How Does Screen Time Affect Toddlers?
Have you noticed the prevalence of very young children using screens these days? Whenever I go grocery shopping, I see parents giving toddlers their smartphones to occupy them while the parents shop. When I fly, kids are entertained by screens embedded into the back of the seat in front of them. For many families, a tablet to distract the children is a necessary accessory for long car rides. Across every facet of society, young children are consuming more digital content than ever before.
What is the effect of all this screen time on very young children, who are still undergoing rapid cognitive development?
The Effects of Screen Time on Toddlers
This question prompted Dr. Michelle Yang, a pediatric neurologist, to research how prolonged exposure to screens was affecting young people. She presented her findings in a 2024 lecture entitled “Effects of Screen Time on Children and Adolescents.”
Dr. Yang discovered a variety of negative impacts, ranging from motor skills to language development to behavioral issues. A major concern was the way children process movements viewed on a screen. As children begin to develop motor skills, they can show signs of what Dr. Yang called a “video deficit effect,” wherein it takes twice as long for them to learn or mimic an action if it is presented on video rather than in person. “When asked to reproduce that action, they weren’t able to reproduce it in real life with an adult in the room,” Dr. Yang says. She believes that when a toddler witnesses action on a digital display, the brain categorizes the action as more of an imaginary concept than a real-world one, meaning that it doesn’t translate into their actual motor development.
Similar difficulties were noticed in the development of language skills. It has often been assumed that young children would appropriate language skills from digital content. Dr. Yang found, however, that children under 24 months who spent at least two hours per day in front of a monitor were up to six times more likely to experience language delay. To make matters worse, the problem was compounded if they started interacting with electronic devices earlier.
Exposing children at this age to two to three hours of screen time also showed increased likelihood of behavioral problems, poor vocabulary, and delayed milestones. These outcomes were compounded for children with special needs.
Overall, Dr. Yang’s study showed that prolonged exposure to screens for toddlers was associated with a host of negative outcomes.
Background Screens
One interesting finding of Dr. Yang’s study is that it was not necessary for children to be consuming the digital content directly in order to be detrimentally impacted. Most people are familiar with the concept of secondhand smoke (e.g., how one can experience negative consequences from being in proximity to others who are smoking, even if one is not smoking themselves). Dr. Yang observed a similar phenomenon relating to screen exposure. With children younger than 18 months, it was discovered that even having a television screen playing in the background (for example, when a parent is consuming digital content) had a negative effect on the child’s language development that became more pronounced the younger the child.
Dr. Yang attributed this impairment to the parents’ modeling. “When there was background TV, parents tended to talk less,” she says. “They tended to be more passive in their interactions with their children when the TV was on.” In other words, when parents are immersed in a screen, they are less likely to speak and therefore less likely to model the language skills that children need.
What Are Recommended Levels of Screen Time for Young Children?
None of this is to suggest that all screen time is bad or that toddlers can never be exposed to screens. Moderated amounts of supervised screen time—especially interactive devices like touch screens—can have a positive impact on children’s cognitive development. When it comes to screen time, it’s really quality over quantity. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends the following guidelines for children at various stages of development:
- Younger than 18 months: No screen time, except for occasional video chatting with family and friends.
- 18 to 24 months: Only high-quality educational media with parental engagement and supervision.
- Ages 2 to 5 years: No more than one hour a day.
Conclusion
In a world where screens are now as common as toys, it’s clear that excessive digital exposure can hinder toddlers’ cognitive maturation, from motor skills to language development. Dr. Yang’s research highlights the need for mindful moderation, urging parents to prioritize real-world interactions over digital distractions so that we can help children thrive in a balanced, screen-limited environment.
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