Screen time and use of gadgets has been a free babysitter now for a long time with the parents. Many parents use screen time to feed the child or to pacify a child who is showing tantrums or simply to take a self-break. The average toddler today already spends about 4 to 5 hours on meaningless screen time. The reason why I call it meaningless is because it isn’t under parental guidance and the learning outcome (if any) depends totally on the toddler.
Being raised up in a family where as a child our screen time was literally rationed and always under parental supervision, be it even a Disney cartoon, I completely advocate minimum use of screen time for kids.
However, not all screen time can be considered bad. Think about this, would you complain if your child read books for six hours? An absolute no, you would rather consider this as a big achievement or wait, maybe it could be an issue too. What if you realized that those six hours were spent reading meaningless text instead of something which will help to grow?
The reason is that one energises the brain while the other doesn’t. You as a parent need to make that choice. So, while choosing screen time, please exercise your choice using the above example. Parents today need to understand the use of screen time as a chance to interact with your child and teach lessons about the world.
Don’t let your child spend time alone just staring at a screen.
For example, you and your baby playing an interactive colour or shape game on a tablet or watching high-quality educational series on Discovery or National Geographic together is good screen time. Plopping your toddler down in front of the screen to watch a hip gyrating Bollywood number while you are cooking or feeding him or your watching your favourite show with your child is a classic example of bad screen time.
Educationalists today are bringing meaning and mindfulness to screen time. We are spending a lot of time & research to integrate screen time into our teaching. Given the current situation during the pandemic, digital technology can powerfully facilitate this process provided thoughtful adults, both parents and teachers use it wisely.
Our effective blended-learning sessions at Niño & Nina, use the best available tools to create the best learning experience, while keeping adult guidance and peer relationships foremost.
IT ISN’T ABOUT THE DEVICE (SCREEN, IN THIS CASE), IT’S ABOUT HOW THE DEVICE FACILITATES LEARNING, IS WHAT MAKES THE DIFFERENCE.
Researchers say that, “Using technology mindfully and strategically can contribute to kids’ mental, emotional and even physical health—and strengthen our relationships with them too.”
Believe me, we can see this in the Online Sessions that we take for our kids.
One month into the online mode, and we see our learners have now begun :
To interact with their peers,
To notice things about each other,
To ask the educator for things,
To complement each other’s work,
And even to pacify a child showing tantrums in the session.
I really don’t think we could have asked for more. A very big credit goes here to all the mothers, fathers and even grandparents who have shown immense patience & tolerance and faith in us. The learning environment has changed from the classroom to that small screen on the table of your house. We thank all the people who are associated in the learning process of their child as this time will pass, school will start, but our kids will forever remember this time. “This time”, when in spite of your work from home, in spite of you having no household help you took out those two precious hours in a day for them, for their learning to not pause.
A big cheers to all parents who are assisting their kids and reading this. A food for thought for the ones who are still doubtful if the online sessions will benefit their kid & still letting that child see videos on the mobile but not helping him/her settle in the online mode of learning.
DIVYA JOSHI
