The U.S. Surgeon General released a new advisory this week underscoring serious risks to children from too much screen time. The document specifically linked excessive time in front of TV, tablets, and smartphones to poor educational outcomes, anxiety, depression, and potential online exploitation.
According to the advisory, adolescents now spend a shocking seven to nine hours a day on average in front of screens. This excessive screen time has been associated with poorer language outcomes, mental health and behavioral concerns – particularly related to social media use – and long-lasting impacts on mood, physical health, and cognitive development.
According to one study cited in the report, too much digital media exposure in preschool-aged children was associated with “reduced cortical thickness in regions [of the brain] supporting visual processing and higher-order cognitive functions.”
Some of the more shocking data points and revelations in the advisory include:
- Toddlers spend an average of about two hours in front of screens every day.
- Nearly 50 percent of adolescents admit that they lose track of how much time they spend in front of screens.
- Social media is designed to be addictive, and algorithms often promote extreme or harmful content to minors.
- Adolescents’ relationship with screens, particularly social media, often mirrors addictive behaviors toward other harmful substances like drugs and alcohol.
- Screen exposure in children disrupts healthy sleep essential for physical and cognitive development.
- Half of all teenagers have experienced cyberbullying.
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. explained how this increase in screen time among children has dangerous consequences.
“Children today spend more time on screens than sleeping, exercising, or engaging face-to-face with family and friends — and we are seeing the consequences in rising rates of anxiety, depression, obesity, and developmental challenges,” Kennedy said in a statement. “This Advisory equips parents, schools, and communities with clear, science-based strategies to reclaim healthy habits, reduce harm, and help Make Our Children Healthy Again.”
The report recommends that parents of young children delay exposure to extensive screen time as long as possible, provide alternatives to screens, set screen-free time for children, use parental controls and household rules on healthy screen use, and model healthy screen behaviors that they want their children to exhibit.
HHS also provides a toolkit that gives examples for each of these recommendations that parents and grandparents can try with their children and grandchildren.
Actions that adults can take include “removing devices from children’s bedrooms overnight,” “considering a digital detox for your family to help reset unhealthy screen time,” and “creating experiences that can displace screentime, such as going for a walk outside, cooking a healthy meal together, or checking out books and programming at the local library.”
Stephanie Haridoplos, who serves as the director of National Health Communications for the Office of the Surgeon General, emphasized the urgency of protecting children from so much screentime and internet access.
“We are calling for urgent action to protect children at home, in schools, and across platforms,” Haridoplos said. “Kids are growing up in digital spaces that were never designed for their safety, and these online experiences are shaping how they think, feel, and interact in real life. We want children to live real life, not be pulled into harmful environments online. This Advisory gives families and communities the guidance they need. History will judge us not only by the steps we took, but by the inaction we allowed.”
HHS explained that schools can also act by reducing or banning “non-instructional device use, strengthen digital citizenship education, and create more opportunities for in-person engagement.” The department is also urging technology companies to act by “reducing manipulative design features, increasing transparency, and making safety settings easier for families to use.”
You can read the full advisory HERE.
Alan Jamison is the pen name of a political writer with extensive experience writing for several notable politicians and news outlets.
