Why There Are No TVs at MCA: What the Research Says About Screens and Young Children

Parents who tour Montessori Children’s Academy often notice something missing: there are no televisions in our classrooms. No tablets at the snack table, no cartoons at nap time, no video “breaks.” This is a deliberate choice, and it is grounded in a growing body of research on how screens affect children’s health and development, beginning in the very first years of life.

The Phone Is Arriving Earlier Than Ever

A national Common Sense Media survey found that 42% of American children own a smartphone by age 10, rising to 71% by age 12 and 91% by age 14. For many families, the first personal device now arrives in elementary school, and screen habits begin even earlier, often in infancy.

That timeline matters, because researchers are now able to look at what happens to children who get devices early compared with those who wait.

What the Newest Research on Older Children Shows

Health and sleep. In late 2025, the journal Pediatrics published an analysis of more than 10,500 participants in the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study, the largest long-term study of child brain development in the United States. Compared with peers who did not yet have a phone, 12-year-olds who owned a smartphone had roughly 1.3 times the risk of depression, 1.4 times the risk of obesity, and 1.6 times the risk of insufficient sleep. The researchers also found that the earlier a child received a phone, the higher the risk, and that even children who first got a phone at 13 showed poorer sleep and mental health a year later.

Reading comprehension. In July 2026, a UCLA study published in Behavioral Sciences found that elementary students in third and sixth grade who owned a personal phone scored lower on reading comprehension than classmates without one. Notably, it made no difference whether the phone was in the room during testing. Ownership itself, not the immediate distraction, was associated with lower scores, and the authors suggested that parents concerned about reading skills consider delaying a personal phone through elementary school.

As with most research of this kind, these studies show associations rather than proof of cause and effect. But the pattern across large, careful studies is consistent enough that pediatric researchers and parent movements such as Wait Until 8th now encourage families to treat a first smartphone as a significant health milestone and to delay it until at least the early teen years.

Why This Matters Even More for Infants and Toddlers

If screens can affect a 10- or 12-year-old’s sleep, mood, and reading, it is worth asking what they do to a brain that is still forming its foundational connections. The first three years are the most rapid period of brain growth in a child’s life, and the research on this age group is just as compelling.

Language and problem-solving. A 2023 study in JAMA Pediatrics followed more than 7,000 children in Japan. Those with more screen time at age 1 were more likely to show delays in communication and problem-solving skills at ages 2 and 4. Children with four or more hours a day were nearly five times as likely to show communication delays at age 2 as those with under an hour.

Fewer conversations at home. A 2024 Australian study, also in JAMA Pediatrics, used small recording devices to measure the home language environment of toddlers aged 12 to 36 months. The more screen time a child was exposed to, the fewer adult words they heard, the fewer sounds they made, and the fewer back-and-forth exchanges they had with their parents. Researchers call this “technoference”: the screen quietly crowds out the conversation that young brains depend on.

This is the key insight for parents of very young children. The harm is not only in what a screen shows; it is in what the screen replaces. Every hour in front of a video is an hour not spent babbling with a caregiver, stacking blocks, turning the pages of a book, or exploring the garden with all five senses.

What the Health Authorities Recommend

Leading health organizations are clear on this point:

• American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP): No screen media for children under 18 months, other than video chatting with family. From 18 to 24 months, only high-quality content watched together with an adult. For ages 2 to 5, no more than one hour a day of high-quality programming, ideally co-viewed.
• World Health Organization (WHO): No sedentary screen time at all for infants under 1 or for 1-year-olds. For 2- to 4-year-olds, no more than one hour a day, and the WHO adds that less is better. In its place, the WHO recommends active play, good sleep, and quiet time with a caregiver through reading, storytelling, singing, and puzzles.

For the infants and toddlers in our Nido, Seedlings, and Sprouts classrooms, the guidance points in one direction: little or no screen time.

How This Shapes Our Classrooms at MCA

Dr. Maria Montessori observed that the hand is the instrument of the mind. Young children learn by touching, moving, pouring, sorting, and talking with the people around them. Our Montessori and Reggio Emilia–inspired environments are designed around that principle, which is why we choose not to have televisions or tablets in the classroom. Instead, the day is filled with:

• Real conversation. Teachers narrate, ask questions, sing, and respond to every coo and word, building the rich language environment research links to strong development.
• Hands-on materials. Puzzles, practical life work, and sensory materials build the problem-solving and fine motor skills that screen time has been associated with delaying.
• Movement and outdoor time. Active play supports healthy weight, coordination, and better sleep, exactly what the WHO prioritizes for children under five.
• Calm, focused attention. Without the fast pace of video, children practice the sustained concentration that later supports reading and learning.

Practical Steps for Families at Home

We know screens are part of modern family life, and our goal is to support parents, not to judge them. A few research-informed steps can make a meaningful difference:

1. Keep the TV off in the background. Even when a child is not watching, background TV reduces the conversation happening around them.
2. Protect meals and bedtime. Make the table and the bedroom screen-free zones to support connection and sleep.
3. Watch your own phone habits. Toddlers notice where our attention goes; putting your phone away during play is a gift to their language development.
4. If you use screens, use them together. Video calls with grandparents and short, shared viewing of high-quality content are very different from a child watching alone.
5. Plan the first phone thoughtfully. It may feel far away, but the habits you build now shape how your child will relate to technology later. Many families find it helpful to decide early, together with other parents, to delay a personal smartphone.

A Foundation Worth Protecting

The early years pass quickly, and they are the years in which the foundations for language, attention, emotional health, and a love of learning are laid. Choosing a screen-free classroom is one of the ways we protect that foundation, and partnering with families to do the same at home is one of the most valuable things we can do together.

To see a screen-free Montessori classroom in action, book a tour at https://miamimontessori.com/book-a-tour/ or reach us at office@miamimontessori.com. / 786-822-6930

References

1. Barzilay, R., et al. (2025). Smartphone ownership, age of acquisition, and health outcomes in early adolescence. Pediatrics. Data from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study.
2. Greenfield, P., et al. (2026). Phone ownership and reading comprehension in elementary school children. Behavioral Sciences. UCLA.
3. Takahashi, I., et al. (2023). Screen time at age 1 year and communication and problem-solving developmental delay at 2 and 4 years. JAMA Pediatrics. doi:10.1001/jamapediatrics.2023.3057
4. Brushe, M. E., et al. (2024). Screen time and parent-child talk when children are aged 12 to 36 months. JAMA Pediatrics.
5. American Academy of Pediatrics. Media and Young Minds (policy statement) and the Family Media Plan, HealthyChildren.org.
6. World Health Organization. (2019). Guidelines on physical activity, sedentary behaviour and sleep for children under 5 years of age.
7. Common Sense Media. (2021). The Common Sense Census: Media Use by Tweens and Teens.