A new study in the JAMA Pediatric shows that screen time for children is up 52% since the pandemic. I can only read this as a mother who is constantly trying to keep my children off of screens, and this study makes SO. DARN. MAD!
A 52% increase in screen time is unequivocally NOT good for children! Children between the ages of 12 to 18 saw the biggest increases in screen time use due to the pandemic. Because what else was there for them to do? School was online. Their friends were online. These were habit-forming periods of their lives, and now parents are struggling to put that horse back in the barn!
Researchers now say that health care providers need to work overtime to promote healthy device use habits and to promote “device-free time, sleep, and physical activity; and [to encourage] children to use screens as a creative outlet or a means to meaningfully connect with others.”
