Children’s Screen Time and its Impact on Early Childhood Development

This study explores the impact of children’s screen time on their early childhood development. It examines the advantages and disadvantages of screen devices, the role of parents in regulating screen time, and the effects on sleep, well-being, and learning. The study also discusses the relationship between screen time and physical activity, dietary habits, and child obesity. Recommendations for setting rules and guidelines for screen device use are provided.

CHILDREN’S SCREEN TIME 0

CHILDREN’S SCREEN TIME 1
Children’s Screen Time
Name
Institution
Date

CHILDREN’S SCREEN TIME 2
Contents
Introduction....................................................................................................................................3
Literature Review..........................................................................................................................4
Methodology...................................................................................................................................7
Observations...................................................................................................................................7
Conclusion......................................................................................................................................9
Reflections....................................................................................................................................10
References.....................................................................................................................................11
Appendix…………………………………………………………………………………………15

CHILDREN’S SCREEN TIME 3
Introduction
In today’s world, almost every home has access to a screen viewing device. These
devices range from smartphones, tablets, smart televisions, computers among other commonly
used devices. These devices are readily available to preschoolers and school going children in a
home set up. While there have been so many adverse effects associated with these electronic
gadgets, there are equivocally important to children especially before they go to school. When
children familiarize themselves with these devices, they gain essential writing and reading skills
even before they step into a classroom (Ramirez, Norman, Rosenberg, Kerr, Saelens, Durant &
Sallis, 2011). Some of these skills include creativity, interpersonal skills, mathematical skills,
analytical skills and the ability to communicate in different languages.
Technology based literacy is important in children as it incorporates the development of
essential concepts and language skills. This happens long before they join any form of schooling
in their lives. By the time they go to school they already know how to express themselves,
perform necessary mathematical computations, communicate in different languages and the
ability analyze situations and make decisive moves (Holloway, Green, & Livingstone, 2013).
Even after joining school, the impact of electronic devices is always very evident depending on
their use. These literacy skills depend on the kind of exposures these children get during their
childhood. For example, the first exposure to books, electronic devices play an important role.
To be specific, it’s believed that that use of touch screen devices are critical in initiating
relevant skills in children. Learning, creating, gaming and book apps are some of the critical
applications in tablets that help children develop these skills (Grøntved, Ried-Larsen, Møller,
Kristensen, Wedderkopp, Froberg & Andersen, 2014). This study will focus on children’s screen

CHILDREN’S SCREEN TIME 4
time and its advantages and disadvantages. It will also seek to establish on the role of the parent
in a child’s use of electronic media.
Literature Review
Setting rules regarding the use of screen devices among adolescents are important in
reducing the screen time for them. These rules include; not allowing screen devices in the
bedroom and setting time limits for TV watching (Ramirez & Norman et al., 2011). This makes
sure that they don’t watch for prolonged hours neither do they lack exercises due to the same
reason. The implementation of these rules becomes successful upon setting an agreement
between the child and the parent.
Screen devices have harmful effects on sleep and overall well-being. It is important for
the youths especially the adolescents to minimize using these devices during bed-time. In most
cases, use of electronic devices is associated with reduced sleep time as well as delay in the time
a person is supposed to go to sleep (Hale & Guan, 2015). Although this deficiency cuts across all
age, youths aged between ten and twenty-five are the most affected. There have been increased
cases of psychological issues, especially among teenagers in recent years. This is widely
associated with excessive use of electronic devices. Increased physical exercised and reduced use
of screen devices during leisure time is linked to lower depressive levels among adolescents
(Kremer, Elshaug, Leslie, Toumbourou, Patton, & Williams, 2014). Adolescents spent most of
their idle time on screen devices either playing games or on social media platforms. This leads
them being detached from the social lives and in the ability to deal with fundamental life
challenges hence depression.

