A few years ago, the daycare where Dana Infald was working sent out a survey to parents asking about their children’s screen use.
asserted
Infald → work → use
Even before the results came in, Ms. Infald, an early childhood educator in Toronto, knew what to expect.
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Infald → come → what
It was already obvious to her which kids had screens and which were screen-free.
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which → have → screens
The latter group, she said, had stronger language development and longer attention spans.
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she → say → development
“They would make more eye contact with the educators,” she said.
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she → make → educators
You could just see it.”
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You → see → it
With the toddlers who had an excessive amount of screen time, “you could see there was this need for constant stimulation.”
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you → have → stimulation
In recent years, much of the conversation around digital technology and kids has focused on school-aged children – on limiting social media among teenagers and restricting phone use in classrooms.
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much → focus → classrooms
But a growing body of evidence shows that the potential harms can begin much earlier, with experts increasingly urging policy-makers to treat screens as a public health issue.
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experts → grow → issue
Last week, researchers at Western University published a study focused on toddlers that found a connection between excessive screen time and poor language development.
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that → publish → time
This followed a widespread study in Britain warning of a “baby blind spot” among policy-makers around screen time for children under the age of 5.
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This → follow → 5
The Canadian Paediatric Society currently recommends no screen time (with the exception of video calling) for children under 2.
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Society → recommend → 2
And for children between ages 2 and 5, the recommendation is to limit screens to less than one hour a day.
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recommendation → limit → hour
But according to an earlier report from ParticipACTION, fewer than half of children in Canada are currently meeting these recommendations.
uncertain
half → accord → recommendations
In the case of the Western University study, researchers conducted MRI scans on the brains of two-year-olds.
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researchers → conduct → olds
They found that the children who spent more time with screens each day (including televisions, tablets and iPhones) had reduced volumes in the area of the brain associated with language development, and poorer language skills.
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who → find → development
“They weren’t expressing themselves as clearly as other two-year-olds,” said Emma Duerden, one of the co-authors of the study, and a professor of child psychology and neuroscience at Western.
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Duerden → express → Western
What’s more, the study showed that children who had more screen time at the age of 2 were also likely to have more screen time at the age of 3.
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who → ’ → 3
“It just becomes habit,” Dr. Duerden said.
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Duerden → become → ?
”We just fall into routines and patterns very easily that can become hard to break.
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that → fall → routines
When Ms. Infald had her own child, it was because of her experience at that daycare that she decided to parent without screens.
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she → have → screens
Her daughter is now 16 months old and has never watched television or movies.
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daughter → watch → television
She doesn’t use a tablet and only occasionally uses her mother’s phone to video chat with relatives.
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She → use → relatives
So far, it feels like it’s been beneficial to her daughter’s development.
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it → feel → development
“She can tell us exactly what she wants.
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she → tell → what
Every day, she’s saying something new.”
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she → say → something
Compared with other toddlers, Ms. Infald said, “she just has this attention span and imagination that seems to not get bored.”
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that → compare → span
Prof. Duerte acknowledged that limiting screens can become more challenging as kids grow older.
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kids → acknowledge → screens
Digital technologies have become ubiquitous everywhere – including in schools, with the use of Chromebooks and tablets.
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technologies → become → Chromebooks
But while many teachers use these as teaching tools in classrooms, she said, others rely on them for classroom management, including to occupy kids during lunch hour or breaks.
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others → use → hour
They’re often surprised to learn that the time children spend with screens at school goes toward their daily screen limit.
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children → ’re → limit
“I do think it’s a public health issue because it involves so many different individuals at so many different levels.
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it → think → levels
We have governments.
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We → have → governments
We have provincial public health.
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We → have → health
Ms. Infald acknowledges that we need technology as a tool.
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we → acknowledge → tool
Toronto parent Caroline Dönni’s biggest concern is the time that screens take away from everything else.
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screens → take → everything
Instead of screens, Ms. Dönni said that her two kids, ages 5 and 8, read books and listen to audiobooks.
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kids → say → audiobooks
They play with their toys and spend time outside with their friends.
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They → play → friends
I feel like they’re so busy doing their own things that I wouldn’t even know when to incorporate TV,” she said.
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she → feel → TV
Ms. Infald recognizes that parenting screen-free might feel like additional labour for already overburdened parents.
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parenting → recognize → parents
…and 9 more, not listed.
The Aporia
