The earlier we introduce screens the more it affects the child’s brain development and the more likely they will have trouble managing their addiction to screens and technology later in life.
– Dr. Laura Markham

Thanks to Kirsten Haugen, Dimensions Director of Professional Development and Research, for exchanging ideas with us today:

The scene I witnessed above is repeated around the world: Children, toddlers, and babies everywhere are handed phones and tablets while riding public transit, sitting in restaurants, or being pushed in a stroller or cart. What some might call ‘downtime,’ when neither the child nor the adult needs to be actively engaged in focused thinking, has been given over to distraction to stave off boredom and the whining, nagging or tantrums that can result. But, as Naz Beheshti writes in Forbes, “What if embracing a concept we usually reject helps us build some truly essential practices for our well-being and productivity? Like the importance of downtime. And how unstructured, ‘empty’ time can prompt bursts of creativity and imagination.”

An article in Scientific American summarizes the benefits of downtime. “Downtime replenishes the brain’s stores of attention and motivation, encourages productivity and creativity, and is essential to achieve our highest levels of performance and simply form stable memories in everyday life.” Beheshti notes that the Child Mind Institute has studied how boredom can be good for kids. “Coping with being bored seems to help children develop essential skills like flexibility, planning, and problem-solving.”

It’s important to note that screen time doesn’t count as downtime. The brain is still actively processing stimulation – often stimulation that’s been designed to ‘hook’ attention. According to an American Academy of Pediatrics literature review and policy statement, reaffirmed in 2022, “Population-based studies continue to show associations between excessive television viewing in early childhood and cognitive, language, and social/emotional delays, likely secondary to decreases in parent–child interaction when the television is on and poorer family functioning in households with high media use. An earlier age of media use onset, greater cumulative hours of media use, and non-PBS content all are significant independent predictors of poor executive functioning in preschoolers.”

The statement continues:

“Child characteristics also may influence how much media children consume: excessive television viewing is more likely in infants and toddlers with a difficult temperament or self-regulation problems, and toddlers with social-emotional delays are more likely to be given a mobile device to calm them down.” Isn’t that striking?

The very children struggling the most with self-regulation and social connections are the ones most likely to be given a tool that will hinder growth in those same areas. Just as doctors are now beginning to prescribe nature breaks for children, perhaps we also need prescriptions for screen-free boredom. What supports need to be in place to help parents work through their children’s boredom rather than stave it off with a screen?