After the holidays, many may have been gifted the latest VR headsets. But now health experts are warning that spending too much time on these devices can cause a child to lose touch with reality.

News Channel 13 spoke with Pediatrician Dr. James Saperstone from Community Care Pediatrics. He said he was not so concerned about the content…but is very concerned about the immersive experience—and being less in touch with reality itself.

“They’re zoned out, they’re not hearing reality, they’re not seeing reality,” Dr. Sapperstone said. “And most of us get our reality through a negative lens, and VR Technology really magnifies that. You know it causes headache, it causes headaches, it causes dizziness, but the problem is that kids get immersed in it.”

Dr. Saperstone agrees that VR sets have become very sophisticated within the last couple of years. Although video games have always been seen as an issue among kids, Dr. Saperston says VR has been great for treating phobias and fears.

But when it comes to kids, he would rather see parents having their kids play video games in the living room with a group of friends… than alone in their rooms with a VR set in another world for hours at a time…

For decades, pediatricians have always voiced their concerns about exposing kids to violent video games because of the unlimited amount of blood and destruction that can be seen.

Dr. Saperstone says this causes kids to become more desensitized to violence and less attached to the harmful consequences. He also said the warning labels seem only to incentivize kids to be on these devices longer.

“When I was growing up, we would sit in the living room and watch TV. There was one TV, and we would watch the news, and my parents would come and tell awful things, and we would roll our eyes, but it was attached to the tragedy and the news feeling and humanism,” he said. “And a lot of times, we don’t get that. Kids go right up to their room, and they go online, so it’s more than just VR, but VR is just a more sophisticated, more intense way for kids to bring in a situation that isn’t necessarily healthy.”

Dr. Saperstone said it’s important for parents and guardians to limit the amount of time kids are on these devices. And if they’re bored, they can learn the ancient human art form of just figuring out what to do and just being human.