· By S. S. Coulter
Beware! Screen Time Impacts Kids' Emotional Health
When you think about your childhood, what are your favorite memories? Although I did have fun playing on the ole’ Intellivision (until writing this post, I always thought it was “In Television” …ha!) and watching Saturday Morning cartoons, the highlights for me were late-night games with all the kids in the neighborhood, and activities like Kick the Can, Flashlight Tag, and King of the Raft. These games may have different names for you, but I think you get the point – the things you remember with the greatest joy are when you were active, moving around, and interacting with others. Your memories are mostly from playtime, not screentime.
Technology isn’t going anywhere, and I wouldn’t want it to – it has countless benefits such as you being able to read this post. However, like everything else, we can overdo it. 2024 statistics show that the age at which kids engage with media on a regular basis has fallen from four years in 1970 to four months in the present day. Preteens (children aged 8 to 12 years) spend about 5 ½ hours daily on devices, up an hour from a decade earlier. This has raised the likelihood that children will become obese, experience behavioral problems, have sleep irregularities, suffer poor academic performance, etc. (For more technology statistics, see Technology Addiction Statistics: A Wake-Up Call for Parents.)
How do we counter this? With playtime! My all-time favorite list of the benefits of play comes from Empowered Parents, and today we are going to focus on #12, Healthy Expression:
- Brain Development
- Creativity
- Social Skills
- Planning Skills
- Motor Development
- Problem Solving
- Language Development
- Independence
- Visual Perception
- Auditory Perception
- Spatial Perception
- Healthy Expression – play give kids a safe way to act out emotions and learn to cope with them
What is Healthy Expression and Why Do Screens Impact It?
Healthy emotional expression means recognizing, understanding, and communicating feelings openly and respectfully – both toward oneself and others – without causing harm or unnecessary distress.
During an activity like make believe, kids have a chance to express themselves and make sense of the world around them. They have a safe place to act out how they’re feeling and learn to cope with their emotions. When they’re sitting in front of a screen and something happens that they don’t like, they can just throw down the device. But if they are face-to-face with other children, they must deal – right then – with their emotion and with other people. Play is a way for them to express how they feel about the world and everything that happens in it.
This is a skill that really takes a hit when kids spend too much time online and don’t interact with each other and the real world.
How Screentime Impacts Emotional Development
Excessive screentime can hinder a child's ability to express and manage emotions effectively. When children spend a large amount of time engaged on screens, they miss out on face-to-face interactions and play, which are both essential for emotional and social development.
A study published by JAMA Pediatrics found a link between mobile device usage and emotional difficulties in children. Increased screen exposure was associated with emotional dysregulation and behavioral issues.
Dr Jenny Radesky, a developmental behavioral pediatrician, said because screens displace opportunities for children to develop self-regulation, a child’s emotional reactivity is actually increased, and they are more likely to overreact to daily frustrations.
In other words, if you don’t explore various scenarios and emotions in a safe environment (such as engaging in pretend play), they are much harder to navigate when they occur during the normal course of one’s day.
How Play Helps Children Express Their Emotions
Children get a place to naturally express their emotions and understand the world around them through play. It serves as a fundamental way for children to express their feelings, navigate social interactions, and build resilience. While playing, kids can experiment with different roles (make believe!), confront fears (I always freaked out playing against the older kids!), and practice problem-solving (how do these blocks fit together?), all of which contribute to emotional growth.
Take a moment to apply this to your childhood. Think about yourself out in the “field of play.” It’s nighttime, and the kids in the neighborhood all come out for a game of Flashlight Tag. SO many things happened that molded who you are today – from picking who would be on the teams, to confronting your fears of hiding in the dark, to letting go of disappointment when you got caught, to strategizing on the best places to hide, to regulating your emotions when one of your teammates couldn’t keep her mouth shut! You learned how to work with each other, encourage each other, and let things go!
Playtime was awesome for us, and we need to make sure we regulate our kids’ screentime so they get the chance to experience it for themselves!
For more information on playtime and screentime:
Technology Addiction Statistics: A Wake-Up Call for Parents
Unlocking Social Skills for Children: The Power of Play Revealed
Is increased screen time impacting children’s emotional growth? By newsGP
The effects of screen time on children: The latest research parents should know by CHOC
12 Reasons Your Kids Need Time for Free Play Every Day by Empowered Parents