Did you catch the recent 60 minutes episode featuring the groundbreaking new study on the effects of screen time on kids?
Anderson Cooper interviewed researchers who are following 11,000 kids for a decade to understand how screen time actually affects adolescent brains in terms of physical structure, emotional development and mental health.
One year into the study and about 4500 MRI scans completed, there is nothing definitive discovered yet. However significant brain structure changes are already showing for kids that are on screens 7hrs or more a day; a part of their brain (cortex) is thinning faster than it should.
The National Institute of Health is spending 300M on this study and the focus is on nine and ten years old. What they find could potentially impact regulation for how kid’s digital media is created and frankly, how we all manage screen time in our homes and in learning environments. However, It is a little bothersome that this requires so many kids to get regular brain scans.
Conversation Starter: Would you enroll your child in a study like this? Even for the greater good?