We were fortunate to have Rachel Barr and Claire Lerner present a webinar about Screen Use for Children Under 3 on May 13, 2015. Many of the participants had questions that we were unable to ask the presenters. Rachel and Claire were kind enough to answer them and they are posted below. Here is a link to the recording of the webinar: Screen Use for Children Under 3: Research-Based Guidelines for Screen Sense, by Rachel Barr and Claire Lerner
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Q.1. What about AAP recommendations of no screen time for children under 24 months?
A.1. Our recommendations are not in conflict with the AAP as we advising parents about whether or not to allow their children to use screen media. Our approach is to help parents make informed decisions by translating the science so they are fully aware of the potential detriment of using media and what we know about how to maximize it as a learning tool. We are clear that if parents choose to allow their children to use media, that they make it an interactive, language-rich, social experience, only expose children to high-quality, developmentally appropriate content, and that they limit the time children spend to under 90 minutes a day. Even when media is used to maximum benefit as described above, it is less likely to provide a multi-sensory or action-oriented experience in the way that exploration of the real, 3D world is, and that is critical for young children’s learning.
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Q.2. Do screens have a place in the early childhood classroom at all?
A.2. The work of young children is to learn how the world works and to form healthy relationships. The more an activity requires children to use their minds and bodies to problem-solve, and to engage in social interaction, the more learning will take place. So if teachers choose to use screen media in the classroom, they should ensure that it is not a solo activity, but instead done with peers, and that the tool they are using be it a game or app requires children to use their thinking skills.
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Q.3. It's sometimes hard to approach parents about using their mobile devices around children when we are addressing their own addiction. Are there some key words to use that are educational without antagonizing their behavior and alienating them?
A.3. First, we need to be careful not to use the term “addiction” loosely. What you are describing is the phenomenon that parents can get very absorbed in their devices and have a hard time turning it off, which is different from a true addiction, which is a disease that impairs a person’s daily functioning and that is very hard to treat.
An effective approach to talking with parents about this is to start with validation and empathy—communicating that you know how hard it is to put the phone or tablet away, and that most parents you work with/know struggle with this. (You have to let them know you are empathizing and not judging—or they will shut down.) Once you let them know you get it, and are not criticizing them, they are usually much more open to listening to what you have to say, which might be something like: “I am raising this because we are learning some important things about the impact of our phone use on our kids. One is that the more we use our devices, the more likely they are to use devices. We also know that the most important way you nurture your child’s healthy development is through face-to-face interaction and play. I know how much you care about helping (insert child’s name) thrive, so it’s important to be mindful of the time you are spending on your devices so you can make informed decisions about when to use it and when to turn it off, and to be sure it doesn’t interfere in your time to connect.”
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Q.4. Does a radio in the background have the same effect as TV in the background? Have there been any studies about that?
A.4. It turns out that both music and conversation in the background are generally not disruptive to children’s play. This is likely because when they look up, there is nothing much to focus their attention on so they quickly go back to playing, or just accommodate to it. When children hear a surprising noise on the TV, they look up to see what is happening on the screen which focuses their attention away from their play. This is compounded by the fact that young children have not yet figured out which things are most important to attend to so they can be more easily distracted. Furthermore, if parents are viewing the televised content, they are likely to be slower to respond to their children’s bids for attention and are also likely to talk less with them.
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Q.5. I missed the comment about the iPads and 5 year olds? Was it that they do better with their own iPad rather than a shared iPad?
A.5. Sharing the iPad is best as it encourages social interaction, team-work and joint problem-solving.
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Q.6. I think often parents may not know HOW to engage, as well. It can be tough for some people. Parents could use more tools and resources in this regard...help strike up conversations, playing, etc. This isn't always a natural thing for parents/adults to do.
A.6. It is in fact the case that some parents don’t know how to play with young children and some find it boring. We have a lot of resources on the ZERO TO THREE website about ways to play with babies. Check it out: http://www.zerotothree.org/parenting-resources/play.html.
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Q.7. I'd like more information on the possible negative outcomes associated with interactive technologies (educational apps, for example) and the brain's natural dopamine response to this kind of stimuli. How does this affect a developing brain? There's plenty of research of this effect in youth playing video games, but 0-3 is a completely different story.
A.7. At present, there is no evidence regarding the effects on dopamine response in this age range and how this might affect brain development. We do know that face-to-face interactions are given preference over almost all other stimuli during early childhood, and that is why media needs to be limited—to be sure the majority of young children’s time is spent in face-to-face interaction with others.
