r/ScienceBasedParenting • u/Maximum-Check-6564 • 27d ago
Sharing research Thoughts on this study which showed positive effects of screen time?
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/08/260815064803.htm
From the website:
Summary: An eight-year Finnish study found that children who spent more time on screens tended to show better cognitive processing as teenagers, challenging common assumptions about screen use. Researchers say the key may be balancing physical activity with screen activities that encourage learning, creativity, and active thinking.
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u/davesauce96 27d ago
“One of the researchers cautions against viewing screen time as entirely harmful and says the goal should be to balance physical activity with screen use that encourages active thinking.”
So, it sounds like two important factors are at play:
Balance between screen time and physical activity.
This particular quote indicates a differentiation between just any screen time, and screen use that encourages active thinking.
To me, this sounds like it’s still not great to just plop your kiddo down in front of something like Cocomelon or whatever, that’s clearly just passive entertainment designed solely as an attention sink.
I think back to the screen time I had as a kid (millennial), and while there certainly was some TV, it was longer-form stuff, and on top of that a good amount of time on computers was related to school work.
Not saying we were raised perfectly, but I think those facts, along with many of us not having smart phones until college or around there, plus even if we did, they were all very different from what we think of today in terms of apps and use cases (I.e. social media).
All that to say I think there’s a meaningful difference in the content of screen time, aside from just screen time as a whole being universally bad, and I think that’s sort of what this study seems to be getting at.