from Hacker News

Screen time does not affect child development

by jonas_kgomo on 11/18/23, 1:44 AM with 32 comments

  • by boh on 11/18/23, 3:14 PM

    A parent doing their own "research" can quickly dispute these claims. A popular term in the parent community is "screen kid" to describe those kids who come for a play-date but literally don't know what to do when there isn't a screen in their hand. Screen kids tend be more neurotic, distractible, emotional and totally addicted to screen time. It's a little bit of a hot topic since the parents who rely more on screen-time to manage their children tend to disagree.

  • by rahimnathwani on 11/18/23, 3:51 PM

    The HN title doesn't match the press release title. And IMO the press release title doesn't accurately reflect the claims in the actual paper.

    The study's input data were self-reported screen usage, and brain scans.

    The study didn't measure actual screen time, or measure children's behaviour or performance in tests.

  • by kemotep on 11/18/23, 2:10 PM

    Then why do so many kids scream their heads off and have temper tantrums when the phone is taken away?

    I can’t read the article at this time as it says that the site has reached its limit and I have been rate limited and blocked. Some kind of wordpress add on called wordfence?

  • by jvanderbot on 11/18/23, 2:21 PM

    The screen time was self reported and the cohort was 9 to 12 year olds. I'm sure researchers are a capable bunch but to my naive mind that seems like a minefield.

  • by yieldcrv on 11/18/23, 3:17 PM

    > Our findings should help guide the heated debates about technology away from hyperbole and towards high-quality science

    task failed successfully, judging by every comment so far

  • by pizzafeelsright on 11/19/23, 12:56 AM

    I got a toddler and we do zero tablet or phone time. The draw is definitely there and substitutes that draw em are juke boxes, fish finders, etc. Anything that has a touch interface.

    The trope of basement nerds is happening to the lower iq as the technology barriers of entry get removed.

    I find the children with far less screen time can communicate in meaningful ways and above their peers who are on tablets for hours on end.

  • by i8comments on 11/18/23, 2:49 PM

    More research is needed.