Parents often ask me if endless scrolling on screens can affect their child’s brain. My honest answer is yes — it absolutely can. What was once seen mainly in adults, doomscrolling is now a growing concern among children as young as 8, 10, and even 12 years old.
A child may pick up a phone “just for a minute,” but before anyone realises it, 45 minutes have passed. They are still swiping through random videos — overstimulated, restless, irritable, and finding it hard to stop. This isn’t about poor discipline. It’s how the brain responds to constant digital stimulation.
Children’s brains are naturally wired to seek novelty, and the digital world offers an endless stream of it — far more than their developing brains can comfortably manage or regulate.
What Exactly Is Doomscrolling?
In simple terms, doomscrolling is the habit of continuously scrolling through never-ending content, often emotionally intense, dramatic, or negative, even when it leaves us mentally exhausted.
For children, this is particularly difficult because:
their attention systems are still developing,
their impulse control is not yet mature, and
their ability to regulate emotions depends largely on adult guidance.
As a result, stopping becomes much harder, even when they want to.