Screen Time is Not Always Equal

Not all screen time is created equal. Time playing video games is not the same as time spent in social media.

The notions of “screen time” are changing as we become aware of media nutrition.

“Kids study, play video games, use social media and watch videos on screens, but those do not all have the same developmental impact.”

“Video games, in fact, do not show the kind of negative behavioral or emotional effects researchers correlate with social media use”, says Kelli Dunlap, a clinical psychologist and community director for Take This, a mental health advocacy group within the gaming community.

In fact, Dunlap says, parents often overlook some benefits of games:

“They’re a tool. You can use games to improve your social connection, to practice feeling emotions we normally avoid, like guilt or grief or shame. A lot of games bring those feelings out in us, and they give us a space to play with those feelings.”

www.takethis.org again helping us breakdown the true costs and benefits of gaming! Well worth a read of the whole article from the great folks at NPR.  

Source: https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2023/05/31/1178977198/video-games-kids-good-limits