For years, more and more young children have been exposed to screens at home. Some might even have it as a part of their daily schedule. Little by little, computers, tablets, smartphones, and televisions are replacing human contact and real experiences children need so much for healthy development. In this month´s article, we will look into the mental and physical effects these screens have on children and what to do instead.

Nature is very wise. The moment children are born, they require real experiences and human contact to survive; they need skin-to-skin time with an adult and need to be fed several times each day. The need for these essential interactions does not change or disappear as they grow up. The more real experiences they have, the better. Toddlers are wired to learn through all senses, use their hands, and repeat an activity or movement as many times as they need to. So, what happens when all these needs are replaced with watching television? Does a television offer the same kind of stimuli? Will toddlers be making brain connections and using their hands voluntarily? The answer is no.

Reduction of Real Experiences

All human beings come to this world with the potential to gain knowledge. The first source of information is the environment, which is full of multisensorial experiences that provide information to the child that she will be able to absorb in an orderly way. However, if children spend time in front of a television, usually one to two hours daily (and maybe even more during a weekend), these hours are subtracted from the hours of direct contact with reality. We must understand that television cannot transmit an accurate external world to the child. It lacks time, space, landscape, and context. A child that is seated in front of a television in a dark room won´t be able to have multi- sensorial experiences and won´t get the correct information about the world that surrounds her; this means the child will have less participation and response to the world. Information given through television is one-way, and it is continuous, which means the child has no opportunity to repeat and observe as much as she needs. We must remember that the goal of Dr. Montessori has always been to develop independence and self- consciousness in children; a television lacks the potential to foster those qualities. Television makes the child be a passive observer instead of being an active, conscious being.

Consequences on Body and Mind

Let's talk about the importance of natural light concerning all living beings. Natural light comes from a mixture of seven fundamental colors in particular proportions. Plants need natural light for photosynthesis. If we expose a plant to artificial light, we can observe the difference in development it will have with a different model of growth. The same goes for humans; we need natural light. The artificial fluorescent light that a child receives from television is composed only by red, blue, and green in small composite points that go on and off 30 times per second. Since television images are very rapidly, the child needs to continuously make an effort to capture those images and is not able to think, have a personal reflection. After a child watches television, most of the time, they are tired or unable to concentrate on anything else since they already made an effort to watch passively, processing hundreds of images in seconds. So, in case you think a child is very concentrated because he watches a two-hour movie without moving from the seat, please observe him closely. He is not concentrating. If children are exposed to a television regularly for long periods, they will start to lose the ability to listen because they cannot pay real attention to everything that is happening.

Behavioral Changes

Children receive hundreds of images in short periods when watching television. Since they do not have enough time to process and filter what they saw, it will have a significant impact on behavior later on. Children tend to like a character, and they begin to model that character’s behavior. The problem is that most of the characters are not reality-based. Children at this age cannot identify what is real and what is make-believe and they receive a very confusing vision of the world and their possibilities of acting in it. 

Language

Children do not learn language from a screen. They need real, in-person conversations with all of the characteristics of tone, inflection, pauses, gestures, etc. Cartoons do not offer all the characteristics of oral language; they need a real human to interact with.

What to Do Instead

1. Avoid exposing your child to television until at least 5-6 years of age, usually when they start to write and read.
2. When watching television, children should be accompanied by an adult that can comment on it and guide the child to a clearer understanding of what they are viewing.
3. As soon as your child walks, involve him as much as you can in helping you, so he does not spend time sitting watching television.
4. When you have younger children at home, try removing screens from common areas. This will remove the temptation of turning the television on and will remove the message that when we gather it is to watch television. 
5. Go outdoors as much as you can, substitute screen time with real experiences, and not only your child will enjoy it, but you will too.

Quote of the Month

¨Never give more to the mind than you give to the hand"
-Maria Montessori

Book of the Month

“Toxic Childhood: How the Modern World is Damaging Our Children and What We Can Do About It” by Sue Palmer

In her book, Sue shares her extensive research from around the world about the problematic consequences television, computer games and mobile phones have on young children. She describes the relationship between obesity, dyslexia, ADHD, and challenging behaviors. She also includes many insights about what to do instead.



Link to buy it at Amazon.com

https://www.amazon.com/Toxic-Childhood-Modern-Damaging-Children/dp/140913752X/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=Toxic+Childhood%3A+How+the+Modern+World+is+Damaging+Our+Children+and+What+We+Can+Do+About+It%C2%A8+by+Sue+Palmer&qid=1594825569&s=books&sr=1-1