Giving Compass' Take:

• Morgan Sherburne-Michigan reports that a recent study suggests that kids use screens as a comfortable escape from a chaotic and overwhelming world. 

• Is this a new phenomenon, or are screens simply the latest medium that children use for this purpose? Is this a healthy coping mechanism?  

• Learn about the digital divide for American kids. 

Kids may use media devices to create comfortable spaces in a chaotic world they’re not yet ready to manage, according to new research.

A new survey suggests that the more often kids use media devices to modulate their environments, the more likely their parents view that use as problematic—especially if parents’ and children’s media use differs.

Regardless of how much time they spent using media devices, parents and children who used media devices to manage their sensory input reported conflict four times as frequently as parents and children who used them less to manage sensory overload.

The study outlines a new theory, called sensory curation theory, that posits people use media devices to construct temporary “environments within environments” to create a comfortable sensory space for themselves. Using this theory, the study found that children diagnosed with sensory processing disorders such as autism spectrum disorder or attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder were more likely to be in conflict with their parents about their media use.

“Children, for the most part, do not get to choose where they eat, sleep, play, or learn. These are some of the only tools they have to modify sensory input,” says lead author Kristen Harrison, professor of communication studies at the University of Michigan. “The visual and auditory environment is getting more chaotic—there are all these grabs for our attention. Maybe our environment isn’t as gentle on us as it used to be.”

Read the full article about kids using screens by Morgan Sherburne-Michigan at Futurity.