12/20/2025
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=122198475188294968&id=61558849042077
When we talk about screen time, it’s easy to focus on the number. But neuroscience keeps bringing us back to a more important question:
➡️What is the screen replacing? ⬅️
As Professor Erin Clabough explains, the issue isn’t that screens are inherently harmful — it’s that they often take the place of the experiences developing brains need most. Hands-on play, social interaction, unstructured problem-solving, and especially time in nature create the unpredictable, sensory-rich environments that strengthen self-regulation, curiosity and flexible thinking.
When screens fill too much of the day, children practise fewer of the real-world skills that shape attention, resilience, and emotional maturity. The neural pathways they strengthen are the ones they repeat — whether that’s gaming or exploring a creek.
Adults are not immune to the same trade-offs.
When our time is crowded with digital inputs, something else quietly falls away: deep thinking, meaningful rest, conversations that anchor us, time outdoors, creative projects, grounding rituals — even boredom, the birthplace of insight.
The brain changes through repetition. Whatever we practice most becomes easier to access. If we’re constantly practicing multitasking and overstimulating our brain, our attention becomes more fragmented. If we practice stillness, curiosity, or presence, those pathways strengthen too.
So the question is not “How much screen time is okay?”
✨A more helpful one is: “What parts of my life — or my child’s life — might this screen time be replacing?” ✨
If those foundations are strong, screen time becomes a tool — not a substitute for development or wellbeing.
