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Best ways to keep your child from spending too much time with their screen

Posted at 11:12 PM, May 17, 2016
and last updated 2016-05-17 23:12:13-04

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - Is your child spending too much time on their smart phone, iPod, tablet, or video games?  If so, they’re not alone.  Research shows teenagers spend on average 6 ½ hours per day staring at screens and that doesn’t include time in school.

Dr. Delaney Rustin, a Stanford-trained physician and mother of two, recently produced a documentary, “Screenagers: Growing Up in the Digital Age”.  The film delves into her own family dilemma of whether to get her teenage daughter a smartphone.  We held a viewing of the movie at FOX 17 with a local group of teenagers, parents and teachers to get a feel for their biggest concerns with this topic.

Research in the film shows that our kids’ addiction to their screens can be blamed, at-least partly, on dopamine released in the center of their brain.  It showed the addiction is similar to addictions with food, alcohol and illicit drugs and video games have shown to be particularly rewarding to the brain, especially in the early teenage years.