Excessive time in front of the screen is one of the causes of many problems for children. In this report in Time magazine, writer Jimmy Ducharme highlighted the new study that revealed the relationship between excessive screen viewing and academic achievement results.
The Journal of the American Medical Association of Pediatrics published an analysis of dozens of previous studies that looked at the relationship between screen time and academic achievement.
The authors emphasized that determining the amount of time was a wrong question, since a large number of adolescents asserted that they were constantly connected to the Internet.
The paper also revealed that the types of screen-based technology used by children are more influential on learning skills, compared to the total time they spend in front of screens.
The paper examined the results of about 60 studies on screen time and academic achievement, published between 1958 and 2018, and included more than 480,000 children aged 4 to 18 living in 23 countries.
The authors also conducted a statistical analysis of about half of the results of these studies, which included 106 thousand and five hundred people, to go deeper into the study of the relationship between screen time and academic performance.
In compiling the results of these studies, the authors did not find a strong link between screen time and academic achievement, unlike previous studies that addressed this topic.
The authors hypothesized that the divergent results reflected the many reasons and ways in which young people used technology, which was difficult to record in those studies.
However, this study revealed specific effects associated with certain forms of technology use.
According to the paper, the increase in television viewing time was accompanied by a decline in results in subjects such as language, mathematics and many other mixed tests.
Adolescent school scores have also fallen further compared to younger children, perhaps because young children, who learn through repetition, were able to benefit and learn by watching television.
Video games
According to data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, American teens between the ages of 15 and 19 spend an average of more than two hours a day watching television, and children aged eight or younger spend the same time in front of television screens.
Video games, in which children spend 40 minutes a day on a daily basis, have also been associated with a decline in overall school results, but performance in subjects such as math and language has not been significantly affected.
However, this paper does not reveal the cause and effect, nor does the cause of the close association between some types of technology and school performance of children seem more evident than others.
Over-watching TV or sitting in front of computer screens may prevent children from engaging in more useful activities, such as studying, sleeping or exercising, the authors said. Besides, the paper states that excessive television viewing may also reduce attention span or impede cognitive development.
Although this paper did not reveal the strong link between academic achievement and time spent on the Internet or social media, the authors emphasized that these findings deserve further research, especially since the impact of these activities can depend largely on how and why mobile devices are used. .
It is important to determine the time children and adolescents spend in front of television, computer or mobile phones, because an inactive lifestyle is associated with a range of health and psychological problems.
The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that parents allow their young children between the ages of two and five to spend one hour a day in front of the screen and reduce the time that older children use technology.