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Q.8. I'm also curious about any research about development and the effects of blue light on children's eyes, beyond impacts on sleep. Tablet and smartphone technology is still so new, is there anything in the way of longitudinal research in these areas? Is children's vision going to get worse in generations to come?
A.8. Prolonged usage may be associated with myopia, but genetics also play a role. Of note is that there have been studies with adults showing improvements in vision and spatial processing after playing videogames. And interestingly, after receiving specialized videogame training, surgeons have been shown to improve in their precision during actual surgery. It is also important to note that with every new form of technology (including books) concerns have been raised about vision.
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Q.9. Where and how was the data from the facts about usage collected?
A.9. Common Sense Media https://www.commonsensemedia.org/research/zero-to-eight-childrens-media-use-in-america-2013 and the Joan Ganz Cooney Center: www.joanganzcooneycenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/jgcc_learningathome.pdf
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Q.10. I was wondering about your comment on limiting screen time. If a parent or caring adult is playing, laughing, talking, sharing together with a child and they happen to be using a screen as a part of this interaction why should there be a time limit? If so, would you suggest a limitation around books as well?
A.10. You see, my bias is to have social learning with screens and without screens.Limits are important because screens do not naturally lend themselves to multi-sensory play and movement, which is so essential, especially in the early years. Even when parents engage with their children around media it tends to be more sedentary and one-dimensional. 3D experiences are critical for young children, so we want to be sure that the majority of their play and exploration is in the real world. Regarding a limit to books, the answer would be no. This is for 2 reasons: 1) children are exposed to books for much less time than exposure to other types of media; and, 2) reading books has not been linked to any negative outcomes. The positive outcomes from book-reading are likely due in part to the fact that young children are exposed to age-appropriate books and that the majority of the time an adult is reading with them.
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Q.11. Any way we can get a list of these studies discussed in the webinar? Perhaps via a link after the webinar?
A.11. You can find all the research cited in the Screen Sense White Paper at www.zerotothree.org/screensense
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Q.12 When you say babies, what age group are you referring? 0-11 months?
A.12. The Congress for Infant Studies defines an infant as a child 24 months and under. However, studies define “babies” differently. Sometimes it is up to 12 months, sometimes 18 months and sometimes as old as 24 months. The details of the ages of the children in the studies that we report on are clearly listed in the white paper which you can access at: www.zerotothree.org/screensense. Sometimes multiple ages are studied and the effects persist across ages; other findings pertain to specific ages.
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Q.13. What are your opinions about DVD watching in the car on the way home to avoid meltdowns? Especially when the parent is occupied with driving?
A.13. Travel can be stressful—whether it is getting to childcare, especially after a rushed, tense morning, or taking a long trip with a young child. So we suggest using a mindful, flexible approach, as opposed to saying NEVER. What should be avoided is children using it all the time, because traveling together can be a great time to talk and connect. And there are lots of ways to make travel fun—playing a game of I Spy, telling stories, singing. Further, if children are put in front of a screen during every car ride, there is the risk of their becoming dependent on these devices as a way to entertain themselves during travel, with parents finding themselves in a situation where their children can’t cope without it.
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Q.14. Addiction is a very strong term.. it is a learned behavior.. if I scream I get what I want, not an addiction.
A.14. Excellent point. We should never use the term “addiction” loosely. It is really that children are becoming dependent on screens to cope any time they are upset, or disappointed or frustrated. Many parents have a hard time setting and enforcing limits, because young children tend not to like them, even though they are good for them. (Without limits most children would use an iPad all day, eat only sweets, never go to sleep…the list goes on.) So they naturally put up a fight. Parents don’t like to see their kids unhappy, and tantrums are really unpleasant, so the knee-jerk reaction is to soothe children in any way possible, which today means handing over phones and iPads. This points to a need for professionals working with parents to help them see limits as loving, and that their child will survive the upset of having to leave the playground, or not have ice cream before dinner, without having to be soothed by a device.
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Q.15. Do they remember how to do the action without trying it themselves? Is it the doing or the watching?
A.15. They are able to do the action from just viewing a demonstration. Imitation involves first making a memory of the actions and then performing those actions. There are neurons in the brain called mirror neurons which fire when a person watches another person doing something, which is the mechanism that is at work in babies’ brains when they view an action taking place.
