Video games and screen time

     Many staff members from St. Theresa School recently had an opportunity to attend a conference led by Stuart Shanker, author of Calm, Alert and Learning and of Self-Reg.  Self-regulation issues and challenges seem to be at the forefront of many discussions in the field of education.  Discussions abound with respect to anxiety in younger and younger children, the number of children with diagnosed ADHD, aggressive and violent behaviours in our schools, along with a host of other challenges that are likely present in every classroom.  Why does it seem that more and more of our children are experiencing difficulty in the realm of self-regulation?
     Dr. Shanker, during his recent visit to the Ottawa Catholic School Board, told the audience that the current generation of children is a generation that has likely never truly experienced calm.  He expanded upon that statement by explaining the "Triune Brain" and how areas of the brain the need to be shut down or turned off are remaining active, thereby creating ongoing drains on energy ultimately leading to challenges with self-regulation.  Dr. Shanker spent some time speaking about the impact that screen time, and particularly violent video games, are having, in particular, on the limbic systems of our children.  He spoke of studies that have been done of many different violent games (including Minecraft), all based on the premise of predator and prey.  The limbic system of the brain does not know that the video game is a game and therefore becomes activated as it believes that there is a real and present danger.  Dr. Shanker stated that the limbic system can remain activated from four to six hours after a child has played a video game and that although a child might go to sleep, the brain is not completely at rest as the limbic system remains on alert for the danger.  The sleep that the child is getting, therefore, is not a restorative sleep leading to low energy and difficulty coping when faced with stressors, many of which are part of everyday life...like being asked to do a chore, being corrected by a teacher, having a conflict with a peer during recess, etc.
    Should we be concerned about the screen time that our children are exposed to?  The simple answer is yes.  Studies with respect to self-regulation, mental health, obesity and physical health all indicate that screen time, if not closely supervised by adults, can have detrimental effects on our children.  Please visit the following two articles for more information about the impacts of screen time and violent video games on the capacity to self-regulate.

Screen time is making kids moody

The Self-Reg view of violent video games