Giving young children screens all the time

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I grew up watching TV all the time in the late 90s - early 2000s and I turned out fine as an adult.

Not the same. At all.

Agreed. I teach kindergarten and the longest attention span for any kid’s movie is about 15 minutes. Kids can’t even get halfway through a Disney or kid’s movie anymore. They can’t follow a plot. They rarely read for fun. I’ve had grades 3-5 in the after school program for years and hardly anyone wants to borrow my books anymore. It’s sad.

So I think what's countered the negative affect of shorts for us is our Yoto player. My kids can listen to books for hours.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I grew up watching TV all the time in the late 90s - early 2000s and I turned out fine as an adult.

Not the same. At all.

Agreed. I teach kindergarten and the longest attention span for any kid’s movie is about 15 minutes. Kids can’t even get halfway through a Disney or kid’s movie anymore. They can’t follow a plot. They rarely read for fun. I’ve had grades 3-5 in the after school program for years and hardly anyone wants to borrow my books anymore. It’s sad.

I found that taking away my kid's iPad helped her behavior and attention a ton. Have you considered not using screens in your classroom for a day to see what happens?

As far as reading, the kids aren't borrowing books and don't like reading because they haven't properly learned to read due to poor choices by school district leaders and the education sector. I know it is tempting and fun to bash parents though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is the worst generation of parents. I cannot believe the number of young children I see staring at a screen in grocery stores, parks, restaurants and more. They are literally damaging their kids’ brains but they’re too lazy to do the job.

They aren’t damaging their brains but the kids are missing out on important stages of development. These are perfect places to watch people interacting, talking to people, looking around at the world.

I was in line at Starbucks and there was a three year old in front of me. I was taking apart this three part plastic cup, taking the straw out, taking the middle part out, reversing the straw, getting it ready to use. This three year old never took his eyes off of what I was doing. It was a couple of minutes and I never saw such intense observation on a mundane happening. That was a kid who will have no adhd and he probably doesn’t use iPads or anything. When I was done he went back to seeing what his mother was doing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I grew up watching TV all the time in the late 90s - early 2000s and I turned out fine as an adult.

Not the same. At all.

Agreed. I teach kindergarten and the longest attention span for any kid’s movie is about 15 minutes. Kids can’t even get halfway through a Disney or kid’s movie anymore. They can’t follow a plot. They rarely read for fun. I’ve had grades 3-5 in the after school program for years and hardly anyone wants to borrow my books anymore. It’s sad.

I found that taking away my kid's iPad helped her behavior and attention a ton. Have you considered not using screens in your classroom for a day to see what happens?

As far as reading, the kids aren't borrowing books and don't like reading because they haven't properly learned to read due to poor choices by school district leaders and the education sector. I know it is tempting and fun to bash parents though.

It is primarily the parents.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I grew up watching TV all the time in the late 90s - early 2000s and I turned out fine as an adult.

Not the same. At all.

Agreed. I teach kindergarten and the longest attention span for any kid’s movie is about 15 minutes. Kids can’t even get halfway through a Disney or kid’s movie anymore. They can’t follow a plot. They rarely read for fun. I’ve had grades 3-5 in the after school program for years and hardly anyone wants to borrow my books anymore. It’s sad.

So I think what's countered the negative affect of shorts for us is our Yoto player. My kids can listen to books for hours.

Audiobooks are amazing. We don't allow our kids to have devices, but they do get to listen to audiobooks when we're in the car. We've listened to so much great content, and it's really helped develop their attention spans and vocabulary. You can get free audiobooks from your library through the Libby app and just connect your phone to your car speakers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I grew up watching TV all the time in the late 90s - early 2000s and I turned out fine as an adult.

Not the same. At all.

Agreed. I teach kindergarten and the longest attention span for any kid’s movie is about 15 minutes. Kids can’t even get halfway through a Disney or kid’s movie anymore. They can’t follow a plot. They rarely read for fun. I’ve had grades 3-5 in the after school program for years and hardly anyone wants to borrow my books anymore. It’s sad.

I found that taking away my kid's iPad helped her behavior and attention a ton. Have you considered not using screens in your classroom for a day to see what happens?

As far as reading, the kids aren't borrowing books and don't like reading because they haven't properly learned to read due to poor choices by school district leaders and the education sector. I know it is tempting and fun to bash parents though.

It is primarily the parents.

