The Screen Time Problem: A Parenting Dilemma Unique to the Digital Age Featuring Michael Amin of Maximum Difference Foundation

As parents, it can be difficult to gauge the relationship small children have with screen time. If you’ve ever passed by a darkened rec room only to find your beloved offspring staring wide-eyed and mesmerized by a glowing big screen TV broadcasting content of debatable value, you might be inclined to worry.

Some parents call it a new mutation of an old problem, one that began in the 1950s with the widespread adoption of television by American families. Some parents are harsher, calling it the scourge of the 21st century, with video games, social media, and mindless television atrophying the minds of our youngest and most suggestible citizens. And some parents are ambivalent about the issue, writing it off as simply ‘the new normal’ and taking a laissez faire stance, confident that their kids will eventually outgrow their love affair with screens and learn to spend their time more wisely.

So, who’s right when it comes to this deceptively complex dilemma of modern parenting? “The truth of the matter is that there’s a happy middle to be achieved with screen time,” says Michael Amin, founder of Maximum Difference Foundation (MDF), an LA-based nonprofit organization that has spent no small amount of time and resources studying the issue. “Screen time itself is not the enemy. The real issue is the danger it potentially poses to replace, rather than support, meaningful development in kids.”

Luckily, Amin and his team at MDF have identified four handy tips for parents to help them navigate their way through this problem, guided by peer-reviewed science, and placing the best interests of children at the forefront.

First Tip: Watch Stuff With Your Kids

It may sound simple, but one of the best things you can do is share screen time with your children. A 2020 investigation and meta-analysis published by JAMA Pediatrics outlines that co-viewing multimedia content with your children encourages stronger language, thinking, and social skills.

“By consuming videos with your kids, you can turn screen time from a passive activity into an opportunity to analyze and learn,” says Michael Amin. “This is best facilitated by asking them open-ended questions about what you’ve watched together after the fact, most especially questions that begin with ‘why’. This helps kids practice reasoning, empathy, and communication, which are crucial foundations for other, more complicated social, emotional, and cognitive skills needed later on in life.”

Second Tip: Emphasize Quality Subject Matter

What your children take in through screen time matters a lot. For example, there is a world of difference between a still-developing child watching a historical documentary or a show that deconstructs scientific principles when compared to a raunchy sitcom or violent Saturday-morning cartoon.

“Making sure the media kids consume is age-appropriate and deals with educational subjects is a big part of setting kids up for success through screen time rather than just using it to kill time or act as a surrogate babysitter,” remarks Amin. “In a perfect world, you want to promote shows, apps, or games that inflame the imagination, teach facts, or encourage learning opportunities.”

Third Tip: No Screens as Background Noise 

Having a TV on in the background while no one is really paying attention to it is the norm in some households, but research suggests this habit can quietly interfere with a child’s development. A 2020 scientific study published in the journal Pediatric Research found that television left on as background noise, especially set to programming not designed for children, can negatively affect language and early literacy skills.

The issue at play here is not only what children are watching, but what they are missing. Background screens compete for attention, disrupt natural conversation patterns, and reduce the quality of interactions between parents and children during everyday moments like meals, playtime, or winding down at the end of the day.

“Kids are always listening, even when they don’t look like they are,” says Michael Amin. “When a TV is running non-stop in the background, it pulls their attention away from real conversations and other beneficial activities. And those small, ordinary moments are where language skills and important mental connections are built.”

Fourth Tip: Know When to Shut It Off

Children learn as much, if not more, from what adults do as opposed to what they say. When parents are frequently absorbed by screens, whether it’s endlessly scrolling through a smartphone or half-watching a TV while doing another task, kids notice. Over time, this can send the message that divided attention is normal.

But the human attention span is naturally limited. When screens distract adults, especially during designated parent-child time, children lose valuable opportunities to improve their vocabulary, emotional awareness, and problem-solving skills. Turning screens off when they are not being actively used helps create space for deeper engagement and shared focus.

“Being present is one of the most powerful tools a parent has,” Amin explains. “Knowing when to shut a screen off shows children that they matter more than whatever is happening on a device. And what could possibly be more important than demonstrating to your child that they matter more than some reality show or primetime drama? That lesson will stay with them long after the screen goes dark.”

Overall Tip: Actively Seek to Learn and Grow as a Parent

In the end, practicing good screen time hygiene with small children is only one factor raising happy and healthy kids poised for success throughout all stages of life. It is a major battle during their formative years, to be sure, but it is only one colorful tile in the mosaic that is mindful and intentional parenting.

Maximum Difference Foundation, alongside its founder and driving force, Michael Amin, has done extensive work in identifying the various components that make up the art and science of good parenting. They believe that investing in the emotional intelligence, resilience, and confidence of younger generations is the best way to ensure a brighter future, and that doing so causes positive effects that will ripple throughout the coming decades in innumerable ways. In fact, MDF focuses a great deal of its official efforts on encouraging parents of young children to read books, attend seminars, and explore all potential avenues of knowledge that promote nurturing, evidence-based child-rearing, up to and including consulting therapists when needed.

But it should be noted that Maximum Difference Foundation engages in all sorts of other activities meant to better the world, in keeping with the spirit of its name. MDF routinely partners with well-established nonprofits like Doctors Without Borders, the American Civil Liberties Union, the National MS Society, the American Diabetes Association, and Amnesty International, among many others, to help provide assistance to those in need, both domestically and across the globe.