Hold Me Back Podcast: Devices and Screen Time

Put that phone away! Or don’t? Device usage and screen time often becomes the most contested topic between kids and parents. Aidan and Ash dive into the research and compare the findings with the realities in their own household. All in this week’s episode of Hold Me Back. Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, and your other favorite podcast platforms.

• Episode Summary & Player
• Show Notes
• Hold Me Back Summary

Devices and Screen Time

Put that phone away! Or don’t? Device usage and screen time often becomes the most contested topic between kids and parents. Aidan and Ash dive into the research and compare the findings with the realities in their own household. Hear them debate the best age to give your child a smartphone, the appropriate amount of daily screen time, the potential long-term psychological impacts, and the many false beliefs held by parents and kids alike. This episode covers everything from video games to texting at dinner. Here’s a small sample of what you will hear in this episode:

• The rationale behind device rules in the Eldifrawi household
• Pros and cons to using devices for babysitting
• What are the problems with device usage research?
• What’s the right age for a child to get a smartphone?
• The constantly evolving definition of device time
• The misconceptions about why kids want smartphones
• The role parents play in their child’s device usage
• Are parents thinking about this all wrong?

Who was more convincing: Aidan or Ash? Vote at the bottom of this post.

Enjoy the show! Check out the show notes below for much more detail.

Show Notes

• Intro to Devices and Screen Time
• [0:29] Welcome to Hold Me Back
• [0:35] Meet Aidan (Gen Z) & Ash (Gen X)
• [0:52] Boomers
• [1:01] Where did the topic of devices and screen time come from?
• [1:15] Smartphone
• [2:12] Device Addiction, Social Media
• [2:49] Education, Tutoring
• [3:19] What were the rules around smartphones in the ElDifrawi house?
• [3:52] Apps
• [5:34] The Babysitter Concept
• [5:51] Facebook, Twitter
• [6:14] PC, PlayStation
• What does the research tell us about devices and screen time?
• [7:34] Problems with the screen time research
• [8:25] Causation vs. Correlation
• [10:04] Minecraft
• [10:10] Duolingo
• [10:17] Netflix
• [10:55] Opportunity Cost
• [11:20] “How Old Should Kids Be When They Get Their Own Digital Devices?“
• [12:00] Bill Gates & Steve Jobs on smartphones
• [12:15] “What’s the Right Age for a Child to Get a Smartphone?“
• [12:25] Sexting
• [12:37] Common Sense Media Parents Survey
• [13:11] The Boogeyman Exists; And He’s In Your Child’s Back Pocket by Jesse Weinberger
• [14:29] The Common Sense Census: Media Use by Tweens and Teens, 2019
• [15:22] “How video gaming can be beneficial for the brain“
• [15:36] Prefrontal Cortex
• [16:33] Technology (Tech)
• What misconceptions do previous generations have about new technology?
• [17:15] “The Truth About Research on Screen Time” by the Dana Foundation
• [19:41] Psychologist
• [19:53] Hi-Tech vs. Low-Tech Parents
• [20:50] The Chicken or The Egg
• [21:00] DABI (Dana Alliance for Brain Initiatives)
• [21:37] Podcast
• [24:24] Why do kids want to have smartphones?
• [24:36] iPod Touch
• [25:02] Cyberbullying
• [27:09] COVID-19
• [27:35] Is a child’s use of technology a reflection of the parent?
• [31:00] Ellen Selkie from the University of Michigan
• [32:41] Wisconsin-Iowa State Joint Study
• [33:49] “Dopamine, Smartphones & You: A battle for your time” by Trevor Haynes
• [34:20] Dopamine
• [36:53] Isolation Chamber
• [37:18] Stephanie Pappas of the APA (American Psychological Association)
• [38:22] U-Curve Relationship
• What new research is kicking off?
• [39:32] “Screen Time and the Brain“
• [39:52] “What do we really know about kids and screens?“
• You convinced me
• [40:20] What did Aidan convince Ash of?
• [41:17] What did Ash convince Aidan of?
• [45:50] Thank you for listening! Subscribe to Hold Me Back on HoldMeBack.com
• [45:59] Who was more convincing: Aidan or Ash? Vote below

Thank you for listening to Hold Me Back. To hear more episodes, subscribe to Hold Me Back at HoldMeBack.com.

What is Hold Me Back?

Gen X and Gen Z live together, but we occupy different worlds. As the generational gap widens and conventional wisdom on parenting and education fails, is it even possible to understand one another? In this unique son-and-father podcast, Aidan & Ash ElDifrawi hash out a new contract between generations, forcing them to violate comfort zones on today’s most charged topics: social media and screen time, bullying and loneliness, inequality and privilege, sex and drugs, education and etiquette, even politics, religion, and sports. All to uncover a path toward greater harmony and a hopeful future for the next generation.