The hidden cost of screen time for children

This story has significance for readers across Kenya and beyond.

Open TikTok on any afternoon and you'll likely find children filming dance videos, lip-syncing to trending sounds or trying out the latest challenge. Away from the app, the picture is much the same. In many homes this school holiday, children are spending hours on phones and tablets.

Experts say that while screens offer entertainment and learning, growing up online is also changing how children interact with others and exposing them to risks many families overlook.

"School holidays are meant to be a season of rest and play. Increasingly, though, they have become a season of screens," says Winnie Naomi Ndungu, a child and adolescent psychologist.

"With structured routines gone and free hours stretching ahead, many children fill the gap with phones, tablets, gaming consoles and endless scrolling."

According to Ndungu, prolonged exposure to short-form content and social media feeds changes how children's brains respond to stimulation.

"Short-form videos, games and social feeds are engineered to deliver quick dopamine hits, and children who spend hours immersed in this cycle often become restless, irritable or emotionally flat when the screen is taken away," she says.

Many parents dismiss such reactions as stubbornness or bad behaviour; however, they may reflect a child who has become dependent on constant stimulation.

She says excessive screen use becomes a concern when it begins replacing sleep, physical activity, household responsibilities or face-to-face interaction.

Parents should also watch for behavioural changes such as anxiety when devices are unavailable, secrecy around phone use or a sudden loss of interest in hobbies children once enjoyed.

Beyond emotional wellbeing, screens may also be slowly changing how children learn.

"Prolonged exposure to fast-paced, algorithm-driven content trains the brain to expect rapid shifts in stimulation," Ndungu explains.

"Over time, this can shorten a child's attention span and make slower-paced activities like reading, homework and face-to-face conversations feel unbearably boring."

Perhaps one of the biggest shifts, she says, is how social media is influencing children's sense of identity.

"When likes, comments and follower counts become the yardstick for self-worth, a child's mood can start rising and falling based on numbers they cannot control," she says.

"This teaches them, often without anyone intending it, that their value is external and conditional rather than something stable within themselves."

She warns that screens can gradually become a child's primary source of comfort and companionship, replacing human interaction and limiting opportunities to develop patience, resilience and social skills. Children who spend more time engaging with screens than with people may struggle to read facial expressions, hold conversations or resolve conflicts in person.

But the concerns do not end with mental wellbeing.

Polycap Oliver Oluoch Ochieng, a cybersecurity expert and partner at Techrise, says children today are also leaving behind extensive digital footprints long before they fully understand the consequences.

"Gaming platforms, social media and messaging apps have become attractive hunting grounds for cybercriminals because children are naturally curious and more trusting than adults," he says.

"Many attacks begin with what appears to be a harmless conversation or an offer of free rewards."

According to Ochieng, children often reveal far more information than they realise. Photos, videos and profile updates can expose their names, schools, birthdays, neighbourhoods, daily routines and even locations through geotagged images.

While each post may appear harmless on its own, criminals can combine these details to build detailed profiles that make identity theft, scams and social engineering attacks easier.

"The internet rarely forgets," Ochieng says. "Every post helps create a child's online presence and can stay with them well into adulthood."

He warns that photographs shared today can later be copied, manipulated using artificial intelligence or used without consent to create fake social media accounts or fraudulent websites.

The popularity of viral challenges and online trends has added another layer of concern. Many encourage children to trade privacy for popularity by revealing where they live, where they go to school or where they spend their free time in pursuit of likes and followers.

Cybercriminals, Ochieng says, actively monitor publicly available information to support impersonation scams and other attacks.

Artificial intelligence is also changing the landscape.

"It is possible to use deepfake videos and AI-generated voices to impersonate teachers, parents, celebrities or public figures," Ochieng says, adding that phishing scams have become increasingly convincing.

He believes children must now learn to question what they see online instead of accepting everything at face value.

Despite the risks, both experts agree that the answer is not banning technology altogether.

Ndungu says parents should avoid becoming "surveillance officers" and instead create an environment where children feel comfortable discussing what they encounter online.

"Co-viewing content, agreeing on shared family screen rules and modelling healthy device habits yourself all go further than restrictions alone," she says.

For families already struggling with excessive screen use, she recommends introducing screen-free periods gradually and replacing devices with engaging offline activities rather than imposing sudden bans.

Ochieng echoes the importance of conversation over control. "Cybersecurity starts at home, not with software," he says.

"By staying engaged, demonstrating responsible online habits and helping children critically evaluate content before clicking, sharing or commenting, parents give them the tools they need to stay safe online."

Reporting originally appeared via Nation Africa. Read the full source for additional context.