Oh the joys of back to school! The smell of fresh school supplies, a new back pack maybe? The excitement of seeing all of your friends back at school and the joy of learning something new! As school is exciting and fun for parents and kids alike, there are also great concerns for many parents when sending their kids to school. As school puts in place structure, sometimes schools may not have the same morals or address parents concerns in the same way that parents would like to see. We are always a huge advocate to get involved in your child’s school as you are the parent, and ultimately it is your job to raise your children. We are going to address a HUGE topic that we hold dear as neurological pediatric chiropractors, screen time!

Screen Time; What’s the Big Deal?!?

Screens are inherently very stimulating to the nervous system. The blue light emittance, the rapidly changing picture of the screen, and the sheer intensity of visual stimulation will light up brain activity. All screen exposure is not created equal ether. Viewing a tv screen from an appropriate distance is nearly the same stimulation as a smaller screen such as a computer, tablet, or phone. Also, the type of content matters as well. Fast paced and changing screens or interactive content will be more stimulating than slower more longer format content. We see all the time in our Colorado Springs clinic that kids with special needs really “thrive” with tablets. Parents will say how smart they are being able to count, recognize letters, know animals and sounds when they are on their tablet, but trying to have a conversation and perform the same task with flash cards? Not so easy. Why is this? For a busy brain and busy body child due to nervous system interference their nervous system is running fast and load at rest, the screen runs at the same pace as their nervous system and is why they are able to sit still and “perform better”. But…. once you take the screen away, their nervous system is still running at the same high speed or even more ramped up with the screen stimulation and then melt down happens! This happens with toddlers, grade school, and teens but the aftermath looks different based on age.

Screen time is also calculated by the total number of minutes that your child is exposed to a screen. Screen time learning on a tablet counts as screen time. Again, ANY EXPOSURE OR USE OF A SCREEN IS CONSIDERED SCREEN TIME. Even if it is for a educational purpose. Keep this in mind when planning screen time at home for your little one. Listed below is the guidelines that AAP recommends:

Until 18 months of age limit screen use to video chatting along with an adult (for example, with a parent who is out of town).

• Between 18 and 24 months screen time should be limited to watching educational programming with a caregiver.

• For children 2-5, limit non-educational screen time to about 1 hour per weekday and 3 hours on the weekend days.

• For ages 6 and older, encourage healthy habits and limit activities that include screens.

Internet Safety

Safety is another concern for parents and their children for good reason! The internet is very accessible and unfortunately can be a dangerous place for a child. The largest and most common treat is social media. Social media exposes your child to potential predatory activity if it includes a chat feature, and can be bad for their mental health as they will be bombarded with unrealistic comparison content. The science of hippieness, talks about the dangers of social media. About 1/2 of teens are using social media (too much), and about a 1/3 of teens are using platforms such as tiktok almost constantly. Depression is an epidemic for teens right now and social media is arguably one of the biggest contributing factors to this.

Also be sure of kids apps and games. Unknown to many parents games and apps will have unknown chat features or game mechanics that help groom children to desensitize them to adult content. If you have an app or game you allow your child to play, ether let them play with you watching or play the game yourself first to make sure there is nothing you would want your child to run into.

Officer Gomez is a champion when it comes to internet safety. Check out his facebook here: https://www.facebook.com/deputygomez/

Final thoughts

We are not condeming the use of technology but it is important to be smart and diligent about screen use and to protect your child’s health and safety. Technology will be apart of their future so learning how to use it for good is wise, but it is your job as a parent to ensure that proper use, safety, and healthy boundaries are put in place. This will protect your child’s mental health from being overwhelmed by a “fake” world of high standards presented by social media that they can’t contain (as social media is a snapshot and often presented better than it actually is), and being overstimulated by an artificial source of stimulation making it hard for them to function in the real world. If you have any questions on screens don’t be afraid to reach out to our clinic in Colorado Springs, CO. Also, check out our sensory processing disorder page here to better understand why screen time doesn’t calm your child but revs them up!