Parents tell me this all the time, often with a mix of frustration and worry:

My child just can’t focus the way I could at their age.

School feels harder. Emotions escalate faster. Distraction seems constant.

The default explanation is usually personal: They need more discipline. They need to try harder.

But attention isn’t a moral trait.

It isn’t a virtue some children have and others lack. Attention is a cognitive capacity—and it is deeply shaped by the conditions surrounding a child: sleep, stress, sensory overload, and the environment in which we’re asking focus to happen.

When those conditions change, attention changes too.

One major shift is simple but profound: Childhood is now lived largely indoors, and often through screens.

In the U.S., children ages 8 to 12 spend an average of four to six hours a day interacting with digital devices. Teens can spend nine hours a day or more in front of screens.

That level of exposure isn’t neutral.

Research around the........

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