Kids and Screens: It’s Not All Bad News

Concerned about your child’s screen time? Don’t fret too much, advise researchers at CU’s Institute for Behavioral Genetics. True, screens can lead to reduced sleep and unfinished homework, but there are upsides—including the fact that kids with screens have more close friends, since social media and texting give them ways to stay connected, even when apart.

John Hewitt, the senior author of the study published September 8, 2021, says the negative effects may have been overestimated previously, and that socioeconomic status has 2.5 times greater impact on behavior than screens do. “There are relationships between screen time and negative outcomes,” he says, “but they are not large and not dire.”