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| Kids and Tablets. Working Home Guide. 2014 |
You’re in the middle of a busy grocery store line and your child starts crying. The waterworks are flowing, the high pitch screams are about to begin, and now people are starting to stare. You reach for the quickest solution, your smartphone and hand it to your crying child who immediately becomes mesmerized by colorful moving objects and a catchy tune. Just like that a crisis has been averted. We’re all at fault for using our handheld devices to avoid a tantrum. But did you know that constant “quick fix” is putting your child’s brain and social development at risk?
Your tablet can't replace real human interaction:
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| Fisher Price Toys: iPad Enabled Baby Bouncing Seat. 2013 |
At such a young age, your child's brains is experiencing major changes and development. Dr. Judith L Page teaches that the most rapid brain development takes place in the first three years of a child's life. During these crucial years the primary way young children learn is through verbal communication.
Simple day to day conversation between children and their parents or even by listening, talking and reading with others is what helps them develop their vocabulary and communication skills. Human interaction cannot be duplicated with a tablet game or even a YouTube video.
Smartphones and Tablets, the new binkies?
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| Toddler Using an iPad. Getty Image |
Early last year the Pediatric Journal made an astonishing discovery. That using mobile devices to distract children during mundane tasks may be detrimental to their social-emotional development. As well, using mobile devices as the prominent method to calm and distract young children affects their mechanism for self-regulation. In other words, children learn to expect constant distractions to satisfy their need for entertainment and begin to depend on technological devices as their main source of comfort.
The end of Crayons and Play-Doh
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| Children Tablets. 2016 |
The simple daily choice of using a tablet over paper and crayons is already limiting your child's creativity. Children's creativity develops through physical activity, by engaging all the senses; touch, smell, taste and seeing. This engagement with the real world around them is what maximizes their learning and brain development. Children who engage in physical play are learning fundamental skills such as problem solving, critical thinking, communication and expression of feelings. Games on handheld devices destroys any potential for creativity by presenting already made games, carefully selected colors and ideas for children.
But, what about the educational apps?
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| Kurio Kids Tablet. 2012 |
Now that’s not to say all electronic devices are bad and should be burned at the stake. Many can be of aid in supplementing reading, grammar and math but only if used in moderation. But for children who are younger than 30 months, electronic devices should not be their main source of education or entertainment because it does not replace real-life interaction. Instead technology that is used in such a way interferes with the child’s basic skills like problem-solving and engaged learning.
How much is too much screen time?
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| Kid with iPad |
Every time you hand over your device to your child the minutes and hours begin to accumulate. The findings of a study conducted by University of Bristol resulted in that children who engaged in more than two hours of screen time daily experienced psychological difficulties such as extreme shyness, emotional distress and difficulty in peer conduct.
What can parents do?
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| Kid and iPad. Getty Image |
It is not recommended to cold turkey from of all technological devices, but instead specialist encourage parents to find a balance and set ground rules. The following are 5 steps to aid in this process:
- Evaluate appropriate technology use by age
- Make screen time a privilege not a right
- Limit screen time to no more than 2 hours a day
- Incorporate frequent “tech breaks”
- Set the example
There is no doubt that our current technological advances have been of tremendous benefit in a variety of fields. Nevertheless our growing children still need that face to face interaction that parents can provide.
Next time your child is on the brink of a tantrum, don't opt for the quick technological fix, but instead take the time to comfort your child the old fashioned way, with persuasion and love. Their brains thank you for it.
