SCREEN HYPEREXPOSURE AND CONTEMPORARY YOUTH: VARIABLE REWARD, FRAGMENTED ATTENTION, AND CHALLENGES FOR HUMAN DEVELOPMENT

This article critically discusses possible relationships between screen hyperexposure and digital environments and the attention, memory, emotional health, and everyday experience of children, adolescents, and young people. The central hypothesis is that this phenomenon cannot be reduced to increased time spent in front of devices, but rather configures a reorganization of experience mediated by engagement algorithms, variable rewards, intensified social comparison, and the systematic competition for human attention. The study takes the form of a critical theoretical essay with elements of narrative review, drawing on contributions from developmental psychology, behavioral neuroscience, the sociology of digital culture, and education, while engaging with relevant empirical studies. It discusses the engagement mechanisms of digital platforms, the specific sensitivity of adolescence during brain development, and the possible consequences for school learning, socialization, and identity formation. The article also offers notes on the Brazilian context, with reference to data on internet use among children and adolescents, to the digital inequalities that pervade the phenomenon, and to the recent Law No. 15,100/2025, which restricts the use of personal electronic devices in basic education schools. It is acknowledged that the available empirical literature indicates heterogeneous effects, with frequently small effect sizes, and that causal claims should be treated with caution. The article concludes that the central problem is not technology itself, but excessive, passive, and unregulated use oriented toward the monetization of attention, and that adequate responses require critical digital education, responsible adult mediation, platform regulation, and public policies aimed at the protection and integral development of children and young people.