Giving Compass' Take:

• Big Think reports that a new $300 million study by the National Institutes of Health is using MRIs to look into how screen time affects a child's developing brain — and the results are alarming.

• How might the results of this study affect school initiatives? Should we looking to reduce a reliance on edtech and incorporate more outside activities in youth programs?

• Check out this article about how screen time is rising among rural youth. 

How does screen time affect the developing brains of young kids?

That's the big question behind a $300-million study conducted by the National Institutes of Health that's using MRI scans to examine changes in brain structure among children who use smartphones and other screen devices. The first batch of results from the study, which was highlighted by CBS's 60 Minutes on Sunday, shows that kids who spent more than two hours per day on screens scored lower on language and thinking tests.

Alarmingly, kids who spent more than seven hours per day on electronic devices showed premature thinning of the cortex, which Dr. Gaya Dowling of the National Institutes of Health described as a "maturational process" that typically happens later in development.

Read the full article about how screen time affects children by Stephen Johnson at Big Think, via Children & Nature Network.