Screens Activate Children And Influence Their Mood

Melancholy, sleepless, nervous and even talkative. Perhaps more or less everyone knows that screens activate children. Sometimes we ignore, however, that the intense use of these technologies makes the little ones more and more apathetic. The mood of the younger generation is changing and we are not always aware of it.

We notice this in the primary classes and especially in the secondary ones. Irascibility is almost the order of the day in some children, who find it difficult to relate to their peers. We also see this in their ability to perform academic tasks, their limitations in withholding information, in thinking creatively, or in solving simple problems.

Some say we are raising the most tired and apathetic generation in history. As always in these cases, it is not good to generalize, it is true. There are always great exceptions, there are also teenagers who are far ahead of us and who lead that core of the population most interested in our planet and social causes.

From a psychological and clinical point of view, we see that children between the ages of 9 and 15 already show anxiety disorders, sleep disorders, depressive or bipolar disorders. Some experts argue that these conditions are actually based on the effect of an intensive and inadequate use of new technologies.

Because screens activate children and make them grumpy

The data is impressive to say the least. According to Common Sense Media, nearly half of children under 8 have a tablet and spend an average of 2.5 hours with it. The American Pediatric Society states that children between the ages of 2 and 8 should not spend more than an hour a day in front of screens; always with an adult in front and never while they eat.

But everyday reality is different. We know that children under 3 use these devices daily as a form of play and entertainment. It is an age where manual and social interaction is key, we let our little ones become digital natives loners at an age where the brain needs other types of stimuli.

It should be noted, of course, that new technologies are not in themselves a problem. When used correctly, they are powerful allies for knowledge. However, the problem lies in the amount of time children spend using them.

Researcher Domingues-Montanari explains in a paper that our children typically spend more than three hours a day with cell phones or tablets.

What are the consequences for our children? Actually multiple, as screens accelerate children’s behavior and make them even more irritable.

Mood alteration and heavy use of screens

In recent years there has been an increase in diagnoses of attention deficit disorder with or without hyperactivity, anxiety disorders, major depression or even bipolar disorder in children. It seems that many of these conditions disappear when children undergo a “technological fast”.

This means that the mood swings resolve when the use of electronic screens is reduced or eliminated. This brain hyperactivity associated with intense use of screens therefore has serious effects on behavior and mood, according to research work conducted by the University of Pennsylvania.

Spending more than an hour a day in front of the screen from early childhood through adolescence has been shown to have a major impact on psychological well-being. The child is less curious, enjoys less self-control, cannot manage emotions and has difficulty socializing.

Screens activate babies because they sleep less and worse

Children should sleep more hours than adults, yet their rest hours are, in many cases, like those of an insomniac. It is difficult to fall asleep and they do not achieve deep and restorative rest during the night.

What is the cause of this problem? The trigger is the light from the electronic screens. They work by overactivating the brain, reducing the release of melatonin and also producing severe hormonal imbalances.

Mobile phones and tablets deplete the power of the brain

Our children, especially teenagers, live immersed in a digital universe that captures all their attention. And not only. Their entire cognitive and visual attention works 100% of its resources when exposed to screens. So when they return to the real world, all their mental levels are at a minimum.

The intense use of mobile phones and tablets completely devours the attention and energy of our young people. So when they cross the technology threshold and turn off their devices, they no longer have motivation or encouragement to do their homework or go out and play.

Children addicted to screen reinforcement

Screens speed up kids and even turn them into dopamine junkies. What does this mean? Does it mean, for example, that a 6, 7 or 12 year old can really be a “drug addict”?

To understand this relationship we need to understand something very basic. Much of online gaming, as well as platforms such as Tik Tok, generate dopamine release in the juvenile brain.

That feeling of well-being and fun becomes an addiction. They need more and more hours of exposure for the same stimulus to produce the same level of pleasure. Thus, by not always getting that feeling or dopamine “shot”, they go into a state of withdrawal, constant irritability, frustration and anger.

The most problematic aspect is that we are raising children who no longer conceive of free time without digital. They are people who filter their reality through technology, leaving aside direct socialization, the real and immediate world.

To conclude, we can only point out an obvious fact. New technologies are our best tool for progress, of course. But this will only work in our favor if we put it to good use.