News photo brendan miller
Local child Psychologists Greg and MaryLou Godard speak to families about the negative effects of too much screen time and social media during the first of six discussions series planned to be held at Medicine Hat College titled 'Navigating the Online World Presentation & Discussion Series' held in collaboration with AHS, Medicine Hat Catholic Board of Education, Digital Wellness Coalition and the College.
bmiller@medicinehatnews.com
On average, children who spend too much time on screens and have set up a social media account before the age of 16 are more at risk of developing mental health issues including anxiety, depression and addiction.
These two topics were discussed in detail Wednesday night during the first of a six-part discussion series titled ‘Navigating the Online World Presentation & Discussion Series’ held in collaboration with AHS, Medicine Hat Catholic Board of Education, Digital Wellness Coalition and Medicine Hat College.
The thorough and research-based presentation by Child Psychologists Greg and MaryLou Godard that lasted for an half and a half was title ‘Brain Bytes: How Screens have Shaped Generation Alpha and How Parents can Reset the Mold’ and throughout challenged parents to set a limit of screen for their children to only two hours a day while highlighting on average children under 14 spend between seven to nine hours on screens daily.
“We probably will be a little stringent for your liking, especially if you happen to be under 50,” said Greg at the beginning of the presentation, aware he is asking for a large change from parents and their children.
They highlighted a concerning spike that can be seen through research beginning around 2010 that shows children face more mental health problems, are less physical active, have more problems with social comparison, increased difficulty with cyber bulling, increased risk of addiction and suicidal ideation.
“These statistics tell us there are a lot of troubles in this generation, and we’re going to say a lot of it can be attributed to two things, excessive screen time and social media,” said Greg.
Greg and MaryLou spoke to families about the importance of firm, fair and flexible parenting style to help curb children away from computer, touch screens and social media and encourage more outdoor play, something they say today’s youth are not experiencing enough of.
Greg says children under the age of 14 are experiencing extreme “nature deprivation” compared to other generations and recommends parents encourage more unsupervised play time outdoors so children can develop important cognitive individual problem-solving skills.
“Suffering from a lack of free time outside, free time to explore, risky play, exploratory play, or what’s called discovery mode learning,” he explains. “The idea that I can discover something new without my mom showing me and pointing to me and holding my hand is a very important part of development.”
Consequently young children are often lacking from what’s called ‘transcendence.’ These are moments when an individual is caught in awe and wonder at something significant or beautiful in nature.
“According to research, a lot of kids nowadays that are spending a lot of time on their screens are lacking in moments with transcendence.”
The couple also discussed the physical effects of excessive screen time which include obesity and poor dietary outcomes. MaryLou highlighted research that associates the pairing of screen time and food.
“When youth spend more than the recommended two hours a day on screen time, they have a poor dietary outcome. They have changes in their diet, less fibre and less vegetables and fruits,” she explains.
Too much screen time is also having a negative impact on children’s sleeping patterns, especially when it comes to getting deep REM sleep. Greg says several issues including blue lights in computer, smart phone and television screens combined with simulating content affects sleep patterns.
The couple recommends restricting screen time for one hour before bed as well as making sure children don’t have smartphones in their room at night and point to research that shows approximately 40 per cent of adolescents in the U.S report being awakened by their cell phone at least a few times a night.
“So woken up by the light, woken up by the haptic sound,” says Greg. “So imagine trying to get a good night’s sleep by being woken up five times a night.
“Usually if it’s a teenager, they’re also wondering if someone likes one of my posts? Is it that good looking guys commenting on my picture? And so it can alter chemicals in the brain.”
Social media is a problem for both boys and girls however studies social media sites have a a larger negative impact on young girls and teenagers.
“I would suggest that a lot of teenage girls, or pre teens, are not confused with how to have boundaries around what is the online world and what is the real world,” explains MaryLou who says it’s not uncommon for children to access social media for more than six hours a day, leading to increased mental health concerns.
“All these issues, anxiety, depression, attention, the social skills, the addictive nature of the brain, that frontal lobe and how there’s actually structural changes, a decrease in the gray matter in the brain.”
The couple recommended working with children, especially those showing signs of mental health issues, to reduce their screen time and encourage more active play. They also cited research that suggests children under the age of two should not have any screen time and parents should limit the age of when a child can have their own social media account to 16.
“Be willing to be a little lenient. If you’re going to decide to let your kids have a phone in their bedroom, make sure they bring it out half an hour before bed and don’t have it in there after that,” says Greg. “So there’s room for wiggle room, but it’s a good idea to have these sort of stringent limits.”
