Screen Time & Kids: Psychological & Mental Effects - Essay Sample

Introduction

In most of the medical hospitals and care centers, the prolonged duration of screen time exposure is one of the most controversial issues that most parents have raised. Most of the children who are aged below the age of 12 are suffering both psychologically and mentally since they spend much of their time with electronic devices that have been consistently innovated and invented overtime (Dauw, 2016). The number of electronic gadgets has continuously increased in the past 20 years and is continuing to grow over time as humans continue making technological advancements.

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Many parents and health professionals are raising several questions on the issue but as a matter of fact, one interception point that acts as the best remedy for the whole disaster is to ensure that children below the age of 12 should remain away from exposure into this electronic gadgets to keep their lives healthier (Sigman, 2012). The primary reason for doing this particular study is to ensure the current disaster that is experienced in the medical hospitals with the increase in the number of children suffering from the hearing, and sight problems become either into a stop or significantly reduced to reasonable and manageable levels. The study will also advance the understanding of parents and professionals in interrogating for various solutions that can be applied to solve the problem.

While humans cannot deny the fact that, most of the electronic digital media have transformed the lives of people and have consequently made it more enjoyable, smoother, the effects can also never be underestimated. The fundamental reason for considering this is because people may assume the benefits and get overwhelmed with the potential benefits making them forget the wrong sides of the whole thing. Recent studies have revealed that the cons of the electronic media on children far much surpasses the pros.

By getting exposure to these problems, several problems can result, but the significant issues which may occur independently or together, including hard of hearing and sight problems. There are many other areas in line of health and general functionality that can result, and the parents need to be alerted o this potential causes and specific ways of managing them effectively. This will also make the parents in setting up their standard expectations and even boundaries which may assist kids in passing through their motor development process in the correct way to help in developing quality device habits (Kuta, 2017). The following are the broad areas of health that too much exposure can influence. The proper discussion will also help in giving an insight as an actual conclusion to say that prolonged exposure has adverse effects.

Sleeping Issues

The majority have not yet realized that exposure and use of electronic media have direct impacts on leading to sleeping problems. Overusing these devices, especially close to bedtime hours, can lead to significant negative consequences on children. Most sources have stated that children's memory is always very sharp, and rarely forgets things once they either see or taught. The difficulty in forgetting things is the primary reason as to why it becomes so hard for them to have a peaceful sleeping when they watch for a longer time (Waisman et al., 2018). They usually master the stories and events, and some may even have nightmares while sleeping.

The problem may also result due to the emission of blue lights from most of the devices like television whenever they are in operation. Doctors have revealed that the blue lights have the effect of trickling brain cells, mostly for immature brains like for the children, making them feel like it is daytime instead of night. Since children typically need more time for sleep, lacking sleep for even a half an hour may lead to negative impacts on the activities that they encounter in the following day.

Additionally, lack of sleep may also lead to further effects like poor performance. Suppose a student is to attend school the following day, and he/she misses enough sleeping hours, they will be forced to sleep during the day in school, because for their psychological and physical uprightness, they must sleep, whenever they relax, because the brain cells and the body parts are relaxed and tired as well (Blum-Ross & Livingstone, 2016). Other than poor performance, most children also end up missing engagement in various physical programs which they should do during the day, leaving their body exposed to many diseases like fatigue and clotting of blood in specific body parts like lungs.

Mental Health Complications

Majority of parents must agree with the fact that, the longer the time kids spent time with screens, the grumpier they become. When one of the health homes were visited during the completion of the study, it was discovered that most of the children become overstimulated very fast, but without actually realizing the actual effect.

The overstimulation may hence result in effects of mood swings, irritability, and poor behavior conditions. Many pieces of research articles have stated the interconnection between the more prolonged exposure and mental health problems, such as anxiety, depression disorder, mood variations, and even suicidality (Hume, n.d). Reports have stated that for the children who get the exposure for more than 2 hours in a day end up having an increased number of psychological distress or additional suicidal conditions.

This is just a report specifically 2 hours a day. Further research has also indicated that the severity of the effects have direct proportionality with the amount of time that children take watching the screens. The longer the time, the more severe the consequences and reverse is right. Moreover, children who have the characteristics of ADHD, frequently become more attracted to screens and end up having longer screen time. This is very unfortunate because, as they continue having the longer screen time, so the effects or symptoms of ADHD also increases. Therefore, there is a clear connection between the two parameters.

