Thousands of young children will be starting primary school in September. They were born into the post pandemic era and screens were a lifeline. Many of them met their grandparents on screens. Their siblings would have had playdates on screens.

Screens were no longer just a nice things to have, but were essential for banking, work meetings, ordering groceries, staying connected with friends and family, speaking with the doctor and of course schooling (for their older siblings) which had moved online.

These children are part of a generation that has grown up seeing screens as central and essential for their parents to carry out day-to-day tasks. In this way, these children may even have a 'screen first' - 'people second' perspective on life.

When they start school, they'll find that screens play a supporting role and that people come first. The emphasis in 'Reception' is on building social skills, listening skills, empathy and learning through play as the starting point.

Although transition has always been easier for some children than others, today I saw a post on social media that signaled a massive shift is underway in the relationship between the parent, the child and the screen and no doubt this will influence the first days at school:-

A mother described how she was struggling to listen to her toddler talking about a Thomas the Tank Engine video. She introduced him to AI so that he could have this conversation with a bot on a tablet and then she discovered that he chatted with the bot for more than an hour.

If the child interacts with a tablet in this way, rather than with the parent, they are learning to build a bond of trust with the internet (because this is the natural outcome of such a rewarding social interaction). It might seem harmless on the surface, but if the parent or caregiver is unable to give the child the time they need to express themselves, to share their enthusiasm, to speak endlessly about their favorite characters from a story, then this will impact their social and emotional development, not to mention placing them at higher risk of trusting strangers online.

That was just a little anecdote, but an over reliance on the internet can develop into addiction - even in childhood, and internet addiction in childhood is a recognized behavioural disorder. In 2022, academics estimated that the global prevalence of internet addiction among children was at almost 14 per cent.

The risk of internet addiction

In early childhood studies, researchers speak in terms of the RISK of internet addiction. There are 3 main clusters of problems associated with this risk -

1. Mental health issues of Anxiety, Emotional instability, Depression

2. Physical issues, specifically - headaches, eye problems, musculoskeletal problems

3. Broader, systemic issues also arise in terms of declining performance, sleep disorder, antisocial behavior, speech delay, impeded growth and development.

Obviously, all of the above affect a child’s capacity to focus their attention and to access the curriculum, whether that’s through play-based learning, or learning to read, to write and to work with numbers.

Researchers have also identified four main reasons for a higher risk of internet addiction.


1. Limited self control. Young children under the age of seven have relatively poor self control - they’re still learning how to manage their impulses, emotions and big feelings. Parents need to maintain a good mental state for their child so that they can model self control effectively.

2. Incomplete brain development Young children immature minds - the absorb everything unfiltered and whole way. This allows the child’s system to quickly assimilate the safe or threatening aspects of the environment and to adapt accordingly. Their attention needs to expand and strengthen as their executive functions come online. The internet, however tends to package content for children in such as way that it compresses attention into small intensive bursts of reactive energy, which reflects patterns of vigilance rather than rhythmic patterns that are needed for optimal self-sustaining states of focus, known as flow states.

3. Parental limitations - parents are role models for their children. Imagine a child sees the parent scrolling and swiping constantly, looking for signs of affirmation or reassurance. Now imagine that child in the parent’s arms, enjoying a story and pointing at the illustrations. This kind of influence is foundational. Children need parents to be reading with them, playing with them and taking them to outdoor spaces.

4. Researchers have also looked at how parents limit screen use.I am a fan of star charts and rewards for children when we want them to adopt a new behaviour.If we apply this tried and tested approach to managing screen time. The whole thing backfires. Why is this?The screen is already a reward because the content is designed to excite the reward system. Removing the screen means removing the reward itself, which is why children become despondent, anxious and irritable.The reward system rapidly works on an ‘YES’ or ‘NO’ binary pattern. If a parent rewards a child for complying with a screen time limit, they have simply reinforced the affirming power of the activity. If parents punish failure to comply with a screen time limit, they place themselves in the ‘NO’ category and once again reinforce the relative power of the child’s use of the screen. This is why an intervention using rewards and sanctions around screen time resulted in an increase in overall screen time instead of (the hoped for) decrease.

A lateral move is necessary

So, a lateral move is necessary to dilute the power of screens in children’s lives. Just as we would pour fresh water into a bucket of murky water, we can also pour healthy activities into children’s lives to weaken the power of screens. During the pandemic, sports, outdoor activities and creative activities ceased, whilst screens took over. Now we need to ‘rewild’ our children and immerse them in all the creativity and sports that have always helped young people to discover their passions, talents and resilience. And this has been born out by research - intensive team sports reduced the risk of addiction, as well as improving communication and motor skills.

Almost half of parents have bought their 4 year old child a tablet

However, the prevalence of screens shows that approximately half of parents support their use in their child’s early years. Ofcom figures (published in 2021) showed that in 2020, 48 % of UK children aged 3-4 years owned a tablet and 90 % of children aged 3-4 watched on-demand-videos.

As I have already mentioned screen time limits don’t really work. A study published in the Journal of Pediatrics in 2018 surveyed more than 19 thousand parents and found no benefits of following screen time limits recommended by the American Society of Pediatrics in 2016. Other academics have argued that the metric of ‘screen time’ is too broad and too simplistic to offer useful guidance to parents.

There are two problems facing parents, who are making these enormous decisions that are foundational for their child;’s future health and well-being.

1. Research on digital technology use in young preschool children is only just emerging

2. Digital technology is evolving so rapidly that the relatively slow pace of research will never keep up with technological change. And I’d add that although we might to look to science for guidance, traditional models of research are no match for the growth of AI which is enabling the entire tech sector to develop at an even faster pace of change.

Final thoughts

A review of 95 research papers on the effects of screen use in young children was published last month. It showed that problematic digital technology use was associated with 28 undesirable outcomes, including developmental delays in language, cognition and motor development, as well as poor sleep, eating and ability to delay needs, obesity and vision problems.

The overall outcome of this review was that uses of digital devices were associated with higher risk were using screens for bedtime use, solitary use, use for emotional regulation. Each of these of course are contexts which traditionally involve the parent comforting, affirming and reassuring the child.

So, let’s remember that we are dealing with very powerful technology that really can shape lives.

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

Selak Š, Horvat J, Žmavc M. Problematic Digital Technology Use Measures in Children Aged 0 to 6 Years: Scoping Review. JMIR Ment Health. 2025 Mar 18;12:e59869. doi: 10.2196/59869. PMID: 40100254; PMCID: PMC11962332.

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.

Vanderloo LM, Janus M, Omand JA, Keown-Stoneman CDG, Borkhoff CM, Duku E, Mamdani M, Lebovic G, Parkin PC, Simpson JR, Tremblay MS, Maguire JL, Birken CS. Children's screen use and school readiness at 4-6 years: prospective cohort study. BMC Public Health. 2022 Feb 23;22(1):382. doi: 10.1186/s12889-022-12629-8. PMID: 35197009; PMCID: PMC8864975.