The truth is, screens are nearly impossible to avoid, even for infants, which means it is difficult to offer realistic guidance for how to manage it within a household. The proliferation of mobile and on-demand media has changed the digital media landscape rapidly, which also changes the ways in which children engage with it and the impact it has on their development. Here, I offer guidance based on research for both tempering these expectations and supporting children’s language development in a digital world.
Researchers have been trying to keep up with the fast changing digital world, but given how widespread media use is and how critical the first few years of life are, advancing this research depends on large-scale funding support such as that from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and National Science Foundation (NSF). My lab and I have been fortunate to be awarded some of this funding–we worked on what is called an R15 AREA (Academic Research Enhancement Award) award, which is specifically focused on solving key scientific questions (for us, that was the impact of digital media on language development) while also training the next generation of students in how to conduct this research. Our lab (the SMU KID Lab) has trained over 50 students in the course of this work, many of whom now have the skills and knowledge to work directly with families and improve children’s lives. But more importantly, we discovered that while digital media use is rapidly rising, it is not solely the amount of media that matters, but how and why it is being used that has both negative and positive effects on children’s language outcomes.
Our research discovered that by the time children are just two-years-old, they use some form of screen media an average of nearly 2 hours per day, nearly double the rate of book reading (Kucker et al., 2024). The amount of time spent in front of a screen was, in general, correlated with a child’s overall vocabulary–more screen time was related to lower vocabulary. However, the impact on language was not universal–- it varied based on what type of screen was used, what the activity was, and potentially based on why it was being used. It turns out that the majority of kids’ screen time is spent watching television shows or movies, which tend to be more passive and associated with lower language. Children spend much less time using video chat, reading e-books, or playing educational games, and these particular media activities are not associated with lower language. There is some evidence that when media is used for educational purposes or to socially connect, it might buffer against some of the negative impacts. This is very consistent with other work showing that educational, interactive, and joint use of media (such as Facetime or Zoom, or educational apps that require a real-life partner) may not hinder language (Jing et al., 2023). Likewise, high quality media in which the characters interact with children and follow a narrative story have less negative effects on language development than fast-paced, disjointed stories (Krcmar & Cingel, 2019).
But why do screens impact children’s language development? For two reasons: 1) it is harder for children to generalize what they learn from media to real-life scenarios and 2) time spent on screens could replace opportunities for face-to-face, real-world interactions, which are critical for language learning. When children learn information from a digital source, they have a hard time processing the information in the same way until they are at least 3-4 years-old and they struggle to transfer such information and remember it in a different context (Barr, 2010). This means we should not be relying on television shows to teach very young children concepts, but if we use the media as a launchpad for children to apply those concepts to real life, it may be ok. For instance, if your child learns about bananas while watching Ms. Rachel, don’t stop with that, but have a banana for a snack, make some banana bread, and ask them to find a banana when grocery shopping. Or, if screentime is inevitable – you let your child watch a few minutes of video so you can finish making dinner, which can be offset by co-viewing and talking to your child as they watch (Strouse et al., 2018), or by giving them a few minutes of rich face-to-face time talking with real people (Kucker & Schneider, 2024). That short video will not derail your child’s development, especially if it’s periodic and supplemented with an abundance of rich social interactions.
Because media is so prevalent, it is critical to keep in mind that we cannot plausibly avoid all screens for our children, nor might we want to– being able to FaceTime with Grandma for instance, can actually be good for helping your child bond with family members (Strouse et al., 2021). Our argument, based on empirical data and research supported by federal funds, is that the goal should not be to eliminate all media, or even try to measure it down to the minute. Caregivers cannot realistically do this and, in most cases, it is not needed. However, caregivers should be mindful of their children’s screen time, especially when they are younger. There is not a one-size-fits-all approach and no black-and-white “rule” for how much or when children can or cannot use media. Rather, thanks to the federal funding supporting this work, we know that it is not the amount of screen time that matters so much as how, when and why.
References
Barr, R. (2010). Transfer of learning between 2D and 3D sources during infancy: Informing theory and practice. Developmental Review, 30(2), 128–154. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dr.2010.03.001
Jing, M., Ye, T., Kirkorian, H. L., & Mares, M. (2023). Screen media exposure and young children’s vocabulary learning and development: A meta‐analysis. Child Development, cdev.13927. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.13927
Krcmar, M., & Cingel, D. P. (2019). Do Young Children Really Learn Best From the use of Direct Address in Children’s Television? Media Psychology, 22(1), 152–171. https://doi.org/10.1080/15213269.2017.1361841
Kucker, S. C., Perry, L. K., & Barr, R. (2024). Variability and patterns in children’s media use and links with language development. Acta Paediatrica, apa.17100. https://doi.org/10.1111/apa.17100
Kucker, S. C., & Schneider, J. M. (2024). Social interactions offset the detrimental effects of digital media use on children’s vocabulary. Frontiers in Developmental Psychology, 2, 1401736. https://doi.org/10.3389/fdpys.2024.1401736
McArthur, B. A., Volkova, V., Tomopoulos, S., & Madigan, S. (2022). Global Prevalence of Meeting Screen Time Guidelines Among Children 5 Years and Younger: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis. JAMA Pediatrics, 176(4), 373. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamapediatrics.2021.6386
Reid Chassiakos, Y. (Linda), Radesky, J., Christakis, D., Moreno, M. A., Cross, C., COUNCIL ON COMMUNICATIONS AND MEDIA, Hill, D., Ameenuddin, N., Hutchinson, J., Levine, A., Boyd, R., Mendelson, R., & Swanson, W. S. (2016). Children and Adolescents and Digital Media. Pediatrics, 138(5), e20162593. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2016-2593
Strouse, G. A., McClure, E., Myers, L. J., Zosh, J. M., Troseth, G. L., Blanchfield, O., Roche, E., Malik, S., & Barr, R. (2021). Zooming through development: Using video chat to support family connections. Human Behavior and Emerging Technologies, 3(4), 552–571. https://doi.org/10.1002/hbe2.268
Strouse, G. A., Troseth, G. L., O’Doherty, K. D., & Saylor, M. M. (2018). Co-viewing supports toddlers’ word learning from contingent and noncontingent video. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 166, 310–326. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jecp.2017.09.005
About the Author
Sarah C. Kucker
Southern Methodist University
Sarah Kucker, PhD is an Assistant Professor of Psychology at Southern Methodist University. She received her PhD from the University of Iowa, completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Texas Dallas, and has been faculty at the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh and Oklahoma State University. Her research examines the mechanisms and processing underlying early word learning with a particular emphasis on how digital media, individual differences, and environmental context interact to shape learning trajetories.
