What to Know
When my now 12-year-old son was a toddler, I was a perpetually stressed single mom. I’m also not the type of parent who likes to get on the floor and play. It was easier for me to hand him my phone to keep him occupied while I ran errands or tried to enjoy a meal. But I made sure he was watching educational videos that were age appropriate. Toddler screentime is incredibly controversial. Doctors don’t recommend it, citing things like stunted brain development and mental health issues. And one therapist is firmly in agreement, sharing that she’s seeing an uptick in toddlers needing mental health assessments as a result of screen time.
The therapist’s PSA is a very important one.
TikTokker Mental Health with JoJo explained that typical mental health assessments don’t include questions about screentime, but she has begun asking. She explained that her questioning is “so relevant,” and added that’s “it’s prevalent to today’s society.”
In addition to asking about toddler screentime, she also asks if they’re playing Roblox or other video games. I was shocked to hear toddlers and preschoolers are playing Roblox!
“Two year olds should not be on screens. Three year olds should not be on screens,” she warned. However, she said 30 minutes to an hour of “non overly stimulating” TV shows is okay. She also advised that toddler parents should remove Cocomelon from their Netflix queue.
“Go on PBS, go on old Disney classics. Maybe some black and white shows. Something that’s slow,” she suggested.
People who work with kids had a lot of feelings.
Too much screen time has a variety of negative effects. “As a pediatric dentist, I’ve seen more cases of childhood bruxism. And I’ve had to add the same question to their assessment. It’s insane the amount of screen time kids are getting now a days!”
“They are experiencing screen time withdrawals 😭😭 I used to teach prek,” one person wrote.
“Im a preschool teacher and my district has asked us to stop having screen time. Only allowed 10 mins max and that’s for like a read aloud where we dont have the book,” another teacher commented.
And it doesn’t stop at toddler screen time, according to another person. “Parents really don’t understand how bad it gets. I work with university students & the attention & sleep issues longterm are so bad,” they wrote.”
Lots of people believe kids need to be bored.
“Boredom is an IMPORTANT SKILL,” one commenter wrote.
Another commenter added, “Why are parents SO damn scared for their kids to be bored? It’s OKAY to be bored. That’s where imagination starts.”
“My 5 & 8 y/o ask me “mommy we’re bored what can we do?” I tell the “idk go play, figure it out” 😭😂 & guess what? They figure it out lol,” a parent commented.
“Kids need to experience boredom so that they can use their brains and become creative!!!!” a commenter wrote emphatically.
One commenter likened toddler screen time to neglect.
“Unpopular opinion…. If you let your child overuse “screens” it’s actually neglect 😅 there are plenty of other things to do without screens,” that commenter wrote.
One person had a very strong reaction. “And neglect like this is a sign of… parents in struggle. And parents are in struggle because of… trauma, social stigma, cost of support, late stage capitalism. But let’s blame screens,” they wrote. People had very strong reactions to this comment.
“My parents went through struggles too, but they still managed to hand me coloring books and dollar store toys rather than electronic. There are always cheaper and less mentally taxing alternatives,” one person wrote.
“We’re not even just blaming the screens we’re blaming parents for putting their kids in front of screens instead of parenting,” another person shot back.
