Neuroscience Educator Nathan Wallis was interviewed on Radio NZ yesterday about his research on the effects of screen time on mental wellbeing.

“There’s real potential for danger on social media,” said Wallis, and again, parents often feel ill-equipped to deal with them having not been exposed to the same kinds of dangers in their own youth.

Wallis urged parents to enforce at least two hours of screen-free time per day, saying research showed this significantly decreased the risk of poor mental health outcomes.

When his own children were teenagers, he got into the habit of turning the modem off during the “high interaction” time around dinner.

“The kids fighting over who’s setting the table, and flicking each other with tea towels and stuff while they’re doing the dishes might seem like it’s not achieving much, but actually that’s releasing all the same peptides and hormones into the brain that interaction releases and that’s what keeps us healthy.”

While parents were right to be concerned about screen use and social media, the best thing they could do was educate themselves and set firm boundaries.

”We’re silly to think we can fight technology,” said Wallis. “We have to learn how to integrate technology.

In his interview, Wallis reiterated the fact that having two hours free from screen time each day pretty much negates the negative effects on mental wellbeing that screen time can have.