Has anyone else noticed their kids are worse after screens?

[JustADadHere78]

Not sure if I’m overthinking this… but has anyone else noticed their kids seem worse after screens, not better?

I’ve got an 8-year-old and we went through a phase where taking screens off him was absolute chaos, proper meltdowns, couldn’t settle, bedtime was a nightmare. At first I just thought it was “normal” or that we needed to be stricter.

But recently I started wondering if it’s not just screen time itself, but the type of content, like the really fast-paced, constant stimulation stuff.

We tried dialing that back and it’s been… noticeably different. Not perfect, but the reactions aren’t as extreme and transitions are easier.

Now I’m questioning whether a lot of what gets called “behaviour issues” is actually kids being completely overstimulated and then struggling to regulate afterwards.

Curious if anyone else has noticed this or am I just seeing patterns that aren’t really there?

Have you been living under a rock? It's well known that screens, and the type of content, affect behaviour.

If you are interested in this area, there's lots of academic research.

Yes we find this...after ipad and any TV time too.

No - because we don’t use them!

Both of mine turn into $£€¥s after watching YouTube so they aren’t allowed to watch it.

The only exception would be a single specific video (help with a video game/drawing/craft) but there needs to be a purpose/direction rather than mindless browsing.

It think it really depends on the content and the activity. I've banned lots of programmes and YouTube for the most part but I do let my daughter watch a lot of films and I don't think it has the same kind of negative impact. She has discovered lots of things she is interested it, can follow complex plots and retain a lot of details and offer decent analysis. It feels quite similar to reading, and she loves listening to stories equally much. In the early days I was fairly careful to mostly watch with her and discuss what was happening which I think is important.

Conversely I actually banned her from doing her gamified maths homework on the iPad as that has an awful impact.

I think we need better research, and also research that looks at different neurotypes.

I think it’s more complex than ‘screen time’ - like people above have said , it depends what the screen is used for.

My kids are nearly 22 and 20, so when they were under 11, screen time was mainly long episodes or films, playing together on the PS2 (things like Little Big Planet) or playing on their DS. I never noticed any behavioural issues with screens, but I think it was because they were either watching something complex with a plot (they enjoyed films from 3/4), cooperating on a game or working through a challenge on the DS. It’s the mindless/hyper-stimulating/short focus stuff that’s problematic. I didn't like Fortnite, which ds got into at 11, as it felt very high-stress to me. Observing my younger nephews, I think it’s YouTube and scrolling through videos that’s more problematic now, as you get constant hits and can scroll on if bored, so there’s no need for lengthy focus.