"Parents tell me this all the time, often with a mix of frustration and worry: My child just can't focus the way I could at their age. School feels harder. Emotions escalate faster. Distraction seems constant. But attention isn't a moral trait. It isn't a virtue some children have and others lack. Attention is a cognitive capacity-and it is deeply shaped by the conditions surrounding a child: sleep, stress, sensory overload, and the environment in which we're asking focus to happen."
"One major shift is simple but profound: Childhood is now lived largely indoors, and often through screens. In the U.S., children ages 8 to 12 spend an average of four to six hours a day interacting with digital devices. Teens can spend nine hours a day or more in front of screens. That level of exposure isn't neutral. Research around the world has linked increased screen time to both physical and psychological strain-including mood instability, anxiety, sleep disruption, and reduced time outdoors."
Children's attention is primarily determined by cognitive capacity and the environmental conditions surrounding them, not by willpower or moral character. Indoor, screen-centered lifestyles expose children to sustained stimulation, notifications, background noise, endless scrolling, and digital multitasking. U.S. children ages 8 to 12 average four to six hours of daily device use; teens can exceed nine hours. Prolonged screen exposure associates with mood instability, anxiety, sleep disruption, and reduced outdoor time. High cognitive load accumulates without natural breaks, preventing nervous-system recovery and producing distraction and anxiety that reflect environmental saturation rather than intentional misbehavior.
Read at Psychology Today
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