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Cell Phones, Digital Devices & Today’s Youth: How Much Is Too Much Screen Time?

Joey Wahler (Host): Digital devices continue becoming bigger parts of our lives, including for children. So we're discussing digital addiction. What's too much screen time for kids? This is Wake Med Voices, a podcast from Wake Med Health and Hospitals in Raleigh, North Carolina. Thanks for listening. I'm Joey Waller. Our guest, Dr. Lee Chancey, clinical psychologist with Wake Med Children's and Mental Health and Wellbeing. Dr. Chancey, thanks for joining.

Dr Leigh Chancey: Thank you for having me. I'm happy to be here.

Joey Wahler (Host): Happy to have you. And first, whether it be computers, cell phones, or video games, how common a problem is Too much screen time for kids these days?

Dr Leigh Chancey: I'd say it's a pretty prevalent problem. I encounter questions all the time about how much screen time to allow children to be watching, especially since the pandemic when so many of our activities were limited. And many people found a lot of benefits from screen time with connectivity and, more things to do there. So, the usage increased, I think. Everyone, at that point, and then I know things are kind of opening up since, but a lot of people still find themselves using a lot of screen time and asking questions around that.

Joey Wahler (Host): Gotcha. So I'll ask you about some more specifics in a moment. But first, in a nutshell, what are the dangers mainly for children of excessive digital activity?

Dr Leigh Chancey: So we've been trying to look at that and evaluate that more closely. Cause it seems to be a complex relationship. we know at very young ages, high amounts of screen time has been linked to attention problems. And then as children age, there has been a small relationship found between excessive very high levels of screen time and risk for depression.

Joey Wahler (Host): Interesting. So as a psychologist, what do you think is behind that link with depression?

Dr Leigh Chancey: That's a great question. When we've looked at like longitudinal studies of children and their screen time usage, we've tried to identify variables that might affect the relationship there. And what we are noticing is that it may be through screen times interruption, and other valuable activities for kids. So oftentimes, kids that have very high levels of screen time have lower levels of physical activity, reduced in person social interactions, sleep problems, things along those lines that might, themselves, contribute to risk for depression or other physical health issues as well.

Joey Wahler (Host): So basically simply put, it sounds like you're saying things having to do with quote unquote real life away from the device. Right?

Dr Leigh Chancey: Exactly right, screen time can take up time that, you would otherwise be using for really helpful activities for social enrichment and health behavior.

Joey Wahler (Host): So what age range are we talking about, doctor? When we focus in on trying to manage screen time and make sure it's not too much?

Dr Leigh Chancey: So essentially, from birth. We know increasingly we're having reports of, significant percentage of one year olds have ability to access their parents' phone and are unbelievably able to scroll, at really young ages, toddlers. And American Academy Pediatrics recommends trying to limit screen time, with you're under two years old to not at all. And then at two years and older, they recommend trying to limit to two hours a day. Although we know for many, especially as you get into the older childhood and teenage years, many teens are using, significantly more amounts of screen time than that.

Joey Wahler (Host): So, speaking of which, we mention the term digital addiction. So what constitutes a kid becoming a screen addict?

Dr Leigh Chancey: I think that can be really hard for people to discern and the major thing that we would look at as we do really for all. disorders is impairment. So, red flags would be if your child is becoming socially withdrawn, not engaging with their friends or family, or other activities as much as they used to. And preferring screen time over that. another big one is emotional conflict or explosive behavior when you're asking your child to stop or reduce their screen time, time management issues can be related to that. Not wanting to stop and not getting their homework done or getting to sleep on time. And so interference with sleep hygiene, eating. Those would be the main risk factors or red flags for more of addictive behavior.

Joey Wahler (Host): Now, obviously nowadays, kids like the rest of us. Cell phones for communication. They need computers to do school work, other work also to communicate email and such. The internet, the list goes on and on. Social media, some of those are good uses, some are necessary. So for a parent, how challenging is limiting cell phone and computer use, and what advice can you give there?

Dr Leigh Chancey: There are so many positive benefits to technology as it's evolving and we use it a lot for our good. And so it can be tough to set limits around it. And so many schools are having lots of screen time during the school day, and homework assignments on computers and we connect with those around us. A couple cautions I would give, and I think some traps that can happen for parents is. Sometimes we might overestimate some of the positive benefits, especially for very young children. We know there's a lot of value of learning through play and doing for our younger kiddos especially.

So, they learn a lot through play, so we don't wanna overestimate the value of Baby Einstein and have too much of that, rather than time, interacting with your child. Also there's a temptation for adults to use the screen time to entertain or distract our children because we have so many demands on us as parents or really just to avoid conflict because it can be addictive and hard to set boundaries. So I think the biggest recommendation I give to families is to just really nurture healthy hobbies that don't involve screen time. It's much harder to ask a teenager or child to say, Please just stop using as much screen time.

That's aversive to them. They don't like to hear that and few of us do. But if you have other activities that naturally compete with screen time that they enjoy and that give them that same dopamine release, then it'll be easier to have that balance, without having it feel punitive or coercive that they have to stop. So just nurturing healthy hobbies, especially early on in life. And then using media together, when they do use screen time as much as possible so you can co view content, you can discuss themes that come up and answer questions

It can be a really good window into some of the hard discussions about what's going on in the world or what they think about different things. So, you can co together. I think another good recommendation is, when you do try to set limits thinking, can you have screen free zones? And that's a recommendation from the American Academy of Pediatrics is to try to have places where as a family, we don't use screens at the dinner table, for example. Or in our bedrooms after bedtime, especially while driving, things like that.

Or times of day we don't use screens, so we might like meal time, for example, or have a family game night or just try to plan like one activity, a family activity that we do together. We all put our phones on silent, the adults included, and we just do something screen free. Really modeling that and having that time together, that's enjoyable and pleasant can compete with the screen time use hopeful for most families.

Joey Wahler (Host): Wow, great advice. A screen-free zone. I think adults can use that as much as kids, if not more so, Right?

Dr Leigh Chancey: Right. Absolutely. The temptation is real for adults as well. Adults are not immune to screen time addiction either. So, those have benefits for everyone.

Joey Wahler (Host): I can't remember the last time my wife and I watched a movie together where she wasn't on her phone, at least with it kind of sitting there ready to be used at any moment without her glancing over at it several times. And often I find myself saying to her, Hello, Get the movie on here. Let's go.

Dr Leigh Chancey: I know and if we think about it, we've become quite accustomed to it, but it can actually detract in some ways from the quality of our interactions and our time together. So it's a good practice to just have some time that we turn it off or silence it, put it away, and really give each other our full attention or the activity that we're doing and just be fully in that moment of what's going on, rather than in the back of our mind, waiting for the next notification to go off.

Joey Wahler (Host): Indeed being in the moment instead of always on the screen. Right. Well folks we trust you're now more familiar with what's too much screen time for kids. Dr. Leigh Chancey, thanks so much again.

Dr Leigh Chancey: Oh, my pleasure. Thank you.

Joey Wahler (Host): And you can create a family media plan using resources like healthychildren.org. Again, that's healthychildren.org. To learn more about Wake Med Pediatric and mental health services, visit wakemed.org. Again, that's wakemed.org. If you found this podcast helpful, please do share it on your social media, and thanks again for listening to Wake Med Voices, a podcast from Wake Med Health and hospitals in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Hoping your health is good. I'm Joey Waller.