How screen time affects children’s brains: The question is more complicated than it seems

Internet use and computer games can harm the adolescent brain. However, opinions differ on the issue, the BBC writes.

Either way, the stakes are high. If screens really are damaging children, it might be years before the science catches up and proves it. Or if it eventually concludes that it isn’t, we would have wasted energy and money and, in the process, tried to keep children away from something that can also be extremely useful.

Fourteen authors, from various universities around the world, analysed 33 studies published between 2015 and 2019. Screen use including smartphones, social media and video games played “little role in mental health concerns”, they found.

Psychology professor Pete Etchells, citing research by another doctor, notes that the cause of mental health problems among young people is often loneliness, not screen time.

Many disagree. Some experts urge parents to keep their children away from smartphones for as long as possible.

“[Children’s] brains are more developed and more mature at 16,” Jean Twenge, a professor of psychology, argues. “And the social environment at school and friend groups is much more stable at 16 than it is at 12.”

There is a bigger issue here in that there is simply not enough science to make a definitive recommendation, and this is dividing the scientific community. And without set guidelines, are we setting up an uneven playing field for children who are already tech-savvy by adulthood, and others who are not and are arguably more vulnerable as a result?