Kids' screen time rose during the pandemic and stayed high. That's a problem

While the NIH study says that it's still too early to see how increased screen time may affect kids' long-term obesity and mental health outcomes, many educators say that they believe screens have already had a negative impact on their students. — Image by Freepik

The pandemic led to a rapid rise in screen time among kids while the vast majority of them engaged in full-time remote or hybrid learning.

But as Covid-19 restrictions lifted and students returned to in-person instruction, the time they spent in front of screens didn't come back down as expected, according to newly released research supported by the National Institutes of Health and published in the journal Pediatrics. Those elevated levels of screen time persisted for more than one year after the pandemic forced mass school building closures nationwide.