Twenty-three years ago, my children were between the ages of two and five.\u00a0 Computers were not a mainstay in everyone\u2019s home and the definition of screen time related to watching television.\u00a0 Just like today, we had Sesame Street and Thomas the Train.\u00a0 These programs taught children counting, addition, spelling and some programs focused on teamwork and friendships.\u00a0 Did we allow them to watch television \u2013 of course we did!\u00a0 Were we worried that too much television was going to harm them?\u00a0 Again, I would say yes, we were concerned about this.\u00a0 Was it founded on any research?\u00a0 Honestly, not from my perspective.\u00a0 It was based on what I thought I knew about the situation. Regardless, as a parent I believed that it was my responsibility to monitor what my children were watching and to encourage and provide a multitude of opportunities for them to be active and spend time outside.\u00a0 Let me fast forward to 2019.<\/p>\n
Today, parents are tasked with the same challenges as we were in the 1990\u2019s.\u00a0 However, these days, it is more complex.\u00a0 Today there are games for the iPhone, iPad and other technology.\u00a0 Children can text friends, and any information is just one google search away.<\/p>\n
Etchells disagreed with the notion that childhood health and well being is declining because of an increase in screen-based lifestyles (para 1). In fact, he agrees that it needs to be monitored, however, he suggests that there has to be quality research and evidence supporting this claim.\u00a0 To date, that research does not exist. In addition, he states that the content that students encounter is far more important (to their development) than the quantity (duration) of screen time (para 2).<\/p>\n
My perspective is that children in 2019 have many more opportunities to grow and develop their minds and thinking patterns with the use of technology.\u00a0 As Etchells stated, digital technologies are part of our children\u2019s lives, necessarily so in the 21st<\/sup> century (para 3).\u00a0 I am blessed to have a granddaughter who is 18 months old.\u00a0 She understands how to swipe right on an iPhone, or touch the screen to make the animal move or point to an object to start and stop the music in a You Tube video.\u00a0 Does she watch Sesame Street on TV \u2013 absolutely yes.\u00a0 She also has the opportunity to use the iPad in order to watch Sesame Street.<\/p>\n Technology provides children today the opportunity to learn more, experience more and grow as little people. The opportunities for learning are endless.\u00a0 Although technology has changed, and screen time may be increased, we need evidence as opposed to opinion that too much screen time is detrimental to our children.<\/p>\n References<\/u><\/p>\n Etchells, P., et al. (January 6, 2017).\u00a0Screen Time Guidelines should be built on evidence, not hype<\/a>.\u00a0The Guardian<\/em>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Twenty-three years ago, my children were between the ages of two and five.\u00a0 Computers were not a mainstay in everyone\u2019s home and the definition of screen time related to watching television.\u00a0 Just like today, we had Sesame Street and Thomas… Continue Reading →<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":131,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-227","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-lrnt523"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0101\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/227","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0101\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0101\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0101\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/131"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0101\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=227"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0101\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/227\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":228,"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0101\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/227\/revisions\/228"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0101\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=227"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0101\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=227"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0101\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=227"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}