Touch-Screen Devices And Very Young Children
http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2012-05-23/touch-screen-devices-and-very-young-children
Very young children, like many of their parents, can become totally absorbed with mobile touch-screen devices. Some argue that compared to the essentially passive activity of watching television, children and even toddlers using i-Pads, i-Phones, Androids and other kinds of touch-screen devices can have a far more stimulating, positive and educational experience. But parents and their children are way ahead of any research: No one can say for sure how using this technology shapes developing brains,if at all. Please join us for a conversation on young children and touch-screen devices.
Guests
Lisa Guernsey
director, Early Education Initiative at the New America Foundation
Ben Worthen
reporter, Wall Street Journal
Heather Kirkorian
assistant professor, human development and family studies, University of Wisconsin , Madison
Liz Perle
editor in chief, Common Sense Media `
Comments
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My personal experience with touch-screen devices and young children is with my 2-year old nephew. He is a master of the iPad and was able to quickly learn how to find his favorite apps, play music, play videos, and even start reading through some of the learning and educational apps.
Though the apps he uses are educational in nature, and he loves to listen to music on the device, I do realize there is a fine line between this type of technology being used as a true learning and developmental asset and the risk of it becoming an electronic babysitter.
Overall, I have no idea why a device like the iPad would be bad for a young child, like any other media device or platform, as long as it is not used as a crutch or replacement for parenting. I believe that as long as the time spent on an iPad versus out playing in the park, is managed closely by the parents, I think this type of technology is a great learning platform and helps children become even more independent than ever before!
But your last statement is the most telling:
"Overall, I have no idea why a device like the iPad would be bad for a young child, like any other media device or platform, as long as it is not used as a crutch or replacement for parenting. I believe that as long as the time spent on an iPad versus out playing in the park, is managed closely by the parents"
You see, it won't be managed by the parents and the children will be overly exposed to it leading to children who do little else but play with the iPad/interactive device....
We already have an entire generation of kids who are now young adults who have very serious conversations like "Well my paladin has better powers than yours". So closely identified with game characters and the importance of them that it overshadows more critical matters in the real world. Some are so addicted to electronic devices that they are rendered incapable of thinking or doing anything else.
It's like a crack addiction only it is not a banned substance.
As a Application Usability Specialist with 2 young children, my children have been immersed in technology since birth. Sometimes they are my testers when I develop a new User Interface; if it’s intuitive & they can use it well, I have a winner.
Here is my experience:
With a role-playing game I was able to teach my 5 year old; math, resource management, flexible thinking, situation analysis, information analysis, goal-setting and sharing, yes sharing. I was able to identify my 2 year olds aptitude for ‘Icons’ or ‘symbolic’ concepts, she had little interest in the alphabet but she loved symbols & icons and could associate them with complex concepts. I think she could easily learn written Chinese or even hieroglyphics.
Parents should
• Make sure apps are age appropriate!
• Read the app reviews first!
• The parents have to do the homework and play the game first.
• Don’t purchase so-called educational games based upon a ‘commercial toy property’ i.e. ‘Dora the Explorer’ and expect that education will come first. My personal exception to this rule is Sesame Street and PBS properties, because education always comes first with PBS.
• Play the games with your children.
• Some of the best games are from Independent designers & developers.
• Size does not equal quality. Some the best apps are the simplest.
The Best Touch-Screen interface is a book! It never runs out of power and is usable with any sufficient light source.
I think it's more offensive that they choose to identify with a privileged 'Sports-Hero'.
Wouldn't many of these children that are using these devices, would have been just watching the TV anyhow?
Seems like a step forward....
I've also noticed this with my 10 year old. I do this with my computer screen too.
It is a step forward, there is a plethora of kids content that has nothing to do with a committee-driven, product-selling, brand-loyalty building pablum like most of the Nickelodeon type stuff.
Diane, the things that we use to do that are free: interacting with children, engaging them in learning numbers, colors, shapes, ABC, now we are paying it to give it to our children. Ben's question about what is the difference is this: human experience.
I have always followed our Pediatrician's recommendations regarding screen/TV time and have applied those same guidelines to any media our children have access to. Recently my 15yo teen received a very serious concussion and has experienced post concussion symptoms now extending for 5 months. The most helpful and necessary recommendation for healing has been the removal of ALL media access (TV, phones, devices, computers, etc.) to allow for complete cognitive rest and recovery. If this is true for a teen then how must these screen devices affect a much younger and still rapidly developing brain?
The comment about a child being in control is interesting. Aren't our kids going to be told in school when they have achieved a particular level as well? or when they need to keep going to finish?
