Children and screen addiction: Is school transition a hidden risk?

Children and young people need us to think about adversity, technology and mental health in a new way. I’m sure that everyone is doing everything they can to limit screen time, but If we let this situation drift along it will be worse after the summer holiday when the children return to school.

Children and screen addiction

Last week, a landmark study of more than 4000 US children was published, led by Xiao. It tracked the children’s scores on a questionnaire over a period of four years and showed the links between children’s perceptions of using social media and their risk of addiction. Nearly one third of the children were using social media and their phones in such a way they were on course to becoming addicted and this started at age 11. This means that one third of the participating children would have higher risks of suicidal thoughts and ideas and internalizing behaviour. For children on a path to higher risk of addiction through using video games, the likelihood of developing suicidal thoughts and problems with mental health was even higher. The research showed that children had tried to give up using social media but found that they could not. They would spend considerable amounts of time thinking about social media and this affected their school work.

Last year a systematic review was led by Yansen Theopilus into preventive interventions for internet addiction in young children. aged between 9 and 12. Interestingly, this is a time when children become more independent, critically this includes the period of school transition. Parents at this time are likely to feel more attuned to what their child’s peer group are doing and are keen for their child to keep up with the fast pace of change in activities. Parents are vulnerable at several levels according to this research: They may be inconsistent, incapable of implementing limits or a strategy, outsmarted by their children. Of note: parents may be using screen time to reward or punish their children. This is unwise because it sets up a situation where the child is craving the screen as a reward.

The oldest 'learning' structure in the brain

The 'value system' of 'reward' versus 'threat' signals is the oldest learning structure in our brain. I read last week that even bacteria learn through this system of reward versus threat. The signal is simple and immediate because it programmes us for our basic survival. Findings from a study by Karen Smith and Seth Pollak into early life stress and perceived isolation looked at 72 children aged 8-9 years and the way they used value information to guide behaviour.

They examined how exposure to stressful events and perceived isolation ie isolation from the child’s point of view, affected their ability to learn value signals such as rewards and threats and then use that information. Children who had been exposed to highly stressful events and also perceived that they’d experienced isolation were less proficient when using value information. The data suggested alterations in how value information is used. It is possible that rather than 'learning', this may be a mechanism linking early experiences to later behaviours.

The authors described hypersensitivity to perceived threats as a kind of attentional bias which meant that individuals were less able to make use of values that are beneficial such as enjoying socially rewarding cues and behaviours. These children were less able to learn about rewards in general. The authors said that loneliness, anxiety, depression, impulsive behaviors and aggression may stem from this bias.

Attention and rhythm

For me the important point is that these children are at risk of really struggling emotionally and mentally. They cannot access their decision making when their attention is biased towards perceived threats. Attention is either rhythmic or fixated on threats and vigilance. I will talk about this more in my webinar on Thursday - do join if you can. I’ll leave the link below.

I know from decades of reading about, researching and delivering Rhythm for Reading that if children's attention is vigilant, the capacity to perceive anything beyond the red hot moment is just not there. This is one of the most obvious reasons why reading isn’t flowing properly for these children.

Imagine feeling that you are so different and flawed that it is conspicuous and affects absolutely everything that you say or do because it’s integral to you - the feelings of dread would be constantly compounded day by day, having been reinforced through experiences.

If we now imagine complete relief from that constant weight of dread - it would feel like a rebirth. The relief in addiction isn’t a ‘nice to have’ or a soothing 'fluffy' moment. No! This is far deeper and more primal than that. This might even date back to the stress and social isolation events of early childhood.

School transition

I know that you’re here because like me you care deeply about protecting children from the new forms of addiction sweeping through a whole generation of young people. Although the research is only just starting to come through, the findings are already very old as technology has become more sophisticated since these data were collected and the studies were designed.

The thing that really matters is that schools have a vast bank of experience with supporting these children at this sensitive time - as they go through school transfer and transition. Parents evenings begin in Year Five and the entire process runs through to the end of Year Seven. From what I’ve read this is also the period when children are more likely to become addicted to video games or social media.

School transition is like a rite of passage in the sense that the child outgrows one environment and starts again as the youngest in a much larger school. It is natural and logical for parents to support their children through this big step by encouraging friendships from primary school, as well as making new friends at secondary school. Friendships are associated with a smooth transition experience, and from the parent’s point of view there’s so much uncertainty around all of this.

So If the latest apps on the latest phones are the social currency and can offer an 'easy win' in terms of mitigating all of that parental unease - then this might be one of the main reasons why parents ‘cave in’ even though they know about the risk of addiction. After all, a socially successful transfer to secondary school is high stakes too.

For further information, contact me here. To help your child, contact your GP as soon as possible.

Join my live webinar: 3 Phases of addiction in childhood: A teacher's perspective here.

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REFERENCES

Smith KE, Pollak SD. Early life stress and perceived social isolation influence how children use value information to guide behavior. Child Dev. 2022 May;93(3):804-814. doi: 10.1111/cdev.13727. Epub 2021 Dec 31. PMID: 34971461; PMCID: PMC9177517.

Theopilus Y, Al Mahmud A, Davis H, Octavia JR. Preventive Interventions for Internet Addiction in Young Children: Systematic Review. JMIR Ment Health. 2024 Aug 30;11:e56896. doi: 10.2196/56896. PMID: 39213020; PMCID: PMC11399750.

Xiao Y, Meng Y, Brown TT, Keyes KM, Mann JJ. Addictive Screen Use Trajectories and Suicidal Behaviors, Suicidal Ideation, and Mental Health in US Youths. JAMA. Published online June 18, 2025. doi:10.1001/jama.2025.7829