Why You Should Think Twice Before Letting Your Kids Watch Netflix or Disney+ Alone
How overstimulating TV shows damage your child's brain and what to do to promote deep focus for a successful life.
Most children’s shows or movies on platforms like Netflix and Disney+ are mindless entertainment with no real value. These shows, designed for instant gratification, offer little in terms of life lessons or emotional growth. Unlike older shows like Little House on the Prairie, which offered captivating entertainment with crucial real-life lessons, today’s kids’ shows often fail to provide anything meaningful outside of being a digital pacifier.
These fast-paced shows, full of flashing bright colors and upbeat music, overstimulate kids, making it harder for them to focus. This overstimulation fries their dopamine receptors, leaving everyday life feeling dull and unappealing compared to the instant gratification of TV, video games, or other quick fixes. This links directly to problems like anxiety and depression.
When kids watch content that doesn’t challenge them or promote critical thinking, they become passive consumers rather than active producers. This passivity stunts their ability to think independently, solve problems creatively, and engage meaningfully with the world around them.
Overstimulation
Older shows used to allow children to digest the content and reflect on what they were learning, providing enough time for thoughts to develop. Real life is not filled with constant, flashing lights, upbeat background music or fast-moving images! Those types of shows train kids to expect constant excitement. The more children are exposed to this kind of over-stimulation, the more difficult it is for them to focus on tasks that require concentration and deep thinking. And most importantly, it is precisely in that deep level of focus that learning happens, growth occurs, and where neurons make lasting connections. The success and happiness of your child’s life is directly determined by how many hours upon hours of deep work he did.
As clinical psychologist, Dr. Johann D’Souza often says, “Challenge holds the opportunity for the greatest growth.” Children, at this crucial stage in their lives, need the opportunity to face difficult challenges more than anyone else.
On the other hand, when a child grows accustomed to getting plugged into their digital pacifier every time there is a difficult emotion or challenge, they are having their brain rewired into seeking instant gratification and the path of least resistance every time. This inevitably makes real-life experiences feel less rewarding. Doing chores, looking someone in the eyes, reading a book, making their bed, cleaning up their room, and the most basic tasks that constitute a good person become more difficult than they should. In reality, these are the very tasks that make life worth living and should be the bread and butter of their life, instead of an overwhelming challenge to run away from and turn to a screen for consolation. Once you take this step, and help them through it together, you will see incredible results.
Practical Steps for Parents
Don’t let your kids watch Netflix or Disney+ alone. Watch it with them and choose appropriate content that aligns with your values. Our reviews and lists can help with that.
Reduce screen time as much as humanly possible. When there’s no other choice, at least show them something that helps them, not harms them.
Delay giving your kids smartphones for as long as possible. Consider using a simple dumbphone or a child-friendly Bark phone instead, which limits access to unnecessary distractions.
Involve your kids in your activities. Whether you’re cooking, gardening, tackling a home project, going to the store, or making phone calls, engage them in activities that help them learn to appreciate the little things in life and develop real-life skills.
Children's Health in the Digital Age - A study found that adolescents with internet addiction had twice the peripheral blood dopamine levels of healthy controls, suggesting a link between overstimulation and dopamine dysregulation.
Harvard Medical School - Research indicates that excessive screen time can desensitize the brain’s reward system, leading to attention deficits and other cognitive issues.