Hey fellow parents of preschoolers: Raise your hand if you know the Paw Patrol theme song by heart. After the past year, who can blame you? In the first few weeks of the pandemic alone, kids’ screen time hit six hours a day—a 500 percent increase—a survey by the child advocacy group Parents Together found. The freakout wasn’t far behind: A raft of news stories warned of an epidemic of screen-related insomnia, mental health problems, and even suicide. In a recent New York Times article, one addiction expert warned of the coming period of “epic withdrawal” when the crisis is over.
I read these articles and thought guiltily of my own kids, ages 5 and 2, whose occasional pre-pandemic forays into the wholesome world of Daniel Tiger had turned into daily sessions zoning out in front of whatever kept them quiet while my husband and I scrambled to finish our work. This was not a good development, according to the experts: For kids under 18 months, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends that screens—with the exception of video chats—are verboten. Kids older than 2 should take in “no more than 1 hour or less per day of high-quality programming.”
Esta historia es de la edición May/June 2021 de Mother Jones.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 8500 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor ? Conectar
Esta historia es de la edición May/June 2021 de Mother Jones.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 8500 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor? Conectar
Blood Money
How dialysis clinics are making a killing off deathly ill patients.
FOOD FOR THOUGHT - CRIME OF THE CROP
Will GMOs harm my kids? Your pediatrician's response might not be grounded in science.
ECONUNDRUMS - CHATBOT QUACKS
AI was supposed to fix online health misinformation. Instead, it's making it worse.
WELL PLAYED
One man’s mission to make gaming a little less white
FIGHTING CHANCE
RUBEN GALLEGO'S BATTLE AGAINST KARI LAKE COULD DECIDE THE FATE OF THE SENATE-AND DEMOCRACY ITSELF. NO PRESSURE.
Become Ungovernable
The spectacular implosion of the Libertarian Party
Spoiler Alert
Third-party candidates never win national elections, but they can still have serious consequences.
THE DEMOCRACY BOMB
A day ahead of the third anniversary of January 6, President Joe Biden traveled to Valley Forge, Pennsylvania-where George Washington encamped during the Revolutionary War-before delivering what he described as a \"deadly serious\" speech framing the stakes of the 2024 election.
OH CRAP - SLUDGE REPORT
Can Maine lead the way to a future without forever chemicals?
JERSEY BOYS - AGE AGAINST THE MACHINE
Young voters are powering Rep. Andy Kim's challenge to Trenton's powers that be.