Neuromorphic hierarchical modular reservoirs.

Before they can tie their shoes or write their names, many children can unlock a smartphone and navigate a world designed for adults, displaying a fluency often described as “digital nativity”. Digital devices, including computers, smartphones, tablets, and televisions (TVs), have become integral to children’s daily routines. Technology advancements have led to early and frequent screen exposure among Generation Alpha children, who often learn to navigate digital devices independently. A survey of parents revealed that a percentage of children, 25% aged 0 to 2 and 58% aged 2–5, spend more time on digital devices than recommended. Moreover, screen use generally increases with age, with nearly half of all children identified as “high media users”, with recent statistics showing daily screen time increasing from approximately 2 h for 2- to 4-year-olds to over 3.5 h for children aged 5 to 8. As screen-based technologies become ubiquitous in households, concerns about their potential impact on children’s development have grown. While digital media provides opportunities for early learning and social interaction, unsupervised use has been linked to various physical and mental health challenges. These include obesity, sleep disturbances, structural brain changes, and developmental delays in motor and language. Among the various digital platforms, TV gets particular attention due to its continued dominance in children’s media consumption. Despite the rise of newer digital media, TV remains a highly influential digital device. Studies suggest that rather than being replaced, TV has adapted to the digital landscape, retaining its applicability. For instance, a study found that watching TV and videos remains the primary reason children use screen devices, accounting for nearly three-quarters (73%) of their total screen time. Watching TV is a complex cognitive process involving attention, encoding, and storage. According to foundational cognitive theories like the multiple resource theory, these mental processes draw from a limited pool of cognitive resources. This raises a critical concern that if watching certain types of content heavily taxes these resources, a child’s ability to perform subsequent cognitive tasks, such as learning in a classroom, could be immediately and negatively affected.