WebMD: Screen Time and Kids—Setting Healthy Digital Boundaries
The WebMD Health Discovered podcast recently interviewed Jane Tavyev Asher, MD, director of the Division of Pediatric Neurology at Cedars-Sinai Guerin Children’s, about how digital media affects child development and how families can set healthier boundaries around screen time.
Screen use has sharply increased over the past two decades, a trend that accelerated during the COVID-19 pandemic, but not all screen time carries the same level of risk, Tavyev Asher told podcast host Neha Pathak, MD.
For instance, she said, watching a family movie with a defined beginning and end is far less concerning than rapidly changing images, endless scrolling, or video games engineered to hold a child’s attention.
“The YouTube videos keep cycling through,” Tavyev Asher told Pathak. “There’s no end. They can take you endlessly through an algorithm in what you might be interested in. The same thing happens with scrolling on social media, for example.”
She explained that fast-paced content floods dopamine receptors, causing children to crave constant stimulation and struggle with quieter tasks like reading or schoolwork. She added that excessive early screen use can replace the hands-on play critical for building creativity and cognitive skills, and can alter brain development.
Rather than treating screen time as a disciplinary tool—a reward to be earned or withheld as punishment—Tavyev Asher said parents can reframe boundaries not as restrictions, but as a form of care. She recommended explaining to children why screen time can be harmful to their long-term focus and development.
Tavyev Asher offered reassurance to parents who worry they have made irreversible mistakes.
“Everything can change at any time that you decide to change things,” she said. She encouraged families to begin with one intentional change and replace screen time with a shared activity.
Listen to the complete segment from WebMD.