Screen Time and the Impossibility of Modern Parenting

How much screen time is harmful to a child's brain?Does 'high stimulation' screen time cause more tantrums than 'low stimulation' screen time?What screen time is best, and worst, for a child’s language development?For parents of young children, this kind of talk is ubiquitous-it is in news headlines and social media content, arguments with partners and conversations with friends. Scholars have argued that the catch-all concept of ‘screen time’ limits discussions about children's digital media use: it assumes all screen use is alike and is associated with an overwhelming focus on harm.Yet talk about 'screen time' dominates everyday culture.Why has this discourse proven so persistent and powerful?Rather than debating the impacts of children's media use or the validity of ‘screen time’ as a term, this book steps further back to investigate discourse about screen time and early childhood as a cultural phenomenon in itself.It examines how dominant ideals and narratives about ‘good’ parentin