{"id":265,"date":"2017-10-24T14:06:32","date_gmt":"2017-10-24T21:06:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0027\/?p=265"},"modified":"2017-10-24T14:10:03","modified_gmt":"2017-10-24T21:10:03","slug":"lrnt523-activity-8-reflections-on-childrens-screen-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0027\/lrnt523-activity-8-reflections-on-childrens-screen-time\/","title":{"rendered":"LRNT523 – Activity 8 – Reflections on Children’s “Screen Time”"},"content":{"rendered":"

In an open letter to government and research organizations, published by the Guardian last January, Dr. Pete Etchells suggests that policymakers assess the evidence before making broad recommendations on media use for children. Specifically, Etchells speaks to recent recommendations\u00a0<\/a>for reduced “screen time” and the lack of quality research in this area to back these recommendations.<\/p>\n

As a parent, I have grappled with how much “screen time” we should allow in our household. I’ve read recommendations for hours a day based on children’s ages. I’ve witnessed the “mom group” infighting on social media. Most profoundly, I’ve been disappointed with the content available. Educational TV and tablet games have seemed to differ from content marketed as entertainment on only a surface level. Educational children’s television often relies on anti-social behaviours to drive the plot. In my experience, apps that claim to improve numeracy and literacy skills fail to motivate and engage children.<\/p>\n

Etchell’s plea that recommendations for screen time be based on evidence is a refreshing call to action for policymakers and a helpful reminder to parents to question the recommendations they are given. I have turned to independent resources (https:\/\/www.commonsensemedia.org<\/a>) to assess the values displayed in content for my children. I based this curation on evidence that has been articulated for some time that content that includes\u00a0aggressive behaviour can impact children’s behaviour\u00a0(Eron 1963) and on more recent evidence that gentler content improves behaviour in young children (Christakis et al., 2013).<\/p>\n

I would like to see evidence-based content assessment for educational and developmental impacts. For example, the fear that screen time inherently negatively impacts attention span is unfounded in research. However, there is evidence that fast-paced content negatively impacts executive functioning in children (Lillard & Peterson, 2011).<\/p>\n

The current attitude toward screen time unnecessarily stigmatizes technology and those who use it and misses the opportunity to improve the demand for quality content.<\/p>\n

References<\/strong><\/p>\n

Christakis, D., Garrison, M., Herrenkohl, T., Haggerty, K., Liekweg, K., Rivara, F., Zhou, C., (2013)\u00a0 \u00a0 Modifying media content for preschool children: a randomized controlled trial.\u00a0Pediatrics<\/a><\/em>,<\/em>\u00a0131(3<\/a>) Retrieved From\u00a0http:\/\/pediatrics.aappublications.org\/content\/131\/3\/431<\/a><\/p>\n

Eron, L. D. (1963). Relationship of TV viewing habits and aggressive behavior in children.\u00a0The Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology,<\/em>\u00a067(2), 193-196.\u00a0Retrieved from:\u00a0http:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1037\/h0043794<\/a><\/p>\n

Etchells, P., et al. (January 6, 2017).\u00a0Screen time guidelines should be built on evidence, not hype<\/a>.\u00a0The Guardian.\u00a0<\/em>Retrieved from:\u00a0<\/em>https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/science\/head-quarters\/2017\/jan\/06\/screen-time-guidelines-need-to-be-built-on-evidence-not-hype<\/a><\/p>\n

Lillard, A., Peterson, J., (2011) The Immediate Impact of Different Types of Television on Young Children’s Executive Function.\u00a0Pediatrics,<\/em>\u00a0128(4)\u00a0Retrieved from:\u00a0http:\/\/pediatrics.aappublications.org\/content\/128\/4<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In an open letter to government and research organizations, published by the Guardian last January, Dr. Pete Etchells suggests that policymakers assess the evidence before making broad recommendations on media use for children. Specifically, Etchells speaks to recent recommendations\u00a0for reduced… Continue Reading →<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":71,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-265","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-lrnt523","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0027\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/265","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0027\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0027\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0027\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/71"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0027\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=265"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0027\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/265\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":272,"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0027\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/265\/revisions\/272"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0027\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=265"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0027\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=265"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0027\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=265"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}