The New York Times recently recently published a series of articles on topic of screens and kids. Parents—particularly those who can’t afford screen-hiding nannies!—found the articles terrifying. The series predictably shot around social media quickly as moms and dads wondered internally and out loud, how can our kids exist—and maintain their mental health— in a world that is so reliant on devices and screens.
Anya Kamenetz is a reporter at NPR who has studied the issue of screens and kids in depth and she took issue with the NYT pieces because she saw them as strong on anecdote but weak on evidence and she said so. It’s not to say that we, as parents, don’t need to monitor and set boundaries around screen time but
There is zero data/research in this trio of stories. I guess there are different evidence standards in the Styles section. https://t.co/bQMHIY2W5E
— Anya Kamenetz (@anya1anya) October 26, 2018
She went on to post a twitter thread to inform folks of what we actually do know about kids and screens.
What we know about kids and screens 1/ https://t.co/7tmfWG1zDJ
— Anya Kamenetz (@anya1anya) October 27, 2018
Screens interfere with sleep. High levels of screen time correlate with obesity. 2/
— Anya Kamenetz (@anya1anya) October 27, 2018
In most other areas (ADHD, anxiety, depression) studies are correlational AND effect sizes are tiny 3/
— Anya Kamenetz (@anya1anya) October 27, 2018
There’s solid evidence for learning both academic and social skills, mostly video, no earlier than preschool age.4/
— Anya Kamenetz (@anya1anya) October 27, 2018
Nearly all children and adults use digital media daily and on a population basis we can’t see “epidemics” of anything. The anxiety/depression trends are worrisome but started before smartphones 5/
— Anya Kamenetz (@anya1anya) October 27, 2018
There’s intriguing early evidence from brain studies with both positive and negative impacts of eg video game use 6/
— Anya Kamenetz (@anya1anya) October 27, 2018
There’s emerging evidence on the positive impacts of social media. Teens use to connect and seek social support 7/
— Anya Kamenetz (@anya1anya) October 27, 2018
The classroom evidence is murkier. Computers are certainly no magic elixir for test scores 8/
— Anya Kamenetz (@anya1anya) October 27, 2018
Decades of research tell us that parent influence matters. As mediators– not authoritarians 9/
— Anya Kamenetz (@anya1anya) October 27, 2018
For more please read #theartofscreentime https://t.co/YEjH0xu9zo
— Anya Kamenetz (@anya1anya) October 27, 2018
One more. There is evidence of problematic use/addiction esp to video games, social media and porn.
— Anya Kamenetz (@anya1anya) October 27, 2018
Citations? here are the endnotes to my book #theartofscreentime (draft form) https://t.co/CKfPk1wydX @douglevin
— Anya Kamenetz (@anya1anya) October 27, 2018
Thank you Anya for sharing your knowledge and expertise in an effort to calm the hysteria that ensues when the New York Times and other outlets publish series like this one, that rely on anecdote more than research and evidence. If nothing else, you have brought some nuance to a conversation fraught with uncertainty and anxiety for parents.