Screen time
amount of time spent using a device such as a smartphone, computer, television, or video game console
Screen time is the amount of time spent using an electronic device with a display screen emitting blue light, such as a smartphone, computer, television, video game console, or tablet. The concept is under significant research with related concepts in digital media use and mental health. Screen time is correlated with mental and physical harm in child development. The positive or negative health effects of screen time on a particular individual are influenced by levels and content of exposure. Screen time is known to increase dopamine and mess with the circadian rhythm. To prevent harmful excesses of screen time, some governments have placed regulations on usage.
History
An early researcher who worked on the first electronic computer at Princeton in the 1950's alongside John von Neumann, "insisted on using punched cards, even when everybody had computer screens." Amongst the reasons that he gave for this, we find the statement that, "when you sit in front of a screen your ability to think clearly declines because you're distracted by irrelevancies." This early intuition has since been verified by dozens of studies.
Statistics
The first electronic screen was the cathode ray tube (CRT), which was invented in 1922. CRTs were the most popular choice for display screens until the rise of liquid crystal displays (LCDs) in the early 2000s. Screens are now an essential part of entertainment, advertising, and information technologies.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Screen time” as amount of time spent using a device such as a smartphone, computer, television, or video game console. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the arts & letters register because the source frames it as amount of time spent using a device such as a smartphone, computer, television, or video game console. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Attribution, date and provenance are strongest when supported by the original work, a catalogue record and documented transmission. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 24, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q28130149. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1950 and 1922.
Titles can refer to several editions, objects or performances, making precise identification essential before interpretation. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.
- Identifying works and editions
- Tracing reception history
- Finding collection records
The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Screen time”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Screen time primary sources, Screen time archive and Screen research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Screen time”?
- Which edition, object, performance or recording is being described?
- Where is authorship, date or provenance documented?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Screen time” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.