CHILDREN’S SCREEN TIME 5
Electronic devices are important in enhancing learning and development. This is given increased
use of electronic devices in homes. The improved technology which enables touch screen
interaction is important in offering mark marking practices which serves an important role in
literacy development in early childhood (Price, Jewitt, & Crescenzi 2015). This is much fueled
by their increased accessibility due to reduced prices. The digital technology improves the
children’s concentration and motivation. Therefore, it is important that adolescents use these
devices for educational purposes
Adolescents spent their idle time in different ways. There is a notable relationship
between physical activities, dietary habits and screen time. Screen devices also have a nutritional
effect, especially among youths. According to AlHazzaa, AlSobayel, Abahussain, Qahwaji,
Alahmadi, & Musaiger (2014), the most affected are teenage girls. The study which was carried
out in Saudi Arabia showed that girls aged between 15 years and 19 years were adversely
affected (Camhi, Waring, Sisson, Hayman & Must, 2013). Excessive use of electronic devices
was associated with poor diet practices and little or no practice while increased practice during
the sedentary time was widely connected to commendable dietary practices.
TV viewing and computer use among adolescents is linked to child obesity for those
between the ages of 4 years and 13 years. Although overweight is primarily caused by poor
dietary practices such as taking sugared drinks and excessive consumption of junk food, factors
within the home environment contribute to the same, for instance child’s TV viewing (De Jong,
Visscher, HiraSing, Heymans, Seidell, & Renders, 2013). Parents have a central role in
monitoring how children spent their sedentary time. Measures to reduce a child’s screen-time
behavior are important in changing the environmental set up for young children.

CHILDREN’S SCREEN TIME 6
Methodology
The study involved parents of children aged 8 to 16 years of age. I further divided the
sample group into two in order to get the variation of the device as the age progresses from 8
years to 16 years. These two groups were 8 to 12 years and 12-16 years. Two boys and two girls
were to be investigated. Their parents, who were 18 years and above filled in the consent forms,
each parent was given around five minutes to explain the kind of devices in their homes and
those devices available in their children’s bedroom. They were also asked about the time spent
on electronic media, activities involved and any rules concerning the use screen devices.
Observations
All the parents reported that their children spend most of their idle time on screen
devices. They were also in agreement that screen devices are mostly used during the weekends as
opposed to weekdays when they spent most of their time doing home works and assignments.
During the day, the children spent an average of 4.8 hours on electronic media versus an average
of 7 hours spent on screen devices during the weekend. The parents also disclosed that their
children used electronic devices mostly for non- educational uses both during the weekdays and
the weekends. 75% of the respondents reported that their children were more conversant in using
a Smartphone than any other device. For the non-educational uses, it was reported that the boys
spent most of their time playing application-based games. As for the girls, they spent most of
their time watching movies and animations. Story reading was the most used educational purpose
of these electronic devices. However, all the parents reported that their children play these games
at least once every week.

CHILDREN’S SCREEN TIME 7
Three out of four parents who were interviewed revealed that they had tried setting limits
on the use of these screen devices. Only one parent reported that the move had been successful
and the child did not require supervision to control using these devices. The other two parents
disclosed that although they had set up such rules, they were not being adhered to and they were
reluctant to enforce them.
The most common rules were:
1. No watching of TV until done with homework.
2. No use of phones or tablets after 9pm.
3. No use of computer during weekdays.
4. No accessing internet without permission.
5. No watching animations or movies during weekdays
All the parents agreed that use of electronic media can have adverse effects on the child if
not monitored. They cited lack of exercise and addiction as the main disadvantages of the
electronic media. However; they agreed that these devices are important if used for educational
purposes. They cited instances where their children had used screen devices to do some online
research or even share educational materials with their colleagues.
Discussion
Lack of self-control in the use of electronic devices was the main reason why
parents set up rules regarding their use. It is essential that parents create such standards. This can
be attributed to the fact that children and their parents don’t agree on critical issues like time
management. Free use of smart devices can be detrimental to the growth of a child especially
when coupling with internet accessibility. Excessive use and overdependence on the use of these