No, parents are not educators. Public schools exist to teach kids to read, and they aren't doing that. Instead of acknowledging the issue they pretend it is on parents to deliver the systematic reading instruction that most kids need. Gmafb

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is the worst generation of parents. I cannot believe the number of young children I see staring at a screen in grocery stores, parks, restaurants and more. They are literally damaging their kids’ brains but they’re too lazy to do the job.

They aren’t damaging their brains but the kids are missing out on important stages of development. These are perfect places to watch people interacting, talking to people, looking around at the world.

I was in line at Starbucks and there was a three year old in front of me. I was taking apart this three part plastic cup, taking the straw out, taking the middle part out, reversing the straw, getting it ready to use. This three year old never took his eyes off of what I was doing. It was a couple of minutes and I never saw such intense observation on a mundane happening. That was a kid who will have no adhd and he probably doesn’t use iPads or anything. When I was done he went back to seeing what his mother was doing.

Screens do not cause ADHD, which is primarily a neurodevelopmental disorder with strong genetic roots present from early childhood. However, excessive screen time is linked to increased ADHD symptoms, like inattention and hyperactivity, especially with 2+ hours daily in kids.

[Anonymous]

They probably started when kids were babies. Whatever you introduce and use routinely, that becomes normalized. My 9 year old doesn't even ask for screen time because he's never had it. He immediately gravitates toward books, outdoor play, or just brainstorming typical silly boy things. He has 2 unrelated cousins of a similar age (7 and 10). The 7 year old wont even eat without the ipad on. The 10 year old is active and plays lots of sports, but when he is indoors, he is in front of the TV. I realize that I am extreme in the other direction. We have slowly started to add in screen time through limited computer games, typing games at the library, and tv time together. I still think iPads and kids having their own devices is not the way to go, but I know many people disagree. It still shocks me when I see parents handing their babies iphones.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I grew up watching TV all the time in the late 90s - early 2000s and I turned out fine as an adult.

Not the same. At all.

Agreed. I teach kindergarten and the longest attention span for any kid’s movie is about 15 minutes. Kids can’t even get halfway through a Disney or kid’s movie anymore. They can’t follow a plot. They rarely read for fun. I’ve had grades 3-5 in the after school program for years and hardly anyone wants to borrow my books anymore. It’s sad.

I found that taking away my kid's iPad helped her behavior and attention a ton. Have you considered not using screens in your classroom for a day to see what happens?

As far as reading, the kids aren't borrowing books and don't like reading because they haven't properly learned to read due to poor choices by school district leaders and the education sector. I know it is tempting and fun to bash parents though.

I am not bashing parents, but I think parents (assuming they can read in English themselves) need to address these gaps at home when they see them. We are zoned to a district that gets top marks by everyone, yet my 1st grader and a number of others were struggling with decoding. Turns out the curriculum is not in line with science of reading. I purchased a phonics primer meant for home use and we worked at home until she was about to decode instead of guess. Kids do slip through the cracks, and that has always been the case, even before iPads and other poor choices made by school leadership.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I grew up watching TV all the time in the late 90s - early 2000s and I turned out fine as an adult.

Not the same. At all.

Agreed. I teach kindergarten and the longest attention span for any kid’s movie is about 15 minutes. Kids can’t even get halfway through a Disney or kid’s movie anymore. They can’t follow a plot. They rarely read for fun. I’ve had grades 3-5 in the after school program for years and hardly anyone wants to borrow my books anymore. It’s sad.

I found that taking away my kid's iPad helped her behavior and attention a ton. Have you considered not using screens in your classroom for a day to see what happens?

As far as reading, the kids aren't borrowing books and don't like reading because they haven't properly learned to read due to poor choices by school district leaders and the education sector. I know it is tempting and fun to bash parents though.

I am not bashing parents, but I think parents (assuming they can read in English themselves) need to address these gaps at home when they see them. We are zoned to a district that gets top marks by everyone, yet my 1st grader and a number of others were struggling with decoding. Turns out the curriculum is not in line with science of reading. I purchased a phonics primer meant for home use and we worked at home until she was about to decode instead of guess. Kids do slip through the cracks, and that has always been the case, even before iPads and other poor choices made by school leadership.

I mean you are preaching to the choir. We hired a reading tutor because my efforts at home were not helping and were just making DC hate reading. These issues can't always be solved by untrained parents.

There have been measurable declines in literacy over the past decade. This is on the schools. Individual parents can try to help their own kids but that is not going to measurably move the needle.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm guilty of defaulting to an iPad as a babysitter from time to time, but my kid is happy, has friends, scores in the 99th percentile on MAP tests, and plays multiple sports. They've also learned a lot of random but cool stuff on YouTube Kids, especially interesting science. It's not ideal, but probably not much worse than the bad TV I watched in the 90s.

