Excessive screen time in UAE children causes Still Face Syndrome
The positive thing is that still face syndrome children benefit and improve psychologically when their screen time is decreased.
As due to wide ranges of emergencies to do school work, children are spending longer hours on screens, another disorder is pronounced Still face syndrome. The term from the traditional psychological experiment has entered to describe children who are ignore allergies and other emotions — thanks to screen time, experts say.
Does growing dependence on gadgets explain this phenomenon among children?
According to Dr Puneet Wadhwa, a pediatrician at Prime Medical Hospital, Still Face Syndrome is a condition in which children ‘Within research on screens children show reduced engagement and responsiveness to real life social interaction cues which is probably due to excessive screen time. The term has its roots in Still Face Experiment conducted in the 1970s. In this experiment, caregivers were asked to interact with their infant normally and then suddenly with no emotional expression. Infants cried in response to this situation.
Some experts today take a position where they believe a similar effect can also happen to certain children who remain in front of a digital device too long and have little physical contact with parental figures.
Dr Wadhwa added, “Children's brains are very plastic and develop when you expose them to the environment. When there is not enough ‘real’ interaction, they may lose capacity for recognizing emotions, maintaining eye contact, social engagement, and so on.”
As far as screen time is concerned in a child’s early years, the disadvantages of social media are startling, according to Dr Ahmed Ebied, a neurologist at Medcare Hospital. “Excessive screen time in children, with particular reference to crucial growth periods, often results in delays in their social and emotional competencies. This includes reduced empathy, unrecognizably emotional conditions, or even awful behavioral patterns.”
As Ohman noted, so do screens in children the parts of the brain responsible for attention and emotion regulation. “With some children, what we see today is not so different from what occurred with the original Still Face Experiment: withdrawal, frustration, and a level of emotional disengagement.”
Spotting the signs
The parents must learn the symptoms of the Still Face Syndrome. As parents, Dr Wadhwa recommended looking for signs like a child who avoids eye contact or even avoids the company of people and prefers to sit alone and still surrounded by the electronic. “These children often appear dazed by the world around them or have difficulties expressing their feelings,” she explained.
Judging there are growing worries, Dr. Ebied, these behaviors may not be enduring. “The encouraging thing is though, that for many children with signs of Still Face Syndrome, very big improvements are observed when the screen exposure is grossly curtailed, and the children are encouraged to socially interact with people rather than screens.”
Choosing interaction over screen time
Dr Wadhwa also agreed on the question of how much screen time is considered to be too much. One of the restrictions Wadhwa recommended was zero screen time for children less than two years old. “This is a crucial stage in brain development, so the emphasis should be on physical activity and interactions in real life.” On the other hand, for children who are older than that, Wadhwa suggests that in order not to interrupt their emotional and social development, screen time must be capped, to a maximum two hours a day.
Dr. Ebied suggested that caregivers limit the use of a screen as much as possible and instead focus on other interaction-oriented settings like eating at the table without any distractions, spending time outside or talking face-to-face. “Little children can learn much more effectively through engaging and interacting with things and other people. Children’s interaction with screens is however informative, at some point, nothing can be compared to those interactions.”
The Debate on the Long-Term Consequences
Screen time, for one, is a common topic among experts, while others are still careful not to make any sweeping assumptions. ‘We are still working on it,’ added Dr Ebied. “What we know is that too much exposure to screens affects children, yet how they grow and develop over time remains to be what needs further research.”
As of now, Dr Wadhwa and Dr Ebied have reached a common ground on one matter: there is a need to encourage children’s proper screen time while enhancing their interactions with the real world. “In the end,” Dr Wadhwa explained, “it is essentially the issue of where to draw the line, where restrictions do not interfere with the development of the child and relations with the emotional and social aspects of life take their place.”
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