Children and screen time

[PronounsBaby]

I've heard a lot of parents saying watching telly is linked to their kids bad behaviour and wondered what the general thinking is behind this?

If the kids are watching low stimulation shows - is that still going to effect their behaviour?

How long for and how often are they staring at a screen. How much is too much? Why not do as much parenting as you can. Children have all their lives to stare at screens but you never have enough time to teach and interact with your child

Was hoping to start a general conversation on the subject @Pedallleur, rather than just judgemental assumptions, but thanks for your input.

I think it's child specific in terms of impact on behaviour. It affects some more than others.

I think it depends on such a huge variety of things.
What are they watching/doing and for how long?
What are they doing in their other time?
What situations are you using it in?
Etc

My dd both have a far amount of screen time but it doesn't seem to impact on their behaviour

YouTube, absolutely. It's now banned in this house. But general films and longer format cartoons don't seem to have an impact. In fact, DS will regulate his screen time more easily with these because they 'end' and he sees this his cue to do something else.

Mine have quite a lot of screen time but can also put it aside and do other things so I don’t worry about it. They are generally polite, manage their moods, and can do other things with focus. So I’m not worried. If that changed then my thoughts may change.

Yes,too much screen time can affect my primary aged children's behaviour negatively. (And they are pretty limited anyway!) These are fairly sedate shows too.
As children, my brother and I, plus a couple of close friends could only tolerate about 1/2 an hour at a time.
Depending on the age of the children, it can affect them to a greater or lesser extent.

Quality / content hugely varies obviously. Also you watching a 90 minute film with your DC, chatting, commenting and enjoying it together is vastly different from a 2 year old gazing at YouTube on a phone screen for the same amount of time.

What is it about the screens which effect behaviour? The fact they are zoned out of their surroundings and in their own world, then are dragged back to reality?

YouTube is banned in my house due to the rabbit hole of dodgy crap. Cocomelon, bebfinn and fish and rash are also banned. My daughter (3) goes into zombie mode and if you turn them off she shouts, gets aggressive and generally becomes distressed in ways that doesn’t occur with slower paced shows. More and more high stimulation shows are creeping onto Netflix often Korean or Chinese, slowly stopping Netflix altogether.

Tish & tash

Apparently high paced shows with many screenshots per few seconds gives an addictive dopamine rush. Causing withdrawal when you take it away. That’s what I read anyway!

I think it depends and I think there's a difference between putting CBeebies on the tv for an hour or two versus letting them play on an iPad unsupervised even if it's a children's one. I also think there's an issue with kids who never are left without a decide for example if given one in the car, at dinner time, at a restaurant

My 8 and 6 Yr olds watch quite a bit of tv. I don't think it affects broader behaviour much, they don't act up when it gets turned off or anything. The main things they zombify in front of ( and are therefore heavily limited) are Total Drmarama (which I hate and they love) and YouTube videos of mincraft. I only allow that on weekends, and on a time limit.

I was surprised to read in a book about raising vikings that in Denmark, where they get loads of outdoor and risky play, they also have a large amount of screen time. Including all day long at school on a Wednesday. Really interesting. So difficult to get the balance.

I think it's supposed to be the provision of entertainment whilst the child sits passively; they learn that exciting fun things happen without them having to do anything to get it. When they successfully complete a puzzle or build a tower, they've had to work for it which teaches skills of effort, perseverance, learning, trying another way.
I don't really see a difference in my 2yo tbh other than an occasional tantrum if he asks and I say no or he doesn't want it off yet. But he is only allowed to watch Cbeebies on iPlayer and mostly gentle type programmes like Julia Donaldson films, Vegesaurs, Patchwork pals. And absolutely never allowed at mealtimes or after dinner (as within 2 hours of sleep is supposed to affect it due to the blue light).

Screen time never had much impact on my DD's behaviour but it definitely does with my son. He's had no screen time for a few weeks now and he's much better behaved and has remembered how to play again.