There’s a difference between occasionally handing your kid the iPad as a babysitter and letting them constantly be on screens.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm guilty of defaulting to an iPad as a babysitter from time to time, but my kid is happy, has friends, scores in the 99th percentile on MAP tests, and plays multiple sports. They've also learned a lot of random but cool stuff on YouTube Kids, especially interesting science. It's not ideal, but probably not much worse than the bad TV I watched in the 90s.

There’s a difference between occasionally handing your kid the iPad as a babysitter and letting them constantly be on screens.

The vast majority of parents are not "letting them constantly be on screens." Every single parent I know works hard to limit screens in some way. Some more than others but nobody I know has zero limits.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm guilty of defaulting to an iPad as a babysitter from time to time, but my kid is happy, has friends, scores in the 99th percentile on MAP tests, and plays multiple sports. They've also learned a lot of random but cool stuff on YouTube Kids, especially interesting science. It's not ideal, but probably not much worse than the bad TV I watched in the 90s.

There’s a difference between occasionally handing your kid the iPad as a babysitter and letting them constantly be on screens.

The vast majority of parents are not "letting them constantly be on screens." Every single parent I know works hard to limit screens in some way. Some more than others but nobody I know has zero limits.

DP. I think you underestimate screen time use in young kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm guilty of defaulting to an iPad as a babysitter from time to time, but my kid is happy, has friends, scores in the 99th percentile on MAP tests, and plays multiple sports. They've also learned a lot of random but cool stuff on YouTube Kids, especially interesting science. It's not ideal, but probably not much worse than the bad TV I watched in the 90s.

There’s a difference between occasionally handing your kid the iPad as a babysitter and letting them constantly be on screens.

The vast majority of parents are not "letting them constantly be on screens." Every single parent I know works hard to limit screens in some way. Some more than others but nobody I know has zero limits.

DP. I think you underestimate screen time use in young kids.

+1 My kids are in HS and college and when they were in elementary school they used to stand at the bus stop and either read a book (yes that’s unusual but my younger one is a lover of reading) or talk/play with each other. Now I walk past the elementary bus stop and every kid AND adult is on a screen. No one is talking to anyone else.
It’s definitely gotten worse over the last decade.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I grew up watching TV all the time in the late 90s - early 2000s and I turned out fine as an adult.

Not the same. At all.

Agreed. I teach kindergarten and the longest attention span for any kid’s movie is about 15 minutes. Kids can’t even get halfway through a Disney or kid’s movie anymore. They can’t follow a plot. They rarely read for fun. I’ve had grades 3-5 in the after school program for years and hardly anyone wants to borrow my books anymore. It’s sad.

I found that taking away my kid's iPad helped her behavior and attention a ton. Have you considered not using screens in your classroom for a day to see what happens?

As far as reading, the kids aren't borrowing books and don't like reading because they haven't properly learned to read due to poor choices by school district leaders and the education sector. I know it is tempting and fun to bash parents though.

I am not bashing parents, but I think parents (assuming they can read in English themselves) need to address these gaps at home when they see them. We are zoned to a district that gets top marks by everyone, yet my 1st grader and a number of others were struggling with decoding. Turns out the curriculum is not in line with science of reading. I purchased a phonics primer meant for home use and we worked at home until she was about to decode instead of guess. Kids do slip through the cracks, and that has always been the case, even before iPads and other poor choices made by school leadership.

I mean you are preaching to the choir. We hired a reading tutor because my efforts at home were not helping and were just making DC hate reading. These issues can't always be solved by untrained parents.

There have been measurable declines in literacy over the past decade. This is on the schools. Individual parents can try to help their own kids but that is not going to measurably move the needle.

I'm super-involved in my child's education, and I've worked her about a grade ahead in math by instructing her at home after dinner. However, I agree that the curriculum and teaching methods at school can be a big problem. The kids spend most of their day at school, and they're tired when they get home. On a good day I can get my daughter to focus for maybe 30 minutes in the evening, but that's the limit (and it's an appropriate one--she needs to be spending most of her time learning through play). But with a 30-minute cap, I need most of the academic work to happen at school. It's a school, not a babysitting service. Fortunately we have a really good school that has no EdTech and uses a phonics-based reading curriculum. It would be a real struggle if we didn't have such a great school.