Going screen-free? Don’t believe the hype

The web has been abuzz with headlines about kids and technology: “Tech-Savvy Kids Forgetting How to Make Conversation”, said the Huffington Post. “Is the Internet Hurting Children?” asked CNN.

A New York Times documentary profiled a rehabilitation centre in China that catered to video game-addicted teenagers who’d become so immersed in their online lives that they believed the real world was fake.

Delivered and shared over social media, such dire warnings about the dangers of technology are enough to make any concerned parent lock up the family iPad for good. Trend pieces pointing out that Steve Jobs didn’t let his children use such gadgets only seem to reinforce the belief that tools of the modern age—the same ones adults rely on for work, socializing and entertainment—are causing irrevocable damage to our kids.

But are our fears unfounded? Some experts seem to think so. For all the stories that highlight kids’ deteriorating attention spans and negative online behaviour, many researchers believe technology’s positives outweigh the negatives.

“Moreover, overly restricting or even banning children from using electronic media might cause more harm than good.”

“Parents have always projected their own fears onto children,” says Matthew Johnson, director of education for MediaSmarts, a Canadian nonprofit that advocates for digital and media literacy. “We’re afraid of being left behind by technology, and at the same time we fear being consumed by technology. We worry about kids spending too much time online, because we do.”

In fact, adults consume even more screen media than kids do. A Nielsen study conducted last year reported that Americans over the age of 18 spend more than 8 hours a day exposed to various glowing devices. Television takes the lion’s share at five hours a day, but smartphones, PCs and gaming consoles are quickly catching up, eating up almost three hours per day.

Compare that to the average American teen aged 13 to 18, who spends about six hours per day watching TV or videos, gaming, browsing the internet or using social media, according to another 2015 study. Tweens (aged 8 to 12) spend about four and a half hours total with screens.

Granted, the methodology might present a distorted picture if multiple devices are on at once. Researchers added the time spent with each form of media, even if the TV, for example, was only on in the background. Even so, it’s clear most families aren’t sticking to the recommended one or two hour daily maximum.

“Avoid making television watching part of your daily routine,” the Canadian Pediatric Society helpfully suggests. But how can that be realistic for kids in 2016, when for many adults, binge-watching all 10 hours of Making a Murderer  is practically a civic requirement?

One spring day in 2013, a five-year-old Guelph boy named Trey was doing what most kids his age like to do—playing a game on an iPad. His dad, Blair McMillan, invited him to play outside. Trey declined, opting to keep swiping.

Little did he know that would set off a year-long family experiment involving cassette tapes and, oddly enough, matching mullets. Trey’s parents decided to start living like it was 1986, using only the technologies that existed the year they were both born.

Their flat-screen televisions, computers and gaming consoles were locked away, leaving only a VCR, a rabbit-ears TV, old-school books and the backyard for entertainment.

“I’m not trying to punish [my kids],” McMillan told the National Post. “I wanted them to taste what life was like when I was growing up.”

Once the press caught on, the couple spent a great deal of their much-vaunted free time giving media interviews. As the months went on, though, they felt increasingly cut off from friends and family. The beige rotary phone in the kitchen was their lifeline. “The only way to talk to people was to call, and nobody does that much anymore,” McMillan told the CBC.

After a long, cold winter indoors, the family returned to the modern age. But digital “detox” sessions for kids—while not quite as extreme as the McMillans’—are catching on.

Screen-Free Week, which took place in early May this year, urges families to “unplug” from digital entertainment, boasting 300 million participants since the annual campaign began in 1994. Some elite schools take the concept even further: pricey Waldorf academies, increasingly popular among affluent urban families, eschew computers altogether in favour of teaching young kids how to crochet and play the recorder.

But the M.O. behind these efforts—like Screen-Free Week’s exhortation to “spend your free time playing, reading, daydreaming, creating, exploring and connecting with family and friends”—seems to imply that these activities and electronic media use are mutually exclusive. There’s no indication, however, that kids themselves see things that way.

“For most kids, the Internet and social media have become such a part of life that they cannot be separated from their offline lives,” says Johnson. “Taking their devices away makes them feel punished, without really understanding what they’ve done wrong.”

“For some, technology isn’t just a mindless distraction, but a cherished creative outlet.”

The popular Lego-like game Minecraft, where players build and explore whole virtual worlds, has been called a cultural phenomenon that teaches kids how to collaborate to solve problems. It’s even being used by the United Nations to allow citizens to help design public spaces in developing countries.

 

Whatever the future may hold, it’s doubtful the solution lies in cutting kids off from technology. “You cannot prepare kids to deal with the risks of online life without allowing them access to that world,” says Johnson. “That’s why it’s important to not shelter them, but to make sure they feel they can come to you. Parents are still a tremendous influence.”

If parents feel their kids’ screen time is excessive, Johnson suggests turning off the router at certain times of the day, or laying down ground rules—such as no phones at the dinner table or in the bedroom. Co-viewing movies, shows and YouTube videos with your kids is another valuable strategy, giving parents the opportunity to have conversations about what they’re watching.

“The thing with kids is that eventually they’re going to grow up and move out,” he says. “They’ll have to manage their own lives, and they’re going to need self-regulation skills to take with them.&rdquo