My concern with toddlers using this technology is that during early childhood children learn the social and emotional skills that will impact their relationships and their ability to learn in a classroom setting. If a child is entertained by technology are they missing out on the important social learning experiences and opportunities. Empathy is also learned during this critical time and with the prevalance of bullying in schools- could this technology impact children's ability to empathize with others?
As a parent engagement specialist, I am also concerned that this technology harms the relationship between parent and child. If a parent is able to occupy a child with technology rather than through parent-child interaction, I worry that their relationship will suffer.
Well, for one thing, the screen's going to get very sticky.
A difference between playing on an iPad and playing with legos is that with Legos a child needs dexterity and fine motor skills. A touch screen does not require enough pressure for a child to strengthen those fine motor skills. For a child who has a fine motor delay, an iPad isn't going to help and could interfere with learning the proper way to hold a pencil and write.
This danger of allowing children total mental immersion into the most powerful communication device ever conceived can be monumental. This same dynamic started decades ago with video games. We would be sorely remised to wait for some detached research study to tell us what any good parent already knows. At 50 years old and an empty-nester, the proof is already here, in the form of where US schools are rated. We allow children to practically LIVE in a digital world, and then expect them to learn just as George Washington and Ben Franklin learned. Tactile interface is now all but gone, and as a result, synaptically, are children are no longer the same children we were in school, they are a different species mentally, parents need to stand up, and be parents again.
What about the addictive nature of media devices? Do kids learn addictive behaviors?
I've been a pre-school teacher and raised a son and a daughter, who have both gone to college. I think the most important difference between a book and an ipad, etc, is that the book is a concrete experience, while the ipad is much more abstract.
I believe young children benefit the most from concrete learning, not abstract learning.
I grew up in the 50's and remember child development "experts" wringing their hands about what sort of damage tv was doing to our minds as we zoned out in front of the tube, and we turned out ok. Oh, wait....
I hope you will include in your discussion the importance of children spending time in nature and experiencing the real world. As you know, there is a growing body of research that points to the importance of giving children time and freedom to explore the natural world. Richard Louv first brought this issue to our attention with his book “Last Child in the Woods.” Interactive devices as well as television may serve good purposes—beyond being good baby sitters. But their overuse robs children of the time they spend in unstructured play, inventive play, and outdoor activities of all kinds. These outdoor activities are powerful learning experiences.
Diane, please ask your in--house experts how well they believe that our past historically significant figures could manage in today’s fast-paced world ... could Ben Franklin have been an air traffic controller, or a bond trader, or even drive a car at highway speeds on a crowded interstate?
When we bemoan the fragmentation of our attention spans, we are missing the point that our society is a moving target, and that a lot (most? all?) of these changes in our behavior are merely adaptations to a rapidly changing society.
Take away those adaptations, and what does that do to our children?
In absolute agreement with newmom. My husband and I are both neuroscientists and have a 2 year old and we believe in minimal contact with all zone-out devices like TV and interactive devices. In addition to the lack of interaction with others (like real blocks would allow) the pure creativity and imagination is limited. Today she put her toys in a tub of water and created a new game : that's invention. Why limit her imagination to the confines of a screen? We spend 50% of her waking hours outdoors and giving her real experiences- not virtual. Why start life alone and aloof? We live in a wonderful real world with natural and personal experiences waiting to be discovered... Thanks Diane for this important topic! Looking forward to learning about the science as it develops.
Good Morning, Diane and thank you for the quality of your show. I have older children (6 and 12) who are not allowed to use computers during the school week except for homework. What I find is that on weekends, they are unable and unwilling to interact with family and each other because they only want is the iPad. In a relatively short time of about 6 months, they have lost the skills on social interaction. I am alarmed at this. They want computers constantly and on the days that I ban all electronics, the family just sits and stares at each other. We are losing our relationships to a virtual world. Our life is full of amazing and stimulating experiences. I am concerned that this technology is too consuming for our children.
I feel my oldest son (now 11) is addicted to video games. When we are in the cycle of allowing him daily access to video games, it becomes all he can think about and talk about. He also becomes extremely agitated and cranky when we restrict access. Recently we decided to have video game "season" which would be the indoor winter months after christmas, so january through mid-march. Now that we have tapered off this daily video game use, our child is much more engaged and better behaved. Are you able to have your guests speak to the addictive nature of the activities on these gadgets - in particular, the way in which they trigger the pleasure centers of the brain in a similar way to cocaine?
thank you
Teece Bowman (comment above) nails it. I'm the parent of now-adult children and I am horrified by the number of people in that generation who are socially inept, and whose main frame of reference is World of Warcraft or some similar game.
