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Many children spend a lot of time watching or playing with electronic media –
from televisions to video games, computers and other devices. So, it is natural
that parents should wonder about all the time children spend looking at a TV
or computer screen. Americans say “screen time” when they talk about any
time spent in front of an electronic device.
Perhaps parents should ease up on their concerns about screen time, at least
for older boys and girls.
Until last year, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) suggested that
children and teenagers have no more than two hours of screen time a day.
The group also suggests that parents balance a child’s screen time with other
activities, such as getting enough sleep, exercising and doing homework.
However, some experts question claims that too much screen time is harmful.
Still, Ferguson notes, many people believe that too much screen time is bad.
"So there's always this kind of sense of there being a zero-sum game that the
more time our kids are spending with screens, the less time they're spending
with academics, the more they're getting exposed to all kinds of anti-social
messages or objectionable messages that we would not like our kids to be
exposed to."
However, there are only so many hours in a day. If a child spends six hours a
day watching a screen, that is six hours he or she could be doing other things,
like reading, enjoying a sport, or simply staring up at the clouds.
Ferguson doesn’t dispute that those activities are important. He seems more
interested in one idea: the link between video games and violent or risky
behavior.
Ubisoft staff demonstrate the "Far Cry 3" video game during a news conference in Los
Angeles, California 2012. (REUTERS/Gus Ruelas)
When he saw results from a recent British survey on screen time, he wanted to
know more.
The British study found a small negative effect -- about a one percent
increase -- in aggression and depression among children who had six or more
hours of screen time a day. He wanted to see if there was a similar effect
among young people in the United States.
So, Ferguson and a team of investigators examined answers from a survey on
risky behaviors. The study involved about 6,000 boys and girls in Florida.
Their average age was 16. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
developed the questionnaire.
Data from this 2013 survey found that American children are also fairly
resistant to the negative effects of electronic media.
Among those who played video games, watched TV or worked on the
computer up to six hours a day, the survey found:
To further argue his point that screen time is not harmful, Ferguson adds that
children should become familiar with screen technology. Electronic devices,
he says, are a part of our everyday lives -- from school to work to our personal
lives.