I know that Paediatrician’s recommend no screens for under 2 year olds, no more than 1 hour of screen time per day for 2-5 year olds and no more than 2 hours per day for over 5 year olds. I agree with those recommendations given the types of activities that are reduced or missed out on during screen time e.g. conversations, playing, arguing, negotiating, biking, baking, reading… I think if children with language difficulties are watching 2 hours of screens per day, that’s 14 hours a week – pretty much one waking day per week. This article has a lot more food for thought on this issue and I wonder if a few screen free days might benefit us all! [I’d better stop blogging now!]
“Children’s brains are much more sensitive to electronics use than most of us realize. In fact, contrary to popular belief, it doesn’t take much electronic stimulation to throw a sensitive and still-developing brain off track. Also, many parents mistakenly believe that interactive screen-time—Internet or social media use, texting, emailing, and gaming—isn’t harmful, especially compared to passive screen time like watching TV. In fact, interactive screen time is more likely to cause sleep, mood, and cognitive issues, because it’s more likely to cause hyper-arousal and compulsive use.”