I agree the type and quality of the show makes a huge difference. My 3yo mainly watches Bluey, or one of the Julia Donaldson adaptations on iPlayer, or some of a Disney film. Always on TV or occasionally my phone. No YouTube, no screens at meal times. We had to ban Peppa pig because we noticed her behaviour became awful after watching it, not just the attitude picked up from Peppa but general whinginess as well.

I think it's fine at times to allow them to decompress and also to allow you to get things done! I mainly let her watch while I'm getting ready or cooking dinner, or sometimes when we just need to calm down and reset after a hectic morning. Parenting is hard and sometimes you need to make life easier - sure, she could be playing while I'm cooking dinner, or helping me out (which I do let her do sometimes) but ultimately I'd rather just get 20-30 mins of uninterrupted time to get dinner on the table without getting stressed!

My DD watches quite a lot of TV and it doesn't affect her behaviour. It is all films/tv series though rather than short videos on eg YouTube. The latter I would say is worse as it can damage their attention span.

My dd watches CBeebies and nick jr pretty much every day, since she was about 2.5. I usually sit beside her and watch it with her. Before that she watched the odd cocomelon/ baby shark or nursery rhyme video on my phone. I thought this was loads and felt really guilty about it but it never seemed to affect her behaviour. She started playing games on our phones sometimes when we are cooking or something in the last year. She’s five now and started school in September. I’m shocked at the amount of time they spend looking at screens in school! There’s no black or whiteboard in the classroom, only a big screen. She tells me about all the videos they’ve watched, alphablocks/ number blocks/ jolly phonics etc in class and how they watched a Barbie video and frozen at lunchtime. I’ve had to go out and buy her headphones for the I pads in school and a tablet to do homework on at home.

As a nanny, bad behaviour is linked to parenting, not screen time.

I know someone who boasts about her son not having any screen time as he runs around bashing other kids in the head.

I can see a difference in my children after brain-numbing stuff like Cocomelon or Peppa Pig, which they would watch for ages if allowed, but less so after CBeebies programmes like Topsy and Tim or Katy Morag. I don't think it's even a debate now about whether children in schools have lower concentration levels than a couple of decades ago - it seems pretty much accepted as fact. As a teacher, I really try to limit screen time for that reason, particularly small screens like tablets/phones.

My 2 year old has more screen time than I'd like. But he only has tv (phone screen is used only for distraction for brushing teeth!). I won't purchase a tablet for him any time soon as I wouldn't want him to become addicted to that. I see so many toddlers with screens in buggies. He notices so much when we are out - in the buggy or in the car. He also sits nicely in restaurants, as long as he has a toy or two to keep him occupied. His speech is great, it's something people always comment on - the things he says and facts he tells people amazes them (tends to be sea creature facts). He does get upset, especially when the tv is turned off. He only ever wants to watch shark related things, which I don't think is so bad. He isn't interested in cocomelon, etc, so no overstimulating animations.

@PronounsBaby

What is it about the screens which effect behaviour? The fact they are zoned out of their surroundings and in their own world, then are dragged back to reality?

It's very addictive. The bright lights, colours, music and fast moving pace. The fact they can flick if something is remotely boring to them creates an expectation that real life is like this. It reduces their attention span and the ability to delay gratification.

My dc are teens now, so didn't have tablets or phones as toddlers/ young kids. I did stick baby tv on whilst I was getting ready or a bit of in the night garden after dinner but it's completely different to what I see now. Kids in prams going around supermarkets, parks, theme parks with phones. Those places are meant to be appealing and a chance to interact with your child. But they're now not. They're not interesting enough for some young kids and/ or the parents just can't say no and deal with the consequences. It is very sad. That doesn't even take into consideration the reduced opportunities for language development and social interaction. Kids today are definitely lacking in that. I see it every day in my work.

This isn't true for all children. Excess screens absolutely do affect some children's behaviour.

Being aware of a badly behaved child who doesn't watch tv is not evidence that screens can't affect behaviour, surely this is obvious.