6/27/2026 at 6:25:39 PM
The article title claims causality. The article body says the researchers didn't claim causality: The review, conducted by researchers from four UK universities known as the Action on Digital Device Immersive Conditions Team, did not establish causal links between screen use and specific developmental conditions.by rahimnathwani
6/27/2026 at 7:24:33 PM
That's a problem because "using a screen as a babysitter" likely correlates with overworked poorer parents and thus a whole host of other developmental problemsby pmarreck
6/27/2026 at 7:28:02 PM
Even for upper middle class parents, "using a screen as a babysitter" just means you're more stressed and have less hands around. My kiddo has not seen a screen at the age of 2, but that's just because he has two parents at home at 5pm everyday.by thatfrenchguy
6/27/2026 at 7:49:30 PM
I made the error of wasting my time (ahem... it was fun while it lasted, at least) not having a kid until I turned 49... which meant our parents were too elderly (or dead) to help (my mom had me at 35) in any significant capacity, and the rest of my relatives (as it just so happened) already had plans to move away to FL before he was conceived.This has resulted in so much stress (especially in the 3's and 4's, because he still doesn't sleep through the night in his own goddamn bed) that I arguably lost a job from it... 50+ year old bodies are simply not well-capable of handling toddlers for the more-than-fulltime-weekly hours that they require
I'm sure there are fringe benefits though but damn
by pmarreck
6/27/2026 at 8:24:53 PM
I don't think child rearing is supposed to be as difficult as modern society makes it.As you pointed out, you don't have a lot of help in raising your kid. You're expected to do it mostly with your partner (or god forbid alone).
They've done some studies of hunter gather tribes to determine who handled babies the most. Turns out the kids' actual parents only handled the kids for about half the time (I think even a little less)! The term for it is "alloparenting".
Evolution did not prime us for this level of child care. Good luck to you!
by dempedempe
6/27/2026 at 8:41:33 PM
Even without going that far back, I imagine it was easier when parents kicked the kids out of the house and told them not to come back until dinner time.by rationalist
6/27/2026 at 7:58:29 PM
And banning screens for the first several decades of your child's life correlates with being a billionaire.by andai
6/27/2026 at 8:18:34 PM
This happens a lot in mainstream science and journalism. Another famous example is the often misquoted study (from McKinsey?) about DEI improving company results. The authors didn’t claim causality, since the most likely explanation is just that already large companies were more likely to adopt policies that discriminate based on race or gender. But virtually all news articles and company policies mistakenly referenced the study as if it had established causality.by SilverElfin
6/27/2026 at 8:26:54 PM
The ADDICT, niceby sfn42