{"id":52299,"date":"2025-03-17T14:32:44","date_gmt":"2025-03-17T11:32:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/findmykids.org\/blog\/?p=52299"},"modified":"2025-03-17T14:34:21","modified_gmt":"2025-03-17T11:34:21","slug":"how-screens-affect-7-9-yo-childs-brain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/findmykids.org\/blog\/en\/how-screens-affect-7-9-yo-childs-brain","title":{"rendered":"How Screens Affect the Brain of a 7\u20139-Year-Old Child?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>You call your child to dinner, but\u2026 silence. No, they\u2019re not ignoring you on purpose\u2014their brain is literally <em>locked in<\/em> by their device.<\/p>\n<p>When kids learn or solve problems, their brain works hard and burns a lot of energy. But scrolling through social media, watching videos, or playing games? That\u2019s effortless entertainment. No thinking, no challenges, just instant fun\u2014thanks to a dopamine boost, the brain\u2019s feel-good chemical.<\/p>\n<p>The problem? <em>Quick<\/em> dopamine hits make kids crave instant rewards, making real-world activities (even exciting ones) seem dull in comparison.<\/p>\n<p class=\"highlight_PastelGreen\">\ud83d\udca1 What can you do? If your child refuses to turn off their device, don\u2019t just say <em>\u201cTurn it off NOW.\u201d<\/em> Instead, try: <em>\u201cLet\u2019s make a deal\u201410 more minutes, then you turn it off yourself. I\u2019ll set a timer.\u201d <\/em>This way, they feel in control, and you avoid a power struggle.<\/p>\n<h2>\ud83e\udd33 How Screens Affect Your Child\u2019s Development<\/h2>\n<ul style=\"text-align: left; width: 100%;\">\n<li><strong><strong>Weaker Focus. <\/strong><\/strong>a study in <a  rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/jamanetwork.com\/journals\/jamapediatrics\/fullarticle\/2751330?\"\" rel=\"nofollow\"><em>JAMA Pediatrics<\/em><\/a> found that kids who spend <em>over six hours a day<\/em> on screens struggle more in school.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Increased Anxiety. <\/strong>A constant flow of digital content can overload the nervous system, leading to stress and sleep problems.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Slower Cognitive Development. <\/strong>Physical movement and thinking go hand in hand. Running, jumping, or even building a pillow fort helps kids develop spatial awareness and problem-solving skills. Too much screen time? Their brain misses out on these crucial experiences.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"highlight_PastelGreen\">\ud83d\udca1 <strong>What can you do? <\/strong>If your child always picks screens over active play, offer a fun choice: <em>\u201cYou can stay on your tablet for 15 more minutes, then we can either go to the park or build an epic fort out of pillows. Your call!\u201d <\/em>The key? Give them an exciting alternative instead of just saying <em>no.<\/em><\/p>\n<h2>\ud83e\udd13 What About Educational Content?<\/h2>\n<p>Not all screen time is bad! But educational videos alone don\u2019t do much if kids just binge-watch them. Without engagement, the information won\u2019t stick.<\/p>\n<p class=\"highlight_PastelGreen\">\ud83d\udca1<strong> Try This<\/strong>: After a video, ask, <em>\u201cWhich dinosaur was your favorite? Want to draw it together?\u201d <\/em>Turning knowledge into action helps kids <em>really<\/em> learn\u2014and have fun doing it!<\/p>\n<p>Screens aren\u2019t the enemy. But kids should be <em>in charge<\/em> of their screen time, not the other way around. With your support, clear boundaries, and fun real-life alternatives, they\u2019ll find a healthy balance\u2014and you\u2019ll keep that all-important family connection strong.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-size: 10px; font-weight: 100; font-family: Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;\">Cover image: Ostanina Anna\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n\t\t<div class=\"wpulike wpulike-default \" ><div class=\"wp_ulike_general_class wp_ulike_is_not_liked\"><button type=\"button\"\n\t\t\t\t\taria-label=\"Like Button\"\n\t\t\t\t\tdata-ulike-id=\"52299\"\n\t\t\t\t\tdata-ulike-nonce=\"1085757c77\"\n\t\t\t\t\tdata-ulike-type=\"likeThis\"\n\t\t\t\t\tdata-ulike-template=\"wpulike-default\"\n\t\t\t\t\tdata-ulike-display-likers=\"0\"\n\t\t\t\t\tdata-ulike-disable-pophover=\"0\"\n\t\t\t\t\tclass=\"wp_ulike_btn wp_ulike_put_image wp_likethis_52299\"><\/button><\/div><\/div>\n\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>You call your child to dinner, but\u2026 silence. No, they\u2019re not ignoring you on purpose\u2014their&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":39,"featured_media":52302,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"layf_related_links":[""],"layf_exclude_from_feed":["1"],"classic-editor-remember":["classic-editor"],"_edit_lock":["1742211165:1"],"_edit_last":["1"],"_thumbnail_id":["52302"],"mpulseenable_meta_value":["no"],"yzcategory_meta_value":["\u0414\u043e\u043c"],"yzrating_meta_value":["\u041d\u0435\u0442 (\u043d\u0435 \u0434\u043b\u044f \u0432\u0437\u0440\u043e\u0441\u043b\u044b\u0445)"],"yzrssenabled_meta_value":["no"],"_s2mail":["yes"],"\u0430\u0432\u0442\u043e\u0440":["\u0412\u0430\u0441\u0438\u043b\u0438\u0439 \u0421\u043c\u0438\u0440\u043d\u043e\u0432"],"_\u0430\u0432\u0442\u043e\u0440":["field_5e33cab3984d1"],"\u0444\u043e\u0442\u043e":[""],"_\u0444\u043e\u0442\u043e":["field_5e33cbc1984d2"],"custom_title":[""],"_custom_title":["field_67cfbde67c007"],"custom_image":[""],"_custom_image":["field_67d012de223ac"],"custom_alt":[""],"_custom_alt":["field_67d012f6223ad"],"read_more":[""],"_read_more":["field_67d0130e223ae"],"hide-in-popular":[""],"_hide-in-popular":["field_5d0c8a5b4fde2"],"_aioseo_title":["How Screens Affect the Brain of a 7\u20139-Year-Old Child?"],"_aioseo_description":["How screens affect the brain of 7\u20139-year-olds\u2014attention, memory, emotions, and ways to balance tech use."],"_aioseo_keywords":[""],"_aioseo_og_title":[null],"_aioseo_og_description":[null],"_aioseo_og_article_section":[""],"_aioseo_og_article_tags":[""],"_aioseo_twitter_title":[null],"_aioseo_twitter_description":[null],"saswp_custom_schema_field":[""]},"categories":[668],"tags":[],"language":[3],"acf":{"custom_title":"","custom_image":"","custom_alt":"","read_more":""},"aioseo_notices":[],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/cdn-blog.findmykids.org\/2025\/03\/shutterstock_2186227729-1.jpg","author_info":{"display_name":"Conna Craig","author_link":"https:\/\/findmykids.org\/blog\/ru\/author\/conna-craig"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/cdn-blog.findmykids.org\/2025\/03\/shutterstock_2186227729-1.jpg","reading_time":"2","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/findmykids.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52299"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/findmykids.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/findmykids.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/findmykids.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/39"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/findmykids.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=52299"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/findmykids.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52299\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":52329,"href":"https:\/\/findmykids.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52299\/revisions\/52329"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/findmykids.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/52302"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/findmykids.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52299"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/findmykids.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52299"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/findmykids.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52299"},{"taxonomy":"language","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/findmykids.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/language?post=52299"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}