6 Signs Your Kids Might Be Addicted To Screens

By Emily Mall —

Apr 18, 2024

Would you be able to recognize the signs if your kid was addicted to their phone or to screens?

It’s difficult for us as parents and caregivers to even consider the idea that our kids could be “addicted” to something. Since the term “addicted” seems label-y, harsh, and often comes with negative connotations, it’s uncommon to associate it with our “little angels.”

With research now surfacing about the harm of excessive screen time and phone usage for our kids, we need to increase our vigilance as parents/caregivers to help them manage their time and usage. It is our job to keep them safe, and with more education, support, and information, we can be better able and equipped to do so.

6 Signs Your Kid May Be Addicted To Screen/Phone Time:

Sleep disturbances
Increased social challenges
Difficulty with emotional regulation
Always having/needing their phone/tablet on them (to eat, to ride in the car, when a friend is over, etc.)
Difficulty with emotional regulation, especially after using phone/tablet for a long period of time
Impatience, irritability, restlessness, inability to focus in school when separated from their phone

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In an NPR.com article, Emily Cherkin, a screen-time consultant who spent more than a decade teaching middle school and now coaches parents about screens says: “Because the spike in dopamine holds a child’s attention so strongly, parents are setting themselves up for a fight when they try to get them to do any other activity that triggers smaller spikes, such as helping parents clean up after dinner, finishing homework or playing outside...So I tell parents, 'It’s not you versus your child, but rather it’s you versus a hijacked neural pathway. It’s the dopamine you’re fighting. And that’s not a fair fight.”

Why is spending excessive time on screens harmful?

According to The National Instititute of Health, spending excessive time on screens negatively impacts kids:

Spending more time on phones or other screens increases your child’s risk of exposure to cyberbullying and pornographic content.
Greater time spent on social media often correlates with depression and internalizing problems.
Excessive screen time often leads to poor sleep, poor self-esteem and poor body image.
Research has shown that spending more time on screens results in lower attachment to parents.
Being sedentary and spending a lot of time on screens can lead to obesity.
It negatively affects executive functioning, sensorimotor development, and academic outcomes.
It lowers cognitive abilities and academic performance in later years
It impairs emotional comprehension, promote aggressive behavior, and hinder social and emotional competence.

Yikes! Are we too late? Is the damage done?

It’s not too late! Here are a few things you can do:

Talk to your kid about what is happening to them and their bodies when they are on their devices for too long.
Check your own screen time habits and work to set a good example with your screen time. Actively try to spend more time interacting with your children and less time on your screen.
Check in occasionally on what your child is doing on their phone. Take an active role in supervising online behavior.
Set limits on what time phones can be turned on in the morning and off at night and stick to those limits.
Set consequences for negative behavior, such as taking your child’s phone away for a day. Keep it short though — do not take the phone away for extended periods of time — consequences work better when they are short term and kids often struggle and care less if the consequence is losing something for too long.

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends: All children and teens need adequate sleep (8-12 hours, depending on age), physical activity (1 hour), and time away from media. Designate media-free times together (such as during family dinners) and media-free zones (such as bedrooms). Children should not sleep with devices in their bedrooms, including TVs, computers and smartphones.

At what point should a professional be called in?

If setting limits on screen time leads to emotional problems with your kid, or if it’s causing increased parent-child problems and you’re not able to set limits on screen usage, it could be time to find outside help. Your child’s pediatrician can help you set up a behavioral plan and, if needed, suggest a mental health professional to rule out any ongoing mental health issues that might be making it harder for your child to put down their screen.

This Week: Try noticing your own screen habits, then check on your kids. What limits and boundaries do you need to put in place for the whole family? Can you challenge your whole family to kick the habits and make it fun?

This is tough stuff. You’re doing a Great Job! Keep it up!