CHILDREN’S SCREEN TIME 8
applications can lead to isolation from real life. These consequences arise because such
applications are addictive (Mangen & Kuiken, 2014). Parents ought to be aware of this trend.
Touch screen devices can foster essential educative skills in children. For example,
there are applications like Matheletics which are tailored for educational purposes if used
appropriately. They are vital as they will help the children interact more outside a class set up.
Also, smart devices can be used to do online research thus improving the quality of education in
a school (Ehret, & Hollett, 2014). However, the digital platform should not be used as the central
teaching or knowledge-impacting method. The fruits of screen devices in education are only
realized when it is used as a secondary platform.
The teenagers used media devices for more hours compared to their younger
counterparts. This can be attributed to peer pressure which is common during the adolescent
stage. Also, this was linked to the fact that their parents viewed them as potential adults capable
of making reliable decisions.
Conclusion
The study revolved about the time spent by children on smart devices. The research
shows that children spent most of their idle time on electronic media. If used appropriately,
digital platforms are equally significant in school education. They help boost the creativity of the
children, increase their reasoning capacity, ability to solve fundamental mathematical problems,
their communication skills and language mastery. However, it is crucial for parents and early
childhood educationalists to be aware of the effects of these platforms. It is more worrying to
note children mostly use electronic devices for non-educative activities such as gaming and
watching animations. Creation of rules by the parents is important in ensuring that children’s

CHILDREN’S SCREEN TIME 9
screen time is well monitored and regulated. I addition to that, the implementation of these rules
will only be successful if there is an agreement between the two parties as opposed to where the
parent dictates the rules to the child.
Reflections
In this research, I intended to understand how screen time can affect children. I believe it
is one important topic in the contemporary world. The easy access to TV, Smartphones and
tablets by children is something that should worry everyone. Hence, by understanding this topic I
was able to understand that screen time impacts the early childhood growth and development. I
was curious to understand the impact of these smart devices in the early lives of children. I think
I succeeded in my research because I was able to study children’s screen time and relate to my
personal observations. Therefore, I can authoritatively say that I have satisfactorily analyzed the
situation.
The strongest aspect of my investigative study is the findings. The findings will be
important to adults, parents and professionals dealing with early childhood education. This is
necessitated by the fact that there has been gradual adoption of these digital methods while in
other cases, children have overused these devices. I hope that parents and education consultants
will find this research useful to learn how to use digital technology appropriately.
The strength of this study is based on the fact that it is observationally based.
Therefore, the aspects that I think should be reworked on are time scale for observation. I believe
that this research requires adequate time, for instance, six months. An investigative study can be
reliable or credible if a researcher spends sufficient time on observing phenomena. However, the
I studied the existing research articles about the same topic and investigated the same to
substantiate those facts. In this way, the study became worth, credible and reliable. In addition,

CHILDREN’S SCREEN TIME 10
going forward it will be important for to investigate how the negative effects of these
technologies on children can be eliminated. Technology is essential for human development, but
there should be keenness on how it is used. Overuse of technologies like Smartphones will have
significant negative outcomes on children.

