Victoria Talwar, ECP and Interim Dean, Interviewed for Adult/Children Screen Time on CTV News

Dr. Victoria Talwar, Canada Research Chair in ECP and the Faculty of Education's Interim Dean, was interviewed on CTV News on the screen times of both adults and children, and the effects it can have on kids.

The research on children's screen time has shown that less is more, however when it comes to a child’s development, parents should spend less time worrying about their kids’ screen time and focus more on reducing their own.

"When you have a parent who is disengaged and not giving the children that attention, it does have a very negative impact on their development," explains Dr. Talwar. "They need to be able to explore their world and learn about it and engage with their environment in a hands-on way."

Parents have a strong hand in developing their children's early language, cognitive and emotional self-regulation capabilities, and when they are distracted or not paying attention to them, they are not getting conversational input and missing out on important developmental understanding of their world.