Opinion: Slaying digital dragons

Is your screen time a healthy balance of homework, friends, education, and entertainment - or are you spending eight hours a day killing space invaders and mining obsidian blocks? — 123rf.com

A year and a half after the pandemic upended normal life, the amount of time kids and teens tend to spend on their devices and social media has reached shocking levels — eight, ten, even 12 or more hours a day.

Repercussions for their mental health, physical fitness, social skills, relationship building, and even for our democracy, are dire, says author and psychologist Alex Packer.