A study released earlier this year out of Australia found that for every minute a young child spends in front of a screen, their opportunities for language development are significantly diminished. Experts say that parents must play an instrumental role in limiting their children’s screen time and engage in face-to-face interactions as much as possible in order for children to flourish.

The research, which focused on children between the ages of 12 and 36 months, sought to find out if there was an association between screen time and the amount of verbal interactions the child engaged in. The study’s findings were striking, revealing that “[f]or every additional minute of screen time, children heard fewer adult words, spoke fewer vocalizations, and engaged in fewer back-and-forth interactions.”

Scientists who conducted the study followed 220 families and tracked how much time their toddlers used devices with screens, measuring how that time affected the amount of verbal communication that the children and parents engaged in. As noted by Justin Coulson at the Institute for Family Studies, “By age three, the cumulative effect is staggering. Imagine a child’s world diminished by: over 1,100 adult words each day; over 840 fewer opportunities to express themselves; and nearly 200 missed chances to engage in the back-and-forth of conversation.”

Language, as Coulson pointed out, is “the foundation for literacy, for learning, for understanding the world and our place within it.” Other studies have confirmed what the Australian researchers found, including one released last year from Japan which discovered that “increased television/DVD screen time in children aged 1 and 2 years was associated with lower developmental scores at 2 and 3 years, respectively. Lower development scores were associated with increased screen time in children with maternal psychological distress.”

But the effects of screen time reach far beyond the first three years of life. Other studies have established that over-exposure to screens at early ages lead to concerning outcomes as children grow. A study released last year found “every hour of increased screen time in infancy was associated with decreased measures of attention and executive functioning at age nine.” This reduction in brain function resulted in decreased “academic achievement and emotional well-being later on.”

Coulson also observed that the Australian study likely undercounted the amount of missed verbal interaction time between parents and children because it didn’t count the amount of time the parents themselves spent on their devices — “the phenomenon of ‘technoference’ that further fragments the parent-child bond.”

“This isn’t about demonizing technology; it’s about reclaiming our agency — about choosing presence over distraction, connection over isolation,” Coulson argued. “It’s about remembering that the most profound gifts we can offer our children are not found on a screen, but in the depths of our own hearts and the boundless expanse of the world around us.”

Meg Kilgannon, senior fellow for Education Studies at Family Research Council, agreed with Coulson’s assessment, further contending that these studies only underscore the fundamental importance of the family as the primary vehicle for human flourishing, which parents have a duty to protect from technological overuse.

“Studies like these are necessary to ‘prove’ what we already know: the family is the building block of society and the bonds we form at birth and through childhood are crucial to human flourishing,” she told The Washington Stand. “Our well-being by every measure — spiritual, emotional, physical, and mental — is nourished in a loving family where mother and father love each other and their children. Anything, including electronic devices, that impedes that connection at any age is going to undermine optimal health and development.”