Worried About Social Media & Technology?

If you are concerned about raising children or grandchildren in this high tech age in which screen time is a whole new phenomenon, then you’re not alone.  A poll from Gallup finds that screens are a significant concern of parents.  Here are some of the polling firm’s findings from a poll of 1,271 U.S. parents of children from birth to age 10.

• Two-thirds of parents worry — either a little (53%) or a lot (12%) — that their child spends too much time on electronic devices.

• More than four in 10 parents (43%) say they worry that their child has trouble keeping themselves entertained without electronic devices.

• Parents of boys (70%) worry a bit more than parents of girls (63%) that their child spends too much time using electronic devices.

• Boys’ parents (45%) also worry more than girls’ parents (39%) that their child cannot occupy themselves without an electronic device.

• About a third of parents whose children engage in three or more hours of screen time per weekday worry that their child is not keeping up academically (36%) or has trouble getting along with other children (34%).

• In contrast, only 26% of parents whose children engage in less screen time worry about their academics, and 20% worry about their socialization.

• Parents of children who spend three or more hours on screen-based play per weekday are less satisfied with their child’s development in teamwork, discipline and social skills when compared with parents of children who engage in less screen-based play.

Read more: Have Smartphones Destroyed a Generation? (The Atlantic)

This article was originally published by AFA of Indiana.