Screen Time
Screens! We are all hooked on them. You are looking at one right now, reading this!
Our kids are looking at screens more these days than ever before. So how can we make sure this screen time is healthy? And what do we need to know about how screen time affects language development?
Here's what we know: children learn language through _interaction with other people_. Full stop. So any time a child is spending passively watching something on a screen, s/he is not talking to anyone, hearing anyone else talk, or practicing interaction skills. A child with a screen in front of him/her will usually be silently playing or watching instead of talking to his/her parents, and parents may be less inclined to speak to a child who is completely engrossed in a game or video. This means that screen time is replacing interaction time (that's language-learning time)! This is a problem. Research is showing that kids who watch screens at earlier ages (before 12 months) and for longer times each day (over 2 hours per day) are far more likely to exhibit language delays.
So what do we do?
- Limit screen time. It is recommended that kids under 2 years of age have no screen time at all, and those over 2 have less than 2 hours per day.
- Join in and make screen time interactive. When you're watching a movie together, you can pause it frequently and talk about what's happening with the characters. When you're playing a video game together, you can ask questions, make predictions, and talk about strategies and outcomes. If you can be present during screen time and keep the language flowing, it won't be passive and it won't be happening at the expense of interaction.
- Forgive ourselves. We are all trying our best and, yes, sometimes we need a little break to shower or drink a glass of wine and screen time is how we make this happen. It's not something to beat yourself up about. Just try to keep it healthy.
Screen time: in moderation and with more interaction. We can do this!