What can we expect for kids in terms of using screens?

A few years ago, I was consulting in a childcare center that was part of a chain system of care. Each early childhood classroom, including young toddlers, was assigned a technology time, just like gym room time and play yard time. The teachers were stressed because the kids were not complying with the requirement of the program that all children sit for the 20-minute lesson in front of the largest wall mounted video screen I have seen to this day.

The toddlers were not mesmerized. They were being tortured. I seriously considered filing a complaint about emotional and psychological abuse that was taking place as the caregivers (they cannot be called educators) were forcing the children to “participate” by sitting and attending without wiggling around. Let me also say that the children were watching a music video that included characters dancing. (Think “Baby Shark…”)

Witnessing this brought me to great concern about how we are regulating when and how children use screens when they are in licensed and public settings. I strongly encourage folks to look at information from Common Sense Media https://www.commonsensemedia.org.; Defending the Early Years ( https://dey.org) and Teachers Resisting Unhealthy Childrens Entertainment (TRUCE, www.truceteachers.org). Furthermore, you can find guidance on setting up family entertainment contracts at. https://www.aap.org/en-us/advocacy-and-policy/aap-health-initiatives/Pages/Media-and-Children.aspx. and http://www.healthychildren.org/MediaUsePlan

Educating elementary age students via video platform is not a practice based on evidence

Kids are mammals and all mammals learn through their senses and through play.

As we plan for summer activities and potential “return to online learning” or other hybrid versions of education this fall, we need to think very carefully about what we are asking our young children to do.

In short,  I argue that we are doing more damage to young children by asking them to “learn” in a way that is not how humans learn. The desire to get children to “participate” in online learning has unfortunately resulted in dysregulated parents who are cajoling, pressing, and physically pressuring children to “go to school” in their homes using computer and electronic platforms. These parents are stressed and should not be put in the place of being expected to manage this.

Adults are best able to support children when adults are healthy and free of stress and have been given supports to develop their own adult capacities. See the work of pediatrician Jack Shonkoff and the folks at the Center on the Developing Child for more information (www.developingchild.harvard.edu)

Please do not blame your children for their challenging behaviors relating to screen use that have gotten worse or more frequent.

I have spent my careers (one primarily as special educator of young children and the second as a mental health counselor) supporting the families of children who exhibit challenging behaviors. I am sounding an alarm that are children our suffering from many stresses due the pandemic.

In the past month and a half, I have fielded calls and referrals from too many families who have children expressing themselves via meltdowns related to expectations to do learning via virtual video platforms and in general response to the pandemic closures. Beyond this, it is very hard for kids to follow parent guidance about balancing screen use and other kinds of play.

In teaching at a university that moved to all online learning, I made the very intentional choice to severely limit the requirements for participation in virtual classroom meeting for my all adult students. I knew that it was not a useful way to teach material and would prove more harm than potential benefit to my adult students who were struggling with closures of work and school for themselves and their own children, that many of my education students were already teachers themselves struggling to figure out the new expectations of “online learning”.

I myself completed a hybridized graduate program with most of the theoretical material being taught through non-synchronized classes, meaning that a student could login to complete material at any time across a given week of the course. I chose this model because it respected my needs as a learner to balance all the needs of my life while attending school.

We all learn by exploring material with others in meaningful, three dimensional  ways.

Return our children to opportunities to learn. Return them to play.

I love supporting families of young children. Someone told me recently, that I have a talent for this and should consider it as a career. And so it is and I do want to support families. We can do this by supporting play.

The biggest way to support families with young children is to assist them in preventing challenging behavior. Examples of materials include The Positive Solutions for Families and Prevent-Teach-Reinforce Models http://archive.brookespublishing.com/documents/how-to-work-with-families.pdf

Prevention of unhealthy screen use includes following a Play Diet: https://learningworksforkids.com/play-diet/

When children play with us, with peers and in free play, children build the skills for self-regulation. According to Gerard Costa “even before we start looking at these skills, we need to begin with the fundamental understanding that children first need to develop the capacity for self-regulation”(NICHQ.org).

With play, children have elevated mood and confidence that is only developed through relationships with play. Don’t we want this for our future generations?

Denise Galford-Koeppel is a licensed mental health counselor in Massachusetts with a Post Master’s Degree in Early Education Research, Policy and Practice. Denise holds masters degrees in education from Wheelock College and mental health counseling from Bay Path University. Denise began her passion for understanding child development as a student and research assistant at Wellesley College and the Women’s Research Center. She is certified as a trainer for both Learning Language and Loving It™ — The Hanen Program® for Early Childhood and Educators and the Pyramid Model (CSEFEL).  Denise he specializes in working with families with very young children (birth to 8), having served as an early childhood special educator for over 30 years. Denise is also an intermediate level certified Developmental Individual Differences Relationship Model (DIR-Floortime) provider, an approach to working with children with developmental challenges including autism. Denise has experience and certification as a special needs advocate and is well versed in the IEP process as both a teacher and parent who raised a child with learning and mental health challenges. When she can fit it in, she serves as an associate lecturer at UMass Boston.

 resources:

Integrated Learning Strategies. http://www.ilslearning.com (

below Image from learningworksforkids