Another simple effect of longer screen time is increased in screen levels is stress in children. For instance, when children get to social media sites, leave comments, likes, or clicks, they do expect a satisfied response within some time interval (Carnevale et al., 2008). When they fail to get the expected response, some may end being distressed, and this may increase their risks of the general increase in the rates of hypertension.

Various contents that some children get exposed to whenever they surf online sites may also lead to other mental disorders. Most parents may not have the time to supervise the content of the staff that their children regularly see whenever they are using their phones. Some children are prone to pornographic videos and pictures. Reports from the United States of America have stated that about 73% of youths accepted that they were exposed to the pornographic contents before they could reach the age of 18 years (Duch et al., 2013). Most of the sites have authentication, but fragile ones, as in most cases, one is usually only required to single tap a click agreeing to the terms that the viewer is of 18 years and above (Sundus, 2018). Due to curiosity, most children end up getting into the sites and end up getting [hone or internet addiction. Prolonged exposure to such sites may lead to the production of immoral children, who engage in most sexual abuse activities, making it so hard for the government and other institutions to make adjustments.

Physical Health Issues

Previous studies have also stated that continuous exposure to electronic devices can also result in severe other health implications that include obesity, increased abdominal fatness, or increase in risks of getting type 2 diabetes. This means that, as much as electronic devices exposure may be useful, in that children may use the sites as learning sites, significant health problems may also be evidenced at certain conditions (Martin, 2011). There is a specific factual notion that the more time children spend watching, the more their appetite for foods increases. Because they are obligated to eat frequently, at times, they end up making the wrong decisions of the meals they are taking. Wrong decisions of the meals may further lead to diabetes and obesity problems.

Conclusion

In conclusion, screen time got a direct impact on both psychological and mental problems. Other than the issues stated, longer screen time may also improve the cognitive skills development of young children (Kardefelt-Winther, 2017). When children continuously play computer games and other online services, they may develop specific cognitive skills such as that of critical thinking, reflection, and imagination. Another benefit is that technology can help young children to come together and form a unity, for example, in playing stations (Lowe, 2017). Lastly, it is essential to note that screen time has both negative and positive influences on the lives of children, although the disadvantages exceed the benefits; as a result, professionals, and parents should partner together to ensure that their children get less exposure, for their better future build-up.

References

Blum-Ross, A., & Livingstone, S. (2016). Families and screen time: Current advice and emerging research.

Carnevale, F. A., Rehm, R. S., Kirk, S., & McKeever, P. (2008). What we know (and do not know) about raising children with complex continuing care needs.

Dauw, J. M. (2016). Screen Time and the Effects on Development for Children Ages Birth to Five Years.

Duch, H., Fisher, E. M., Ensari, I., & Harrington, A. (2013). Screen time use in children under three years old: a systematic review of correlates. International journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity, 10(1), 102.

Hume, C., Salmon, J., Veitch, J., O'Connell, E., Crawford, D., & Ball, K. Children who meet recommendations for physical activity and screen-time despite.

Kardefelt-Winther, D. (2017). How Does the Time Children Spend Using Digital Technology Impact Their Mental Well-being, Social Relationships, and Physical Activity?: An Evidence-focused Literature Review. Florence, Italy: UNICEF Office of Research-Innocenti.

Kuta, C. (2017). The Negative Impact of Excessive Screen Time on Language Development in Children Under 6-Years-Old: An Integrative Review with Screen Time Reduction Toolkit and Presentation for Outpatient Pediatric and Family Health Providers.

Lowe, B. (2017). Assessing the nature and extent of children's screen time (Doctoral dissertation, University of Otago).

Martin, K. (2011). Electronic overload: The impact of excessive screen use on child and adolescent health and wellbeing - Perth, Western Australia: Department of Sport and Recreation.

Sigman, A. (2012). Time for a view on screen time. Archives of disease in childhood, 97(11), 935-942.

Sundus, M. (2018). The impact of using gadgets on children. Journal of Depression and Anxiety, 7(1), 1-3.

Waisman, I., Hidalgo, E., & Rossi, M. L. (2018). Screen use among young children in a city of Argentina. Arch Argent Pediatr, 116, e186-e195.