Cortes 1

Adryanne C. Cortes

Instructor Adrienne Cassel

ENG 1201

March 21, 2021

Literature Review

The topic of whether screen time is beneficial or harmful to children has been a topic of

discussion for decades, and with the rapid production of modern technology, nearly every child

owns an electronic device. Nowadays, it is not a rare occurrence that one would see a toddler

glued to a tablet watching videos or playing games. People cannot help but wonder if all this

screen time is doing more harm than good. That being said, my research question is “How does

early and prolonged access to the internet affect the mind of a young child, and how does it

affect the other aspects of their lives?” This question will explore several aspects of a child's life

such as social skills, behavior, physical health and activity, and well-being.

The history of this topic goes as far back as to when television was introduced, and

people have worried about screen time’s negative effects on children as early as 1951, when an

anthropologist by the name of Earnest A. Hooten described television as, “A visual education in

how to do wrong.” (Myers 2018) People have argued for years whether screen time makes

children unhealthy and unsocial, or if it gives more opportunities for learning and connecting

with others. Even after decades of research, it is not certain whether screen time is good or bad.

It can be either depending on how a parent chooses to handle their child’s screen time. However,

there are some ideas that are changing about how people view electronics and screen time. For

example, before research, people believed that staring at a screen for too long would cause

permanent eye damage. In February of 2011, Harvard debunked this myth. “Although using a
 Cortes 2

computer will not harm your eyes, staring at a computer screen all day will contribute to

eyestrain or tired eyes.” (Harvard 2011) There is still lots of research to be done on the topic and

the ideas surrounding it are changing every day, but for now the effects that it has on children

can be carefully observed and the patterns found through research will aid to the answer of

whether screen time is harmful or beneficial.

Research has shown that young children that are exposed to prolonged usage of screen

time often leads to behavioral issues. Health News Daily (2017) reported a study tested on over

3,400 preschoolers that showed more screen time led to increased behavioral problems,

excluding aggression. An example of this was conducted in a study by child development experts

Kyra Hamilton, Denise Hatzis, David J. Kavanagh, and Katherine M. White. After surveying

twenty parents of their child’s screen time and physical activity behaviors, a mother reported,

“It’s a lot of arguments about turning off the television. She doesn’t take to explanations that

television isn’t the best thing for her to spend a lot of time doing.” (Hamilton, et al. 10) Other

parents had similar experiences with confrontation, resulting in 35% of parents reporting that

their children displayed poor behavior such as whining when told to switch off their devices.

This study really paints the picture for how quickly addictive behaviors can develop in children,

and Jennifer Cross, a pediatrician that is board certified in developmental and behavioral

pediatrics, would appear to agree with this statement as well. In a section of her article, she

explains that a child cannot make the conscious decision to put down a device as an adult can, so

children exposed to prolonged screen time as an infant are more likely to develop addictive

behaviors to their electronics as a toddler. (Cross 2020) If a child is exposed to such amounts of

time on a television or tablet as a baby, it will become a normal activity for them, and they will

not be willing to let go of that habit easily.

Similar studies have shown that early and prolonged access to the internet negatively

impacts a young child’s physical health and activity. Neza Stiglic and Russell M. Viner had

performed a systematic review of reviews to examine the benefits and harms of children and

screen time and discovered a pattern of screen time being associated with obesity. “Ekris et al

reported strong evidence for a positive relationship between TV viewing time and incidence of

overweight/obesity over time in three high-quality studies and in three low-quality studies.”

(Stiglic and Viner 8) What exactly causes screen time to be associated with obesity? Jennifer

Cross describes, “Interacting almost exclusively with screens would be like working out only

your arm muscles and nothing else. You would have really strong arm muscles, but at the

expense of overall fitness.” (Cross 2020) Cross is proposing that prolonged screen time causes

obesity due to the lack of physical activity being performed while a child is sitting down,

watching their devices. She also discusses another important aspect of a child’s physical health, a

child’s sleep. Cross (2020) explains that the sleep hormone melatonin sets in once the sun goes

down, but the blue light from screens prevents melatonin from being produced, which in turn

delays sleep. A good night's sleep is crucial for a young child’s development, which is also why

physical activity is important for their health. 85% of parents reported that their children being

physically active promoted overall physical health, and 60% reported that it promoted good

sleeping habits. (Hamilton, et, al. 7)

