This is a very common question that parents ask. There are the obvious answers: they are more likely to have “emotional, social, and attention problems” (Mayo Clinic). Specifically, gaming “is linked with an increased possibility of attention problems in children” (Mayo). All you have to do is spend 5 minutes on TikTok and you can immediately see the speed at which content flashes by. Even if the quality is good (which in most cases it is not) it trains the brain to expect novelty in the next 10 seconds. I can see how this could be a major problem for kids who must also learn to absorb, contemplate, and critically analyze content in a school setting.
But here is a question that is even more important: What doesn’t happen when kids spend too much time on devices?
Many parents approve device use to keep children quiet and occupied while they might otherwise would be bored, such as waiting in lobbies, car rides, or traveling. Most parents would rather allow their kids to use devices to give their brains something to do in an otherwise boring moment. I always compare my own experiences growing up as a Boomer in a world without technology. What did I do on a car ride? In a lobby? Traveling? Made to rest? Or the endless waiting when you’re on an errand trip with your parent? Easy. We would daydream.
Daydreaming is a lost art. The importance of this natural process cannot be overstated. (Inducing boredom actually aids in kickstarting the daydreaming process.) While daydreaming, there are a plethora of thought processes that occur in our brains. For example:
- Lying in bed in the dark with no stimulation, our brains start rehashing our day. We go over what we did, what we said, what made us happy, what made us uncomfortable, what went wrong and how we will fix it next time. We plan.
- In a doctor’s office lobby, we people-watch, we gain experience on how the world works, we learn to wait, we learn to listen to what is being said around us. This also includes tuning in on adult conversations improving our language skills, gaining social awareness and learning acceptable behavior.
Daydreaming helps us problem solve, plan long- and short-term goals, helps us create and assess possible occurrences, avoid possible mistakes, develop coping skills by giving us time to put things in perspective.
Please, give your kids the gift of boredom. It can be made into a superpower.