Category Archives: Screen Time

This is my latest in my screentime-themed writings. Any ideas or comments are appreciated.

 

It is clear that screen time is a factor parents and teachers will need to be constantly aware of and attempt to find a balance in healthy screen time.  Three different examples from the Time article “Should Your 2-Year-Old Be Using an iPad?” start to define the concept of developing a healthy level of screen time.

• Tanya Altmann, author of the book Mommy Calls, pulls from her experience as a pediatrician. “Tablets used like a TV should fall under the same guidelines” as passive screen time limits suggest. “However, she doesn’t rule out the possibility that interactive apps may have some value for toddlers.
• Dr. Dimitri Christakis, director of the Center for Child Health, Behavior and Development at Seattle Children’s Hospital states that “even apps that simulate conventional toys don’t teach children the crucial skills that come from physically engaging the world in three dimensions.”

While an iPad app can “replicate building blocks and Legos,” nothing can replace the tactile act of actually playing with the physical toys.  When a child is at home and has the chance to open a tub of Duplos or to pick up an iPad, the suggestion would be to guide the child to the actual toys. Save the iPad app for a car ride or another location where spreading out building blocks may not be possible.

• Time on a digital device should not replace adult contact. Rose Luckin, a professor of learner-centered design at the University of London, believes that digital tablets can actually “spark the sort of social interaction central to the learning process… In other words, tablets might not be all bad if they generate ‘talk time,’ rather than replace it.”  Luckin encourages parents to take an active role with children while they spend time on a digital device. “If a child just sits all day playing on the iPad on her own, then I’m not sure she’s getting the benefits,” she says (Van Glider Cooke, 2011).

The same could be said about a child spending all day watching TV, playing video games, or doing any activity without adult engagement. An active adults plays a critical role in a child’s development.
        For years, we have also heard very similar suggestions of quality time in regards to reading to children. Children need to have exposure to books. At one level, a child can interact with a book on their own. They can look at the pictures, and as they develop skills, read the text to themselves.  Put an adult into the situation, and they can read aloud to the child. They can discuss the pictures, help the child to predict what is going to come next, and make the story come to life.

Many digital books seem to mimic these same features. The books will read to children. They can provide guiding questions. Touching the pictures can provide additional information. Are these digital books more engaging or educational than a traditional book? “It may take a generation to ever know for sure, and even 10 or 20 years from now it will be debated as the effects of television or video games are still discussed today” (Fitzgerald, 2012). Again, there seems to be more questions than answers.

Despite this, having the person-to-person interaction is still vital in a child’s development. “Right now, the state-of-the-art, in terms of research-based practice is: read traditional books with your child,” said Julia Parish-Morris, a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Pennsylvania who has studied e-books and how children interact with them. “We don’t have any evidence that any kind of electronic device is better than a parent” (Fitzgerald, 2012).

Encourage physical activity

All areas in life are dependent on balance. No matter the role of TV or other digital media in a child’s life, physical activity may not be a emphasis in a family’s life. Running between music lessons, school, clubs and such, the act of running around and playing may take a back seat.  This starts very young.  “The early childhood years are crucial for learning and development. That should involve a great deal of outdoor physical activity and playtime, but that’s not always the case. Nearly half of 3 to 5 year olds are not taken outdoors by a parent or caregiver every day, according to research presented in the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine” (Gupta & Cohen, 2012). This resource suggests starting by talking to your child’s care provider to find their position on physical, outdoor play time.

     Once children hit school, especially middle and high school years where recess is no longer scheduled into the day. Farmington teachers were featured in the StarTribune on April 23^rd, 2012 with an article discussing the connection between physical activity and learning.  While technology has its place in the classroom, so does an understanding of the importance of physical activity.

(Estrada, 2012)

 

Remove the TV from the bedroom?

If there is a need to limit a child’s screen time, then the location of those screens is vital to the equation. Does a child
have access to a screen whenever they want? Is there a TV in the bedroom? The practice of having a TV in the bedroom, even of very small children, is statistically common— and growing.  “In 2005, among children ages 6-23 months, 19% had a TV in their bedroom. Looking just at 6- to 23-month-olds in the current [2011] study, 29% have a TV in their bedroom” (Common Sense Media, 2011). These numbers grow as the age of the child rises.

The content and type of media children watch just before bed can contribute to sleeping issues. If a TV is in the bedroom, then a child is much more likely to be watching it at bedtime. Having a child “unwind” to a TV show or movie does not always work.

Setting limits appropriate for each family and each child’s temperament for bedtime is vital in the balance between sleep and screen time.

 

“Many young children have a problem going to sleep when it is their bed time. A recent study in the journal Pediatrics found that children between the ages of 3 and had trouble sleeping if they had screen time after 7 p.m. Screen time includes television, video games or the computer. The amount of violent content in the program or game appears to be a contributing factor.   According to the study, about 20 percent of the 112 children involved had sleep problems almost every day of the week. Their issues included difficulty falling asleep, waking up during the night, nightmares and being sleepy during the day. The children who watched violent television at night had the most sleep problems.”   (Sleep Education Blog, 2011)