our findings suggest that there is little or no support for the theory that…