CHILDREN’S SCREEN TIME 11
References
AlHazzaa, H. M., AlSobayel, H. I., Abahussain, N. A., Qahwaji, D. M., Alahmadi, M. A., &
Musaiger, A. O. (2014). Association of dietary habits with levels of physical activity and
screen time among adolescents living in S audi A rabia. Journal of human nutrition and
dietetics, 27, 204-213.
Bus, A. G., Takacs, Z. K., & Kegel, C. A. (2015). Affordances and limitations of electronic
storybooks for young children's emergent literacy. Developmental Review, 35, 79-97.
Camhi, S. M., Waring, M. E., Sisson, S. B., Hayman, L. L., & Must, A. (2013). Physical activity
and screen time in metabolically healthy obese phenotypes in adolescents and
adults. Journal of obesity, 2013.
Ehret, C., & Hollett, T. (2014). Embodied composition in real virtualities: Adolescents' literacy
practices and felt experiences moving with digital, mobile devices in school. Research in
the Teaching of English, 48(4), 428.
De Jong, E., Visscher, T. L. S., HiraSing, R. A., Heymans, M. W., Seidell, J. C., & Renders, C.
M. (2013). Association between TV viewing, computer use and overweight, determinants
and competing activities of screen time in 4-to 13-year-old children. International journal
of obesity, 37(1), 47.
Grøntved, A., Ried-Larsen, M., Møller, N. C., Kristensen, P. L., Wedderkopp, N., Froberg, K., ...
& Andersen, L. B. (2014). Youth screen-time behaviour is associated with cardiovascular
risk in young adulthood: the European Youth Heart Study. European journal of
preventive cardiology, 21(1), 49-56.
Holloway, D., Green, L., & Livingstone, S. (2013). Zero to eight: Young children and their
internet use.

CHILDREN’S SCREEN TIME 12
Hale, L., & Guan, S. (2015). Screen time and sleep among school-aged children and adolescents:
a systematic literature review. Sleep medicine reviews, 21, 50-58.
Kremer, P., Elshaug, C., Leslie, E., Toumbourou, J. W., Patton, G. C., & Williams, J. (2014).
Physical activity, leisure-time screen use and depression among children and young
adolescents. Journal of science and medicine in sport, 17(2), 183-187.
Mangen, A., & Kuiken, D. (2014). Lost in an iPad: Narrative engagement on paper and
tablet. Scientific Study of Literature, 4(2), 150-177.
Miller, E. B., & Warschauer, M. (2014). Young children and e-reading: research to date and
questions for the future. Learning, Media and Technology, 39(3), 283-305.
Price, S., Jewitt, C., & Crescenzi, L. (2015). The role of iPads in pre-school children's mark
making development. Computers & Education, 87, 131-141.
Stockwell, G., & Hubbard, P. (2013). Some emerging principles for mobile-assisted language
learning. The International Research Foundation for English Language Education, 1-15.
Parish Morris, J., Mahajan, N., HirshPasek, K., Golinkoff, R. M., & Collins, M. F. (2013). Once
upon a time: Parent–child dialogue and storybook reading in the electronic era. Mind,
Brain, and Education, 7(3), 200-211.
Ramirez, E. R., Norman, G. J., Rosenberg, D. E., Kerr, J., Saelens, B. E., Durant, N., & Sallis, J.
F. (2011). Adolescent screen time and rules to limit screen time in the home. Journal of
Adolescent Health, 48(4), 379-385.

CHILDREN’S SCREEN TIME 13
Appendix
The observations were filled in the table below.
Participant 1 Participant 2 Participant 3 Participant 4
Name Felix John Joy Paul Jayne June Alex Pol
Age 8 10 14 16
Gender M F F M
Number of
devices at home
4 6 3 7
Types of Devices Smart Television
IPad
Tablet
Smartphone
Smart Television
Notepad
3 smartphones
Tablet
Smart Television
IPad
Smartphone
2 Laptops
Play Station
3 smartphones
Smart Television
Devices at the
child’s bedroom
Tablet None Ipad Play station
Estimated time on
device per
weekday (Hrs.)
3 1.5 1 4
Estimated time on
device per
weekend (Hrs.)
5 4.5 3 7

CHILDREN’S SCREEN TIME 14
Estimated time on
Device Per day
(Hrs.)
8 6 4 11
Activities on the
screen device
Reading e-books,
Reading
magazines,
Playing online
games
Watching movies,
watching
animations
Watching
animations,
reading
storybooks
Playing Fifa,
watching
animations
Rules concerning
the use of
electronic media
YES YES YES NO
Table 1 Observations