screen time

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Outcry Follows Town's Proposed Phone Use Limit

Residents in Toyoake, Japan, object to 2-hour daily cap designed to address health concerns

(Newser) - In a bold bid to combat online addiction and sleepless nights, one Japanese town is urging its residents to limit leisurely smartphone use to just two hours a day. Toyoake, a city in the Aichi prefecture, is floating the proposal that would apply to everyone—kids, teens, and parents...

To Feel Better, Take the Smart Out of Smartphone
To Feel Better, Take the
Smart Out of Smartphone
NEW STUDY
Feb 25, 2025 11:55 AM CST

To Feel Better, Take the Smart Out of Smartphone

2-week break from mobile internet boosts well-being, mental health, researchers say

(Newser) - Researchers say you can improve your mental health, well-being, and attention span in just two weeks. All you have to do is get off mobile internet. Adrian Ward, a 38-year-old psychologist at the University of Texas at Austin, decided to study what it would be like to return to the...

Suit: Chatbot Subjected Girl to 2 Years of Sexual Content

A Character.AI bot also hinted to a Texas teen that he should kill his parents, per a new complaint

(Newser) - Two families are suing the Google-backed Character.AI, claiming the latter company's chatbots abused their kids and knowingly exposed the minors to "a technology they knew to be dangerous and unsafe." Per the Washington Post , the suit filed Tuesday in Texas involves a 17-year-old boy identified simply...

Mom Discovers Phone Rules for Child Apply to Her, Too

Slate's Molly Mulshine doesn't let her toddler use devices, but her own use was becoming an issue

(Newser) - Molly Mulshine tries hard to limit the screen time her 1-year-old baby is getting, citing various studies that indicate how bad too much time on phones, iPads, and other electronic devices are for kids and teens. But in her new essay for Slate , Mulshine reveals that she was the one...

Doctors: Stop Sitting on the Toilet So Long

Habits like scrolling through your phone can cause health issues, they warn

(Newser) - Now that it's become common to bring phones along to the bathroom, doctors have some unfortunate news about those extended potty breaks. Regularly sitting on the throne for longer than 10 minutes isn't great for your body and can have health consequences, CNN reports. Here's why.

Tweens Parrot Their Parents' Phone Habits
Tweens Parrot Their
Parents' Phone Habits
NEW STUDY
Jun 22, 2024 11:00 AM CDT

Tweens Parrot Their Parents' Phone Habits

Study finds a strong link in screen use

(Newser) - A new study has some advice for parents who want to unglue their tweens' eyeballs from their phones: Practice what you preach. The researchers used a questionnaire to collect data from 10,000 American parents and their 12- to 13-year-old children, reports NPR . They found a strong correlation between how...

These Are the Hazards of Too Much Toddler Screen Time
No, Screen Time
Is Not Good
for Your Toddler
NEW STUDY
Aug 22, 2023 9:31 AM CDT

No, Screen Time Is Not Good for Your Toddler

Researchers find delays in development of speech, social, fine motor skills

(Newser) - A new study cautions parents against turning on a phone or tablet to entertain toddlers for extended periods, finding 1-year-olds exposed to above-average screen time go on to suffer developmental delays. Researchers in Japan found 1-year-olds exposed to more than four hours of screen time per day experienced developmental delays...

Zoo Cracks Down on Gorilla's Screen Time

It seems they really like visitors' cellphones

(Newser) - If you've ever had a kid, spouse, or decidedly boring date you couldn't drag away from their phone, the Toronto Zoo can commiserate. The Toronto Star reports that visitors have for some reason felt the urge to show Nassir the gorilla videos on their cellphones. "Nassir is...

Researchers Work to Improve Screen Time for ... Monkeys

Encounters with audio, visual stimuli to help build better 'interactive enrichment systems'

(Newser) - Saki monkeys may prefer to listen to music more than the rain and appear more keen to watch underwater scenes than those featuring earthly worms, according to new research, which combined monkeys, screens, and speakers. Researchers at Scotland's University of Glasgow and Finland's Aalto University set up a...

WHO's First Screen Time Limits Are Pretty Strict

World Health Organization says no more than 1 hour per day for kids under 5

(Newser) - The WHO has spoken on screen time: In its first-ever recommendations on the issue, the World Health Organization said Wednesday that children 1 year old and younger should not have any screen time and children ages 2 to 4 should have no more than one hour each day. The guidance...

60 Minutes Does Huge Piece on True Impact of Screen Time

Early results of study may seem alarming, but the findings are preliminary

(Newser) - Sunday night's 60 Minutes report on screen time and kids has parents buzzing: "Heavy screen time appears to impact children's brains," reads a sample headline making the rounds. The report looked at the National Institutes of Health's Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study , in which...

Sleep May Not Be a Major Casualty of Kids' Screen Time

Researchers say using electronic devices may not have significant impact on kids' shut-eye

(Newser) - If you're worried about your kids not getting enough shut-eye because of the time they spend on their smartphones and computers, playing Xbox, or watching Netflix, new research may ease that parental guilt—somewhat. The BBC reports on a new study out of Oxford University that found any ties...

Screen Time for Young Kids Linked to Speech Delays

Research is the first to link device use with speech delays

(Newser) - Time on a tablet may slow speech development in young children, new research shows. Pediatricians at the Hospital for Sick Children in Canada who examined the effect of screen time on 900 children between 6 months and 2 years old found a 49% increased risk of delayed speech for every...

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