I get in the elevator in my office building and I’m the only one not looking down at my smart phone. I drive the streets of our city and narrowly avoid pedestrians looking down at their screens instead of looking where they’re going. I’ve seen moms crossing streets with strollers and simultaneously looking down at their device. No matter how often the dangers of driving and texting are pointed out, we still have people ignoring the warnings and inviting accidents and possible death. We are screen people without a doubt.
I’ve been asking the question about how all of this is affecting our children. It seems that most American children actually spend more time consuming electronic media than they do in school, according to Common Sense Media. Anya Kamenetz did a wonderful piece on this topic for NPR that caught my ear the other day and prompted me to download it.
Some of the facts she pointed out are that tweens log 4 1/2 hours of screen time a day, seven days a week, 52 weeks a year. For teens, it’s even higher; nearly seven hours a day. And that doesn’t include time spent using devices for school or in school.
Digital devices are more integral every year, with research available to support both the benefits as well as the dangers. Anya writes that the American Academy of Pediatrics plans to update its guidelines on media use later this year. Current recommendations are to avoid all screens for children under 2, and to allow a maximum of two hours per day of high-quality material for older children. I would like to repeat that line about avoiding all screens for children under 2. How often I’ve seen tablet devices propped up in front of babies in restaurants, apparently to pacify them into silence so the parents can enjoy their dinner.
Parents have to set the example and, personally, one sees far too many parents concentrating on their own screens rather than on their children. It used to be they were merely talking on the phone, now they are also scrolling and texting. This kind of distraction takes away precious time for focus on the children and supervision/guidance.
It’s something for us all to consider. Are we reading books anymore? Are we engaging in enough physical activity or are we sitting in front of some kind of screen? Are our kids getting enough exercise or are they also sitting on their backsides too much? If those hours logged are correct, then they certainly are not. We need to address that quickly, especially as school begins and new patterns emerge after the summer vacation.
Thanks for reading.
