Children’s screen time increased by 65% during the COVID-19 Pandemic and hasn’t changed since.
Unsplash Photo by @emily_wade (Child, Technology) Unsplash
In 2019 Dr. Henderson and her team at Permanente Californian Research Center began a longitudinal study on 228 children aged 4-12 across the United States. From July 2019 to August 2021, they found that prepandemic mean screen time increased by 1.75 hours per day after Dec 2020, and 1.11 hours per day after May 2021.
During the pandemic, with school and daycare closures, many parents and families were under tremendous amounts of social, emotional, and financial stress. Occupying kids with technology reduced parents’ stresses around having to constantly stimulate their children.
Researchers point out that screen time increased because children were spending more time at home instead of doing extracurricular outside and because schools transitioned online.
The graphic below illustrates Dr. Henderson’s findings, showing a clear increase in educational, recreational, and total mean screen time.
Longitudinal 228-child cohort study (ages 4-12) from July 2019 to August 2021 in the USA. Measuring Prepandemic (July 2019-Mar.2020), First Pandemic Period (Dec. 2020-Apr. 2021), and Second Pandemic Periods (May 2021-Aug 2021), and their Educational, Recreational, and Total Mean screen times. JAMANetwork
The long-term effects of high-screen time in children are still relatively unknown, but given that socializing and exercising are fundamental for healthy brain development in children, the pandemic undoubtedly has affected a generation of kids and youth.
More recently, in 2022, ABC news interviewed Dr. Heather Berlin, Neuroscientist and Clinical Psychologist at New York University, about the harmful effects of high-screen time.
“Consequences for kids’ of endless screen time” A 2022 ABC News interview with Dr. Heather Berlin, Neuroscientist and Clinical Psychologist at New York University. Youtube
While a lot is still unknown about screen time and how it affects children, the COVID-19 Pandemic gave impetus to necessary research at an unprecedented time in history. Research that could prevent further effects in the future and potential recurrence.
Well presented! It’s interesting to see the after-effects of the pandemic now that we are moving out of COVID-19. The immediate switch to fully online learning for over a year definitely caused a change in the way screen time is consumed. I’m interested to see how decreased exposure to social settings for young children affects the way they learn and interact with others in the future.