Hello and every week I'll help you meet life's challenges with evidence-based

I'm Dr. Ellen Hendrickson and every week I'll help you meet life's

challenges with evidence-based research, a sympathetic ear, and zero judgment.

Want a sure-fire conversation starter with any group of parents?

Well, rather than bullying, college applications, or even the defective

wiring of toddlers, if you want parents to talk, bring up the idea of kids and screen time.

Because the headline, Scream!

Screens are like crack!

Screens turn your kids brain to mush.

Last year, Time magazine

ran an article about how tech in the classroom leads to worse educational outcomes

and noted that over 200 studies have linked increased screen time to ADHD, depression, anxiety, increased aggression, and even psychosis.

So what gives?

Are screens really that bad for our kids?

If so, we've got a problem on our hands even bigger than when your kid tries to eat chips and hear

epic rap battles of history at the same time.

And I don't have to tell you that screens are everywhere.

In a 2013 study out of the London School of Economics,

25% of three to four-year-olds in the US

had used the internet.

In the Netherlands, it was 78% and in the past few years it's safe

to assume that percentage has probably grown. Fast forward to adolescence, a Pew study found

...