These screen devices are like crack cocaine for ADHD/ADD kids, too. It is virtually impossible for them to tear themselves away. It's like a hotwire directly into their brain's pleasure center.
Do these devices contribute, at such young ages, to the development of ADHD/ADD? Nobody has studied that.
I'm glad to see other people are concerned. This has been bugging me enough to do a cartoon about it a couple of months ago: http://www.wmlbrown.com/wmlbcitbill2.html
A related phenomenon: all the young parents who are physically with their children: pushing their strollers, sitting by the playground, etc, but have their eyes and earplugs riveted on their smart-phone/tablet. Not only is this a terrible example, but their kids are not getting much attention.
As a retired elementary teacher and literacy specialist, as well as the mother of 3, and an avid ipad user, I feel compelled to point out that there is an important part of this discussion that I am not hearing from the participants. Learning can occur in many modalities and with many devices. However, nothing can replace the closeness of the parent-child interaction that occurs when a parent reads to a child at any age. The sharing of good literature creates an emotional bond and provides slices of life for the child to experience that the ipad cannot. These electronic devices often become baby sitters for busy parents and the time for these parent interactions just slips away, often unintentionally. Embrace and use new technology but not as a replacement for the interactions that only a loving adult can provide.
As a retired elementary teacher and literacy specialist, as well as the mother of 3, and an avid ipad user, I feel compelled to point out that there is an important part of this discussion that I am not hearing from the participants. Learning can occur in many modalities and with many devices. However, nothing can replace the closeness of the parent-child interaction that occurs when a parent reads to a child at any age. The sharing of good literature creates an emotional bond and provides slices of life for the child to experience that the ipad cannot. These electronic devices often become baby sitters for busy parents and the time for these parent interactions just slips away, often unintentionally. Embrace and use new technology but not as a replacement for the interactions that only a loving adult can provide.
We go round and round with this at our house. My husband would have no tv, video games, computers, etc... I am polar opposite. I like to be entertained on all fronts. The middle ground we have come to has been a work in progress for sure, but I feel our now 7 year old has a great self regulation skills on all devices. These have been learned.
I always share with him how long he has to play. When he was younger I would say you have 10 minutes, if you stop playing without me telling you again you can play tommorrow. We would also encourage him to draw, or read a book before he played games, or watched tv. Now, he self regulates pretty well for a 7 year old. He has a wii, and just got a hand held game.
I think the skills he learns are necessary. School isn't teaching him all the skills he needs in any subject, and that includes computers. As parents we have to be here to fill in the gaps. Regulation & balance is the key. Witholding it completely will just make it more important than it needs to be. Know what they are playing, understand it so you can have a convorstation with them about it! Games can be educational too.
Heather
in Belleville, IL
Research, research, research. A trend in schools and benefactors across the country is to fund computers in schools. Talk has shifted to iPads for all students. Applying the law of unintended consequences tells us that we can't always be sure of the results of new technology. Also, I was out walking my dog and now am going into town to buy a Twinkie.
What about the neuroscience of all this. For example, the disruption of sleep cycles caused by use of backlit screens?
I'm a college professor & neurobiologist. The change in students over the years has caused me to look into cognitive development. There is lots of data pointing to delays in cognitive development in young adults and children. One study done in 2001 reproduced a series of tests previously done in the 1940's. One test was asking children to stand still until instructed that they could now move. For 3 year olds, their ability to stand still was very brief; 5 year olds, around 3 min. on average; 7 year olds, almost as long as researchers asked. In 2001, when they reproduced the study, on this test, 5 year olds did slightly better than 3 year olds in the 40's; 7 year olds slightly better than 5 year olds from the 40's.
This is thought to be a measure of executive function, particularly self-regulation, that requires self-talk. The development of executive function is dependent upon imaginary play, which involves self-talk. Screens are much less beneficial for doing this - it is either passive, or with newer technologies guided, which is not nearly as much imaginary play. This relates to what your last caller brought up.
Bristol, VA
Hi Diane, I'm a graduate nursing student, mum of five, living in Florida. I think that it's preposterous to assume that by not providing our children with touch-screen devices that we are somehow depriving them of competency in their future workplace. I encourage my children to go outside as much as possible, even in our Florida heat. Children gain so much more by interacting with each other, with nature, and using their creative imaginations to draw, build, write, and to visualize the stories that they read. I'm not totally opposed to technology, but I think it is clear, for example, that playing a game of tennis would in no way be substituted by playing a game of tennis on a Wii. Interesting show, thank you!