SCREEN TIME

In a Blended Classroom Environment

What is Screen
Time?
“Screen time” is the amount of time someone
spends on a device that has a screen. Examples
include iPads, tablets, smartphones, TV,
computers, and game consoles, etc.
The Amount of
Screen Time
• The American Academy of
Pediatrics (AAP) discourages
the use of media in children
under the age of two due to
the rapid development of the
brain in the first two years.
• Face-to-face time with family,
friends, and teachers plays a
pivotal and even more
important role in promoting a
child's learning development.
Monitoring Screen Time
Develop a plan: When used
thoughtfully and Treat media as you would
Set limits
appropriately, media can any other environment.
enhance daily lives.

It's OK for teens to be

Screen time shouldn't be Know the value of face-to- online. Online relationships
alone time face communication are part of typical
adolescent development.
Statistics

1 2 3

An average of 7 hours a day
are spent on an electronic
device.
“a child today will have spent
a full year glued to a screen
by the time they reach the
age of 7”
-Sigman, 2012
Common Sense Media
calculated “among all
children who have used a
computer the first time was
an average of 3 years old.”
Language Delay
In children under 3 years old, the use of screens
are linked to a delay in language acquisition.

Research shows that adolescents that watched 1

additional hour of television each day as toddlers
have lower math scores and poorer school
achievement.
More Statistics
1 2 3 4 5
Screen time use Adolescents who A study by Starting in early Studies have
increases with watch 3 or more Stanford childhood time shown that a
age along with hours of TV a University found with screen greater amount
the negative day are at risk for that girls ages 8- media is an of TV time
effects of screen incomplete 12 that use social important risk watched per day
use increase homework, poor media in excess factor for is associated with
through attitudes at are less happy childhood and increase in
adolescence. school, lower and more socially obesity. both irregular
grades, and long- uncomfortable naptime and
term academic than their peers. bedtime
struggles. schedules.
Excessive Screen
Time & the Brain
• Research states there has been shrinkage in the part
of the brain (gray matter) where processing occurs
when there is an internet/gaming addiction.

• Studies show that when video games are being

played, the brain produces a natural substance called
dopamine which your body craves; this is the same
chemical that creates a craving for drugs in substance
abusers.
In the Classroom
Schools are experiencing some adverse reactions
to screen time especially with new research
showing profound impacts of screen time on the
development of the brain (Tangermann, 2018).
Obesity: Related to
Screen Time
Starting in early childhood time with screen media is an
important risk factor for childhood obesity. The more time
preschoolers spend watching television, the more junk food
and fast food they are likely to eat. In fact, for each hour of
television viewing per day, children on average consume an
additional 167 calories. Studies also show that increased
food intake and being overweight are linked to video games.
Active Video games were heralded as a means of
encouraging exercise in children. Those who own active
video games such as the Wii console did not show any
increased physical activity.
Obesity
Continued…
Media exposure has been linked
to an increase in food intake, a
reduction of physical activity, and
exposure to poor quality food.
One study showed that middle-
class preschoolers who watched
TV had higher-body fat; An extra
hour of watching TV was
associated with an extra 2lbs
(1kg) or body fat.
THANK YOU!
Resources
◦ American Academy of Pediatrics
◦ Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood, Alliance for Childhood, & Teachers Resisting Unhealthy Children’s
Entertainment (2012, October). Facing the Screen Dilemma: Young Children, technology and early education. Boston, MA: Campaign
for a Commercial-Free Childhood; New York, NY: Alliance for Childhood
◦ Deam, Jenny. "E-Books vs. Print: What Parents Need to Know." Scholastic.com. Parent & Child Magazine, n.d.
◦ Dunckley, Victoria L., MD. "Gray Matters: Too Much Screen Time Damages the Brain." Psychology Today. Mental Wealth, 27
Feb. 2014. 31 October 2019.
◦ Lerner, Claire, LCSW, & Rachel Barr, Ph.D. “Screen Sense: Setting the Record Straight. “Zero to Three”, 2014
◦ Screen Time: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/screen%20time (Retrieved 18 October 2019)
◦ Tangermann, V. (2018, December 10). Screen Time is literally changing children's brains. Retrieved from
https://futurism.com/neoscope/new-research-screen-time-changing-childrens-brains
◦ The Common Sense Census. (2015). Media use by tweens and teens. The Common Sense Census.
◦ Tang, M. T., & Chaw, L. Y. (2016). Digital Literacy: A prerequisite for effective learning in a blended learning
environment? The Electronic Journal of e-Learning, 14(1), 54-65.