Not long ago, people used the internet to escape reality. Even if it was just a quick scroll, it was a fun way to unwind by checking in on friends and family through the latest Facebook updates, watching a funny video on YouTube, or taking the latest silly Buzzfeed quiz. But now, as I read the other day, it’s almost as if people are turning to reality to get a break from the internet. Never mind the question of how this is possible… I want to know: how could this possibly be healthy?

It turns out it’s not. And while it doesn’t take a genius to recognize that unregulated, unchecked screen time might have an effect on someone, more studies are coming out only further proving it really does have an impact — definitely emotionally, perhaps spiritually, maybe even physically. But the alarm these studies are sounding is clear: especially for children, screen time also has an impact developmentally.

Only a number of weeks ago, in late November, The Washington Stand drew attention to the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development study from the University of Fukui. It was regarded as “one of the most comprehensive studies on screen time and brain development,” having followed roughly 10,000 American children over the course of two years to track whether heightened screen time effected their development. The short answer? It did. The longer answer? Children with more screen time were significantly more likely to exhibit ADHD symptoms related to attention, memory, and impulse or behavioral control. Actual parts of their brains were less thick, had “smaller volume in the brain’s reward center and [had] less gray matter overall.”

Researchers noticed the indisputable patterns, and yet, they were unsure as to what caused them.

Fast forward to now, and another study has come forth, once again putting a spotlight on this same troubling trend. However, rather than following thousands of children for two years, researchers from the National University of Singapore (NUS), KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital and the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) analyzed 170 children for more than 10years. All of the children were born in 2009 and, from birth, were part of the Growing Up in Singapore Towards Healthy Outcomes (GUSTO) birth cohort study. According to Channel News Asia (CNA), the goal was to “understand how conditions during pregnancy and early childhood affect a mother’s and her child’s health, growth and development” — particularly noting the role screen time had to play.

The outlet continued: “Brain scans were taken at various stages of the children’s development to study the long-term impact of early screen exposure. The study found that for children up to two years old, each additional hour of screen time was linked to them being 25 per cent slower at decision-making by age 8-and-a-half. By their teenage years, these children also showed higher anxiety symptoms. These effects were observed across all socio-economic backgrounds.”

But here’s the kicker: these kids were observed in the 10 or so years following 2009. You know what that means, right? As one researcher pointed out, this means those children who showed noticeable signs of impaired development, were mostly watching TV. Today’s children, by contrast, are immersed in the far more addictive and algorithm-driven world of TikTok, Instagram Reels, and AI-curated feeds that most adults struggle to understand. Social media has grown exponentially more sophisticated since 2009, yet meaningful regulation remains a low priority for lawmakers and many parents alike. Even as expert warnings about screen time’s impact on mental health and brain development reach a crescendo, pulling children away from these platforms has never been harder.

I’m not a pessimist, but the problem is impossible to ignore. An entire generation has been dubbed “iPad kids” — children handed tablets as digital pacifiers from infancy and now struggling to function without them. We’ve all seen the signs: the toddler melting down in a restaurant until the screen returns; the teenager perpetually hunched over a phone, avoiding real interaction; the young adult whose personality is almost as predictable as their TikTok algorithm. These are not mere quirks but signals of a profound shift in how a generation learns to connect, cope, and grow.

There’s so much more to learn about how screen time helps or harms us. Yet, current evidence points more clearly in the latter direction. This is precisely why the Singapore researchers plan to continue to follow these same children into adulthood. As CNA summarized, “They aim to assess cognitive functioning, mental health outcomes such as anxiety and depression, and conduct further brain scans to understand why some children show greater resilience than others.”

It is also why the researchers took time to offer a simple encouragement: despite concerning outcomes linked to more screen time, it’s not too late for parents to step in and guide their children down a fruitful path.

Even from an early age, children thrive through rich social and physical interactions that, far from harming, genuinely nurture their development. Families can foster this by reading books together, playing face-to-face games like board games or puzzles, taking outdoor walks to explore nature, and participating in music or sports activities. As children grow older, meaningful “healthy peer” interactions become especially valuable for building social skills, empathy, and emotional resilience.

For parents who want to incorporate devices into daily life, the key lies in intentional, shared use rather than passive consumption. By limiting screen time to interactive, high-quality activities — such as educational apps or creative tools — technology can actively support development and strengthen neural pathways. But as one researcher aptly noted, avoid leaving a child alone with an iPad. Instead, sit alongside them, turning the device into a collaborative educational tool that sparks curiosity, conversation, and deeper learning.

It doesn’t take much, at least for me, to glance at our world today and feel a wave of deep discouragement wash over. Smartphones, tablets, and endless social media feeds have woven themselves into the fabric of daily life, often at the expense of everything else — or at least so much of what makes life beautiful. Even I still remember a time when we weren’t tethered like this — when conversations flowed freely at dinner tables, eyes met across park benches, and moments unfolded without the urge to capture or scroll. Now, whether in a bustling restaurant, on crowded public transit, or amid the quiet of a park, it’s rare to see faces lifted toward one another instead of buried in glowing screens.

Once vibrant and distinct personalities are dissolving into a homogenized blur, swept along by the insatiable pursuit of fleeting trends. Authenticity grows ever more elusive, while civility — fragile at best — dissipates in the toxic haze of a single comment thread. Most heartbreaking of all, our children, innocent and unwitting, are now becoming victims of a predatory system they didn’t choose, one whose insidious dangers lie far beyond their juvenile comprehension.

Yet, as tempting as it is to sink into pessimism, I refuse to believe our situation is hopeless. Technology’s grip may feel ironclad, but it’s not unbreakable. Like all good pursuits, reclaiming balance demands deliberate discipline. It starts small: choosing to silence notifications during meals, leaving the phone in another room for an evening walk, committing to device-free zones in our homes and gatherings, and ensuring our children are being guided properly. It’s hard, especially when this way of life goes against the current, but the reward is rediscovering the richness of what’s real — the warmth of unhurried conversation, the subtle beauty of the world around us, the deeper connections that screens so often dilute.

You, me, and everyone around us… we all have daily choices to make. Step a little away from the digital so that we may step further into what’s real. It won’t be easy, but it’s within our reach. And in those reclaimed moments, we might just find the discouragement giving way to quiet hope.