A ‘screen-age wasteland’? New research says infant and toddler tech time may not be so bad

For any parent who’s tried to keep their child quiet during a long drive or while eating in a restaurant, handing over a phone or tablet is often a winning strategy. Watching toddlers seamlessly swipe their way through apps or websites, it’s easy to see how Baby Shark has racked up more than 15 billion views on YouTube — even if, for parents, it’s hard to bear. 

But while parents may appreciate the temporary peace and quiet, most will also question what the long-term impacts of technology will be on the developing brains of their offspring. Is infant screen time shaping a generation of savvy digital natives, or atrophying attention spans and social skills with every viral song or app that comes along? 

For adults hoping that technology is a gateway to learning and communication, a new two-year study in the U.K. has highlighted the “rich opportunities” that digital technology offers very young children. “Toddlers, Tech and Talk,” funded by the Economic and Social Research Council and led by researchers from Manchester Metropolitan University, surveyed 1,400 parents and carried out 40 case studies in family homes to track the impacts of technology — including phones, tablets, TVs and smart devices such as Google Home — on children.

The team concluded that technology has definitive benefits for language development and other skills and found that young children’s digital activity often involves sensory exploration through touch, vision, hearing, movement and embodied cognition. “In short, very young children are often feeling, thinking and moving when they engage with digital media, which is integrated seamlessly in many homes as part of everyday life,” the study concludes. 

For children in culturally diverse homes, video calls with far-off relatives were highlighted for their positive influence, helping children to learn multiple languages, promoting “cognitive growth” and “forging loving relationships with relatives.”  

The research also showed that even in homes where the TV was usually on, children consistently showed the ability to play and learn independently. 

“Parents are highly aware of opportunities and tensions around their children’s use of digital technology,” Rosie Flewitt, an MMU early childhood communication professor, told The Guardian. “They balance beneficial opportunities for their children to communicate with others, play and learn, with concerns over possible damaging effects of overuse.” 

That said, despite the positive findings of the report, there is no shortage of concerns when it comes to children and technology. 

Earlier this year, health authorities in Sweden advised that children under 2 should have no screen time whatsoever, while 2- to 5-year-olds should be allowed a maximum of an hour a day. Similarly, in France, a report carried out by health researchers recommended zero screen time, including TV, for under-3s, while also advocating that children should be restricted from having smartphones until they’re at least 13. 

The use of smartphones by children is particularly controversial. A grassroots movement, Smartphone Free Childhood, encourages families to sign a pact, pledging not to allow their child to have a smartphone. The campaign, which started as a WhatsApp group in the U.K. before spreading internationally, provides a forum for parents to support one another while also targeting politicians and manufacturers, calling on them to limit smartphone access for children. According to CNBC, the movement pulled together more than 60,000 members in a few weeks and now has groups in the U.S., Canada, Australia, Brazil and other countries. 

Zach Rausch, a research scientist at New York University Stern School of Business, said in a CNBC interview that the mass migration toward a phone-based childhood has been really harmful to young people. “The research has been building and the evidence of harm has become stronger and stronger year after year,” he says. “The lid has been taken off of the box, and parents see that other parents are speaking up about this, so we’re seeing this wave of parents coming together.”