Raising Your Child in a Digital World

I recently attended a talk by Dr Kristy Goodwin where she discussed the digital world our children are living in. Dr Goodwin spoke about the ‘techno-tantrum’ when our otherwise well-adjusted child (not necessarily a toddler) bursts into tears when we ask for our smartphone to be handed over or the TV to be switched off. She explains why your child experiences a complete meltdown when they’re asked to switch off a screen and what is going on inside their brains as they are using screens.

It’s actually the same reason that we, as adults, find ourselves constantly tethered to our laptop, or distracted by our smartphone at our children’s sporting matches and swimming lessons.

The use of screens and gadgets causes neurobiological changes in the human brain. It happens in our more mature, well-developed adult brains and it also happens in our children’s developing brains.

Why do our children become infatuated and obsessed with screens?

Dopamine release

Whenever we do anything pleasurable with technology (whether it’s watching funny cat videos on YouTube or looking at lovely pictures on Instagram) our brain releases the feel-good neurotransmitter Dopamine. Our brains naturally want more and more of this feel-good state, so crave more use of technology.

The same applies to our kids when they’re using technology, except many young children are still developing their impulse control skills and self-regulation skills, so their response to being asked to switch off a device is often amplified. In essence, our kids are reluctant to turn off technology because it will mean terminating their supply of Dopamine. Their response is often more pronounced if they’re playing apps or video games where there’s lots of external rewards and praise.

Brains are novelty seekers

The brain craves novelty and technology offers constant novelty. The digital world offers continual sensory seduction. For example, when using tablet devices children can play an app and then touch the home button and instantly launch into another app. They can be watching YouTube clips and find a menu of other videos that entice them on the right-hand side of the screens. Their desire for novelty is easily and constantly met in an online world.

The prefrontal cortex, which is the part of the brain responsible for managing our impulses and some of our other higher-order thinking skills, has a novelty bias. This means that it’s easy for our focus and attention to be hijacked by something new or different that we see on a screen. The prefrontal cortex is one of the main parts of the brain that’s required to manage our attention, but it’s being constantly bombarded by a sensory smorgasbord offered by the digital world.

Again, children’s prefrontal cortex is still developing (and actually isn’t fully developed until their twenties), so they may not have the skills to deal with the constant desire for novelty.

As parents, we need to ensure that we have firm parameters around their screen time and minimise our use of screens as a ‘digital pacifier’. Otherwise, we’re potentially setting our children up for unhealthy screen habits.

Goodwin, K. (2016). Raising Your Child in a Digital World. Finch Publishing.

Aleca Bradshaw – Learning Enhancement