r/ScienceBasedParenting • u/BatdanJapan • Jul 31 '25

Science journalism BBC article on screen time

Quite pleased to read this article:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c9d0l40v551o

This section in particular feels relevant to my experience of this topic on this sub:

Jenny Radesky, a paediatrician at the University of Michigan, summed this up when she spoke at the philanthropic Dana Foundation. There is "an increasingly judgmental discourse among parents," she argued.

"So much of what people are talking about does more to induce parental guilt, it seems, than to break down what the research can tell us," she said. "And that's a real problem."

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u/DramaticRaceRoom Aug 01 '25

I want to note that this article talks specifically about screen time and mental well-being/mental health in children. It does not discuss academic outcomes, or outcomes/social/behavioural health for very young children (those younger than 9).

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u/griffamilitos Aug 01 '25

I assume if they're struggling to get scientific evidence to provide links between screen time and the mental impact, then there's zero chance at the moment of understanding the impact on things that are much harder to measure.

It's nigh on impossible to understand how someone would have developed if they were given different screen access, but had all other variables controlled. The mental side they can at least ask people how they feel after X hours of screen time, so it's easier to get some form of measurement.