Screen Deep

Children today are inundated with sophisticated marketing and ads online, particularly for unhealthy foods which can contribute to obesity and other negative health impacts. On this episode of Screen Deep, host Kris Perry is joined by food policy expert and leader in the fight against childhood obesity Dr. Kelly Brownell to discuss the ways in which this “toxic food environment” impacts children’s health and well-being. Dr. Brownell explores the addictive nature of highly processed and sugary foods and beverages, and draws parallels between the food and social media industries on how they prey on children’s vulnerabilities. He emphasizes the importance of policy solutions to help families cope with the powerful effect of food advertising on children’s health.
In this episode, you will learn:
How screen use is linked to childhood obesity
How daily exposure to large amounts of food advertising influences child and adolescent food choices and behaviors
Why the food industry is incentivized to market unhealthy and addictive foods to children starting at young ages
Why parents need support from policymakers and regulators to help protect children from the health effects of unhealthy online food marketing 
The similarities between the food industry’s use of additives and the tobacco industry’s use of ingredients to manipulate desire and increase product appeal and dependence

For more resources and research on this topic visit the Learn and Explore section of the Children and Screens website (https://www.childrenandscreens.org)

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Follow Children and Screens on: 
Facebook: Children and Screens: Institute of Digital Media and Child Development
Instagram: @childrenandscreens
LinkedIn: Children and Screens: Institute of Digital Media and Child Development
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Bluesky: @childrenandscreens.bsky.social

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Music: 'Life in Silico' by Scott Buckley - released under CC-BY 4.0. www.scottbuckley.com.au

For decades, researchers have studied why babies and young children learn differently from screens than they do from real-world experiences. On this episode of Screen Deep, host Kris Perry is joined by Dr. Rachel Barr, Professor of Psychology at Georgetown University and a leading expert in early childhood and digital media. Dr. Barr describes why it’s difficult for young children to learn from digital media, a concept called the “video transfer deficit effect,” and explains which specific features of high quality media paired with parenting practices can support learning and development. Dr. Barr also describes why video chatting is often an exception to screen time guidelines, how family media plans can help family relationships, and the importance of considering children’s environments holistically when studying how they interact with and are impacted by digital media.
In this episode, you will learn:
Why it can be difficult for young children to learn from digital media and how researchers discovered the “transfer deficit effect” 
How parental guidance and educational app design can make learning from media easier for children
What features to look for in educational shows and apps 
One expert-recommended app for young children and what makes it stand out 
Why thinking more expansively beyond “screen time” is essential for evaluating your child’s media use
How parents’ own media use — and how they talk about it with their children — can shape family relationships

For more resources and research on this topic visit the Learn and Explore section of the Children and Screens website (https://www.childrenandscreens.org)

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Follow Children and Screens on: 
Facebook: Children and Screens: Institute of Digital Media and Child Development
Instagram: @childrenandscreens
LinkedIn: Children and Screens: Institute of Digital Media and Child Development
X: @childrenscreens
Bluesky: @childrenandscreens.bsky.social

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Music: 'Life in Silico' by Scott Buckley - released under CC-BY 4.0. www.scottbuckley.com.au

As courts increasingly examine the impact of social media on young people, new legal approaches are beginning to reshape how responsibility for harms are understood, shifting the focus from content to platform design. On this special episode of Screen Deep, host Kris Perry speaks with Matthew Bergman, founding attorney of the Social Media Victims Law Center, professor of Lewis & Clark Law School, and a member of Children and Screens’ Scientific Advisory Board. Bergman also served on the legal team representing the plaintiff in a landmark case examining the impact  of social media platform design on youth.
Together, Kris and Matt explore why it has historically been difficult to bring lawsuits against technology companies, how recent litigation strategies are more effective than past efforts, and what these developments could mean for the future of platform accountability.
In this episode, you will learn:
Why social media companies have historically avoided accountability for harm encountered through their products, and how that may be changing 
How recent lawsuits have uncovered key internal evidence that social media platforms were designed to be addictive to young users despite known risks 
How legal experts are using scientific research and product liability law to help define harms to youth and establish social media platform accountability
Why recent lawsuits are focusing on social media platform design rather than content, and why that matters 
Why legislative change is needed to assist the effort to enforce social media platform transparency and accountability

For more resources and research on this topic visit the Learn and Explore section of the Children and Screens website (https://www.childrenandscreens.org)

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Follow Children and Screens on: 
Facebook: Children and Screens: Institute of Digital Media and Child Development
Instagram: @childrenandscreens
LinkedIn: Children and Screens: Institute of Digital Media and Child Development
X: @childrenscreens
Bluesky: @childrenandscreens.bsky.social

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Music: 'Life in Silico' by Scott Buckley - released under CC-BY 4.0. www.scottbuckley.com.au

How is digital media use rewiring children’s brains – and how can these impacts be measured? In this episode of Screen Deep, host Kris Perry discusses the latest research on screen use and brain development with Dr. Tzipi Horowitz-Kraus, Associate Professor in the Faculty of Education in Science and Technology and the Faculty of Biomedical Engineering at the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology. Dr. Horowitz-Kraus provides an overview of how the brain processes language and reading, what her brain imaging research shows about how these processes and related cognitive skills work differently with digital media, as well as how the presence of mobile phones and other technology can disrupt attention.
In this episode, you will learn:
What brain imaging is revealing about how screen use affects the developing brains of children
Why specific areas of the brain and the networks that connect them each matter for child reading and language development
How to read to your child to engage attention and creativity
Differences in how print versus digital reading activate cognitive regions in the brain
How the mere physical presence of a smartphone can affect children’s attention, impulse control, and task performance

For more resources and research on this topic visit the Learn and Explore section of the Children and Screens website (https://www.childrenandscreens.org)

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Follow Children and Screens on: 
Facebook: Children and Screens: Institute of Digital Media and Child Development
Instagram: @childrenandscreens
LinkedIn: Children and Screens: Institute of Digital Media and Child Development
X: @childrenscreens
Bluesky: @childrenandscreens.bsky.social

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Music: 'Life in Silico' by Scott Buckley - released under CC-BY 4.0. www.scottbuckley.com.au

How do online environments shape children’s health and well-being? Which features have the biggest impact, and how can we make sense of the very different ways individual children experience the same digital world? On this episode of Screen Deep, host Kris Perry discusses new research into this “digital exposome” with Dr. Ran Barzilay, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Barzilay explains how researchers are beginning to measure and quantify online environmental factors, cutting-edge findings from his study on adolescent smartphone ownership and health risks, and why making recommendations can be challenging when conclusive evidence is lacking. He also provides concrete suggestions for parents, including signs to look for when deciding whether it might be appropriate to introduce a smartphone. 
In this episode, you will learn:
How researchers are using new data techniques to quantify parts of the digital environment that may affect child health and why that matters for families 
What new, cutting-edge research suggests about the age of first smartphone ownership and negative health outcomes
What emerging evidence is showing about other digital use patterns and child health - and what questions scientists are still trying to answer 
How one leading researcher is  thinking about digital parenting decisions for his own family based on the new evidence

For more resources and research on this topic visit the Learn and Explore section of the Children and Screens website (https://www.childrenandscreens.org)

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Follow Children and Screens on: 
Facebook: Children and Screens: Institute of Digital Media and Child Development
Instagram: @childrenandscreens
LinkedIn: Children and Screens: Institute of Digital Media and Child Development
X: @childrenscreens
Bluesky: @childrenandscreens.bsky.social

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Music: 'Life in Silico' by Scott Buckley - released under CC-BY 4.0. www.scottbuckley.com.au