Kids are spending an increasing amount of time engaged with screens, according to several studies. One, cited by the American Academy of Pediatrics in 2013, found that the average 8-year-old spends about eight hours a day with televisions, computers or smartphone screens. That average goes up to 11 hours a day for teens, and it seems a growing number of researchers believe that such screens and the Internet can foster a full-blown addiction.

Although pediatricians say that kids shouldn’t be exposed to any electronic media before age 2, many kids learn how to use a swipe screen before they learn to walk. As children age, it’s rare for moms and dads to put many restrictions on their screen time. Part of that is because screen-based entertainment can provide parents with parenting breathers. The time a child spends watching Frozen on television or playing “Candy Crush” on the phone is time the child isn’t demanding a parents’ attention.

“We’re throwing screens at children all day long, giving them distractions rather than teaching them how to self-soothe, to calm themselves down,” says Catherine Steiner-Adair, a clinical psychologist with Harvard University and author of The Big Disconnect: Protecting Childhood and Family Relationships in the Digital Age. (New York Times)