How Screen Time During The Pandemic Has Affected Our Kids

As our special series The Social Challenge continues, NBC technology correspondent Jake Ward looks at new research on the long-term effects of the increased screen time young children have been introduced to during the pandemic via online learning, virtual playdates and FaceTime with family. Experts say parents need to be prepared to wean kids off of screens.

About: TODAY brings you the latest headlines and expert tips on money, health and parenting. We wake up every morning to give you and your family all you need to start your day. If it matters to you, it matters to us. We are in the people business. Subscribe to our channel for exclusive TODAY archival footage & our original web series.

Connect with TODAY Online!

#Coronavirus #Kids #Screentime

[Claudia-crpm]

I just had a mom meltdown over this last week. Glad to know I'm not alone. I feel like a bad mom because I introduced a phone AND a gaming system to my 12.y.o. son during lockdown. I was desperate to keep him connected with his friends during the isolation. But this a runaway train. I literally said "I'm afraid your online life is becoming more real than your real life." He cried and hung his head but has been with his friends every day after school since. He is brighter and more himself this week.

[dagamer]

That's why I don't play video games during weekdays

[c.r]

I was watching my nephew a few days ago. He is in first grade online. The teacher was doing the math lesson with the class. She was going so fast. He not only didn't understand a single thing and I'm sure none of the kids understood the whole concept she was trying to teach that day. To top it off the teachers microphone wouldn't work. So she couldn't hear the children asking question. And come to find out this had been going on for over a week. I think all of these children should get a redo. There is no way these children who only received half a kindergarten year. Then was Force to do first grade online. Can you imagine the poor second grade teacher that tries to teach them next year. Its going to be a total disaster for these children.

[jenniferhill]

Do NOT check in DAILY with your kid's teacher. That is a completely unreasonable expectation. Instead, speak with the counselors, PTA, or even nurse about setting up a school-wide, student responsibility to have a form of written communication to be used as a general policy. This can help by streamlining the process of getting the most important info to the right people and giving the student agency to participate in the process. We used the school provided calendar/planner to all the students in the middle school. I've seen other daily and weekly reports sent home to elementary kids as well.

[leahc]

Glad I was already homeschooling. With a book style curriculum. No devices until the schoolwork is done for the day.

[ardnasn.]

Wow, ask the teacher daily? My spouse is a teacher and with a class size of 34-36 for an elementary classroom, how do they expect the teacher to attend to every aspect of their lives. The govt show mandate to lower class sizes so the teachers can get to know their students better to help them.

[munimathbypeterfelton]

As a teacher, I very much appreciate your recommendations for parents mentioned at the end there. However, as you also somewhat mentioned earlier in the video, children were being effected by excess screen time long before the pandemic. In these present times, if it weren't for computers, children would not have been able to receive an education from home due to libraries, museums, and of course schools being closed indefinitely until the virus blows over. Hence the longer hours of daily screen time for children over the last year+. There were/have been many children who did not engage regularly in their remote learning for various reasons, which is all the more detrimental to their education. When full-time in-person instruction resumes in the Fall (with some students wanting to remain with remote learning going forward), may families all over the world utilize their (newfound) knowledge to create a healthy balance of online-in-person interactions and engagements among their children. Namely: eliminating screen time as a way to keep children occupied while their parents have to work, and allowing children to use their electronic devices after dinner when they are getting ready for bed.

[dhruvinpatel]

Children also possess a low amount of macular pigment which acts as a natural blue light filter in our eyes. This macular pigment begins to develop in children at the age of nine but can take up to the end of their teenager years to fully develop. This means children are not protected in the early stages of their development. Optometrist and Founder at Ocushield.

[uchechiuwanaka]

i have a whole Children's book on Screen time titled 'The Mosquito BIte That Changeg Olu's Life' by Uchechi Mba-Uzoukwu featured in the Washington Post as a Top Pic

[joseapsantos]

Boa noite essa doença, fez a gente mudar o nosso comportamento. Adorei o vídeo.

[frosty]

Go to the zoo etc they in scotland it’s not that easy they lift almost everything then all the rich mums get in first and there is waiting list for child groups etc it’s difficult to get anywhere even going out for a walk can be a nightmare because there is so many people in the same place

[bdmrwer]

It’s so sad. Kids can’t learn properly because they are hooked on phones. Mostly parents fault. Using Cell phones as a pacify.