If screen time limits children’s physical activity, not only does it affect a child’s physical

health, but it may also affect their social skills. 65% of parents reported that limited screen time

promoted playing with siblings. (Hamilton, et, al. 10) More screen time leaves less time for

interacting with children physically. Social interactions are an essential part of a child's growth,

they prepare children for working with other people as they grow older and give them the
 Cortes 4

confidence to do so. In her article, Jennifer Cross (2020) talks about how early and longer

exposures to screen time negatively affects a toddler’s developing language and communication

skills. “Talking with children in a reciprocal dialogue is extremely important for language

development and social interaction. It’s that back-and-forth “conversation,” sharing facial

expressions and reacting to the other person — in real life, rather than “passive” listening or one-

way interaction with a screen — that improves language and communication skills in young

children.” (Cross 2020)

In other studies, research has shown that screen time negatively affects a child’s overall

well-being. In Stiglic and Viner’s examination, they found that seven out of the thirteen reviews

they reviewed had mental health related outcomes including low self-esteem and a poorer quality

of life. (Stiglic and Viner 8) There also other cases that have been reported by parents of screen

time affecting their children’s mental health and well-being. James Bridle, a writer, artist, and

engineer, had been researching the possibilities of weird modern technologies. During his

research, he had stumbled across the world of children’s YouTube videos. He discovered that

children’s content creators would create very strange videos to make the YouTube ad revenue

algorithm work in their favor, and because of these strange videos, parents reported their children

being traumatized, becoming afraid of the dark, and becoming afraid of their favorite cartoon

characters. (Bridle 2018) Considering the addictive nature of screen time that Jennifer Cross

refers to, fear is not a great mixture. Children may be afraid of what is on their screen, but they

will not stop if an addictive behavior is developed.

A possible answer to my research question is that early and prolonged access to the

internet negatively affects younger children due to causing addictive behaviors and behavioral

issues, a lack of physical activity and poor physical health, weakened social skills, and decreases
 Cortes 5

their optimal well-being. Further research into how screen time negatively affects social skills

needs to be done since there were only two sources that discussed that topic. To confirm my

claim, more research to find other sources that provide evidence for the possibility that screen

time is harmful will also be searched for.

Works Cited

Bridle, James. “The Nightmare Videos of Childrens' YouTube — and What's Wrong with the

Internet Today” YouTube, uploaded by TED (13 Jul. 2018) youtu.be/v9EKV2nSU8w

Cross, Jennifer. “What Does Too Much Screen Time Do to Kids' Brains?” NewYork-

Presbyterian (5 Oct. 2020) healthmatters.nyp.org/what-does-too-much-screen-time-doto-

childrens-brains/

Hamilton, Kyra, et, al. “Exploring Parents’ Beliefs About Their Young Child’s Physical Activity

and Screen Time Behaviours” Journal of Child & Family Studies 24, 2638-2652 (1 Sep.

2015) DOI: 10.1007/s10826-014-0066-6

Myers, Blanca “A Brief History of Screen Panic” Condé Nast (27 Mar. 2018)

https://www.wired.com/story/brief-history-digital-panic/

“Safeguarding Your Sight” Harvard Health Publishing (22 Feb. 2011)

https://www.health.harvard.edu/healthbeat/safeguarding-your-sight

"Screen Time and Attention Problems Among Preschoolers." NYTimes.com Video Collection,

The New York Times Company (17 Apr. 2017) Gale In Context: Opposing Viewpoints.

link.gale.com/apps/doc/CT583470150/OVICu=dayt30401&sid=OVIC&xid=a59c548a

Stiglic, Neza & Viner, Russell M. “Effects of Screentime on the Health and Well-Being of

Children and Adolescents: A Systematic Review of Reviews.” BMJ Open 9.1, 1-15 BMJ

(3 Jan. 2019) bmjopen.bmj.com/content/bmjopen/9/1/e023191.full.pdf