Do you battle with your kids over screen time? Do you have a child that begs for screen time, and then has a meltdown whenever they’re asked to shut off the device? If so, know that you’re not alone.
I work with many parents who have these battles, and it’s one that I had myself for many years.
I have a child who loved technology and video games from a very early age. As a result, we had many battles about screen time. It was always a difficult transition to get him off devices, and we recognized that there was a direct correlation between screen time and behavior challenges.
At the time, I had a hard time understanding as I didn’t grow up with devices and there wasn’t a great deal of research readily available. Much has changed in the past fifteen years, and we now have a much better understanding of why kids are so drawn to screens.
Why Kids Are Drawn To Screens
Every single move and finger swipe in games and screens gives kids an immediate response of colors, shapes, and sounds. Their brain responds by releasing the neurotransmitter dopamine, the key component in our internal reward system that is associated with feelings of pleasure.
Screens give kids immediate stimuli that they don’t get in real life. As soon as a child experiences pleasure as a result of screen time, the brain associates that activity with dopamine and develops a strong drive to seek out that same pleasure over and over again.
Dopamine can create an intense energy when kids are on screens, which creates a huge draw for kids but on the flip side it also leads to decreased impulse control. This explains why my child had behavior challenges after being allowed on screens.
Dopamine also helps sustain your child’s interest and attention, which makes it that much harder for them to separate from the screens that are the source of the dopamine hits. The more time they spend on screens, the more dopamine is released — making them want screen time that much more and making it that much harder to transition them off screens.
Knowing all of this, it’s no wonder that our kids love their screen time and why it's so hard to disconnect them from devices!
This is why I highly recommend coming up with a plan for screens in advance and having tools in your parenting toolbox to help you better manage screen time battles and disconnect your kids from screens.
We are going to be talking all about screens in July in the Confident Parenting Club. I’ll be sharing some of the latest research along with a process to help you establish guidelines based on what works best for your family. Join us by clicking here.
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