Digital vegetables, not digital candy

I was privileged to recently watch a lecture about the impact of children consuming too much electronic entertainment. In her presentation, Arlene Pellicane, who co-authored, “Grandparenting Screen Kids,” with well-known author Dr. Gary Chapman, detailed the dangers of children spending too much time being mindlessly entertained on screens.

Pellicane introduced me to what will be a new word for most of us, nomophobia, the fear of being without your cell phone (NO MObile PHOne phoBIA). She revealed that 58% of men and 47% of women admit to being nomophobic. Children are also deeply impacted by too much screen time. On average, kids 8-10 years old spend 6 hours each day staring at their screens; for children ages 11-14, that number increases to 9 hours, and 15–18-year-olds spend 7½ hours each day viewing amusing things online.

You will not be surprised to learn the results of this excessive screen time are less than positive. According to Pellicane’s research, childhood obesity is on the rise, and 20% of kids are now obese because of too much screen time. A 2004-2014 study by Johns Hopkins University revealed that as teens spent more and more time online depression among girls rose 37%. According to a Pew Research study from 2019, 20% of teenage girls had experienced a major bout of depression in the last year. Statistics for adolescent boys are lower but still up dramatically, and this was before the pandemic, which made things even worse for young people. Not all society’s problems can be blamed on too much screen time, but it contributes to many current challenges.

Pellicane says not all electronic media is unhealthy; in fact, exposure to healthy educational material can be beneficial. Even more beneficial is time children spend in video chats with grandparents or a traveling parent. She proposes that while too much exposure to “digital candy” has negative consequences, a limited diet of “digital vegetables” can be helpful.

Parking our little ones in front of a TV or regularly handing them a tablet and relying on digital babysitting is a temptation for most parents and grandparents, however, research suggests undisciplined screen time is unhealthy. While written long before anyone imagined today’s digital challenges, scripture offers this remarkable insight; “So be careful how you live. Don’t live like fools, but like those who are wise. Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days.” (Ephesians 5:15-16, NLT)

Though the Bible does not directly address the challenges of the digital world, the principles it teaches are incredibly relevant. Limiting screen time is wise and can yield positive long-term benefits. In her book, Pellicane asks this thought-provoking question: “Is technology bringing my family closer together, or is it tearing it apart?” This is the key question we all need to ask if we want our children and grandchildren to reach their potential.