Screentime - Focus On Quality, Not Quantity

There’s a lot of debate about screentime for youth. Not only is it important for teachers to be familiar with the research, but Holly Flanders, CEO of Choice Parenting reminds us that parents, nannies, and any childcare provider must also be armed with accurate information. Flanders was recently quoted in the New York Post explaining why misinformation and misunderstanding can be a problem. “Most nanny relationships fail after a buildup of small issues that explode into something beyond repair.” The same holds true for parent-teacher relationships.

So what should the adults raising our youth know about screentime?  It may not be what you think.

Unlimited screentime is fine... if used responsibly.

Screen time: It's not about how much. It's about how.

Editor's Note: A version of this post was originally posted on career advice expert, Penelope Trunk's education blog. If you'd rather read it (and the comments) there, go here.  

There’s nothing the press likes better than a story that generates real panic for teachers and parents…especially when it has the stamp of science to give a the panic an extra edge.

That’s exactly what happened when the media (Scientific American, Wall Street Journal,CNN, New York Times) ran a story about the American Association of Pediatrics (AAP)recommendations on children and screen time. One to two hours a day for children older than 2, they said, and no screen time at all for those younger than 2. Longer than that is dangerous to their health and their development.

An educator or parent today reading this probably had one of these reactions:

1.  You are a failure because your students are in front of screens much more than 1 or 2 hours a day.
2.  You don’t let students use computers so you’re good.

OR 

3.  Seriously? What year is this? Who is doing this research?

If you fit into the third reaction, you are likely someone who has seen amazing learning from screen time for your young people: building, creating, coding, reading, writing, and more.

Why would adults want to limit that?

We wouldn’t.

So why would the AAP make such out-of-touch recommendations?

Good news for #Students - Screentime Is Good For You!

The next time someone shares with you another piece of shock journalism with claims that research says if kids use tech they'll get fat and stupid, arm yourself with this piece (10 Points Where the Research Behind Banning Handheld Devices for Children Is Flawed) which debunks that research. If you don't feel like reading it, it says this: The research cited against technology use for youth focuses on passive television viewing or addiction to video games that are usually of violent nature. 

Of course video game addiction and passively intaking information for hours on end is bad for anyone. In those cases the problem is usually not the technology, but rather the lack of a responsible adult guiding these young people.

However, when young people have responsible parents and teachers in their lives, this does not describe what most young people do with technology. When responsible adults are involved in and understand the digital lives of young people, great things happen. Below is an arsenal of material that explains how today's youth are using technology effectively.  Pick a few of your favorites. Then share, and shift the conversation from lamenting about "kids today" to celebrating the wonderful things young people are doing when given proper support and access technology.  

Think twice before limiting screentime

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends limiting a child's screentime to no more than one or two hours a day because, they say too much screen time has been linked to the following issues: Obesity. Irregular sleep (see #7). Behavioral problems. Impaired academic performance. Violence. Less time for play.

This begs the questions:
How much does this century-old academy really know about screen time? It seems not much. This out-of-touch Academy confuses passive television watching with interactive screen time which makes it a flawed study to begin with. Next up: Why don’t they address the research that supports that sitting in school all day leads to many of these problems as well? 

If the AAP really wanted to help address these issues, instead of focusing on parents and screens, they’d be making recommendations to schools about things like getting kids up and out of their seats.