By INGRID MALDONADO, Senior Reporter
Many recall their childhood filled with mud pies, slime, Play-Doh, biking and the smell of grass.
Today’s children fill their childhood with screens.
As technology becomes more accessible, more younger children are gaining increased access to screens. It is noticeable that more children are seen interacting with screens rather than actively playing.
Experts warn too much screen time can lead to shorter attention spans, delayed skills, poor sleep and even aggression.
“They need that real world interaction, they need that hands on play and they need those social experiences to really build their cognitive, social and emotional skills,” said Taylor Phillips, an instructor of psychology at NWOSU.
Phillips has a bachelor’s and master’s degree in general psychology and understands the psychological effects of screens on children. She said in children’s early ages, screens should be limited. Phillips referenced American Academy of Pediatrics explaining those under 18 months should have no screen time.
The American Academy of Pediatrics says from the ages of 2 to 5, there should be no more than one hour per day. It explains the one hour should be high-quality content, meaning engaging educational shows.
According to the National Library of Medicine, an Italian survey concluded 97% of children under 36 months have used a digital device at least once, and 89% under 18 months have used one once as well.
“Because the brain is really developing at a rapid pace for the first five years of life and forming stronger neural connections, too much screen time can really have a detrimental effect on young children as they start aging,” Phillips said.
Tara Sivulka, an occupational therapist in the Salt Lake City area in Utah, sees the effects of screens firsthand.
She works mainly with students’ fine motor skills and visual motor skills. Her case load is mainly pre-school to first grade however, she works with students from pre-school to high school.
“They [children] can operate an iPad no problem, but when you ask them to like hold the pencil, they hold it with a fisted grasp or something really strange,” Sivukla said.
Sivulka has seen an increase in referrals for kindergarteners who the teachers think have a deficit in fine and visual motor skills.
She explained it could be because they don’t play with Play-Doh, color or have never held a pencil. Sivulka discussed how she is seeing weak hands in many of the children, and they cannot hold crayons.
Sivulka explained with children being mainly on screens, this decreases their amount of playing opportunities.
Whether it be playing with toys, going outside with friends or just using their imagination, it is important children play.
Playing can help with their fine motor skills, but it is also a way of learning.
“Play itself is the best teacher between zero and five, you learn by playing,” said Susan Seevers, who owns a family childcare home in Alva.
Seevers is a childcare provider and she is firm on digital devices when she is taking care of children. Seevers even goes beyond and tells parents to bring the children screens almost dead.
Having the screen at very little charge helps children not argue whether they get more screen time or not.
The biggest tendency Seevers sees is a disconnect in relationships and social behaviors.
She explained children with high-screen time do not know how to carry on a conversation with people, how to play without being on a device and how to entertain themselves or each other without screens. She said how they won’t have any camaraderie.
“They’re now ‘it’s just me and my tablet,’ instead of ‘hey me and George,’ or ‘hey, I’m going to get together with my buddies, we’re going to go play this fun game,’” Seevers said.
Lauren Brown, a social worker in Maryland with a master’s in clinical social work, sees children with aggressive tendencies.
She explained they have defiance and can have severe meltdowns if the screens are taken away.
Having screens late at night cause sleep issues which lead to crankiness and does not help with aggression, she said.
Brown then explained not giving children their own devices could help with screen time.
She said in the beginning less is more. Brown explained parents should have open communication with their children about the expectations on screen time.
Parents often struggle to control screen time. Sometimes parents are grocery shopping while their kid sits in the grocery cart looking at their iPad or they’re in the restaurant looking at the device. With life being fast paced many parents use these screens to calm their children or to easily keep them entertained while they are busy.
“Parents don’t really let their kids struggle through,” said Sivulka, explaining the detrimental effect parents have on their children’s screen time. “So, they’ll just zip kids jackets for them not realizing that they’re gonna go to kindergarten and teachers can’t zip 30 jackets.”
Seevers finds children want to be like their parents. If the parents are consistently on their phone at home, then they will be interested in what they are doing.
The children then will want to copy and be like their parents and be on their device as well, explained Seevers.
Parents on screens is something Seevers checks on at her family childcare.
“Children are good emulators of what they see at home and they will copy and want to be just like mom dad,” Seevers said.
Cheyenne Ingraham, a parent of two children, a one-year-old and a four-year-old, from Alva, understands the importance of screen time.
Ingraham explained she could be better about screen time with her children. Her one-year-old, Rynlie, does not care for it unlike her four-year-old Zaylei does.
“We’re not the model parents for screen time,” Ingraham said.
Rynlie will only watch the introduction to a children’s show on television but then will go and do something else, Ingraham said.
Ingraham only allows educational applications and YouTube Kids, as well as age restrictions and restrictions on downloading apps.
While Ingraham thinks she and her husband could be better, they are actively involved in moderating their children’s screen time and taking small steps.
“Ultimately, I think everyone is doing the best they can,” said Brown. “The most important thing is just regulating it, and keeping the lines of communication open with kids about what’s appropriate and what’s not on screen and being aware of what they’re doing on it because they’re very smart and know how to do stuff on it.”
Screens are impacting children and replacing their hands on playtime.
They are tapping on screens instead of playing tag or playing house.
Screens give children instant gratification, which does not allow them to be bored, affecting their creativity and imagination.
“You can make anything fun,” Sivulka said.
Instead of having children be on screens, Sivulka explained parents can make anything fun with pre-school aged children.
The parents can make washing the dishes fun or have them turn on the faucet. All these things will help them learn fine motor skills, she said.
“I think it just comes down to balance and intention,” Phillips said. “Screens, they are not inherently bad. They serve us well in a lot of areas. They can be a very useful tool for a lot of things, but it needs to be used in a way that support and not replace that healthy development.”