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Q.16. Do you believe screens can be used to scaffold learning?
A.16. Yes it is possible. New research is being conducted at the University of Wisconsin to look at whether there is a difference in learning when 2-year-olds receive specific versus general prompts. For example, in the specific prompt group, a box highlights the object on the screen as the novel word is presented and the child is asked to touch that part of the screen to move the game forward. In the general prompt group, the child is asked to touch the screen anywhere. The 2-year-olds in the specific prompts group are more likely to learn novel words and to find objects on the touchscreen than the general prompt group. This suggests that app design, like television content design, is very important for young learners.
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Q.17. Besides Common Sense Media, where should parents look to find educational, high-quality apps?
A.17. PBS.org has useful information as well.
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Q.18. If a toddler is "addicted" to screens, how do you suggest weaning?
A.18. Note previous responses that clarify that we did not mean “addiction” but a learned dependency. The way to wean kids is to set clear and consistent limits. Children are very adaptable. When they really learn that no is no—they are not getting more ipad, phone or computer time—they find other ways to soothe or entertain themselves. The hard part is helping parents see that limits are loving; and that just because a child doesn’t like the rule and has a hard time coping with it doesn’t mean you don’t stick to it. If your goal is to always have a happy child, it is unlikely you will have a happy child. Learning to manage frustration and disappointment is a critical life skill that parents teach their children by setting appropriate limits.
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Q.19. Do you know of research that reflects the promise of screen technologies to provide alternate accessible learning opportunities for young children with disabilities? A.19. Yes this is a field where there has been a great deal of progress. This is a good resource on this subject: http://familiestogetherinc.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/COMPUTERTECHNEEDS.pdf
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Q.20. How do parents find out if it is curriculum based or not?
A.20. The PBS.org site provides detailed descriptions of the curriculum-base for all of their shows. For programs that don’t offer this information, we suggest you preview the program and look for the following features:
Content that is relevant to your child’s everyday experiences—that he or she can relate to—such as everyday routines, play and exploration.
Lots of positive face-to-face interaction between adults and children or children playing together.
Realistic images that young children can relate to. (Note—a sponge in the ocean is too abstract for a child under 3 to make sense of).
Simple and relatively short stories.
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Q.21. How do you approach television and media when there are siblings of different ages, when the older one wants to watch Sponge Bob and the younger one wants to watch it too. A.21. There is some content that is appropriate across the preschool range. For example, programs like Blues Clues which have a responsive engagement component can be effective for 2- to 5-year-olds. Programs that have a strong narrative structure but shorter episodes like Clifford can also work for a broad age-range. And Sesame Street, which has content that is designed for younger children but also include segments that focus on letters and numbers is appropriate for 2- to 6-year-olds.
But more often than not, content appropriate for 5-year-olds will generally not be appropriate for 2-year-olds. Sponge Bob is a good example. If the toddler is actually viewing programs that are designed for older children, research shows that this can be detrimental as it is taxing for young children to try and make sense of content that is beyond their comprehension. And if the toddler isn’t actually watching, but just in the room, this constitutes background TV which has been shown to disrupt a child’s play and social interactions which can also be detrimental. That’s where limit-setting comes in; just because a child wants to watch something doesn’t mean it’s good for him. That’s why children have parents, because they are charged with knowing better and setting limits accordingly. So you just say “No” to Sponge Bob for the toddler. You might reserve the older child’s viewing time for when the younger one is asleep. Or, because we have to live in the real world (and adults can’t be in two places at once), when the older child is viewing, take the younger child to another room to play. Another option is for the older child to watch the show on another device, like a tablet or a computer if the family has one. This is part of taking a mindful approach to media use across the entire family.
Commonsense.org is a great resource that rates all forms of media as to age-appropriateness and quality.
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Q.22. Is transfer deficit the same as video deficit?
A.22. The video deficit refers specifically to the phenomenon that there is less learning from televised than from live interactions. The transfer deficit refers to the fact that for children, learning from all 2D media is more difficult than learning from a 3D experience.
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Q.23. Do fast paced shows affect attention span?
A.23. There has been a lot of discussion about this topic but no definitive scientific evidence.
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Q.24. Please talk about hyper-arousal e.g. adrenalin, cortisol effects of interactive tech, especially with pro-longed duration.
A.24. There have been no studies to our knowledge on the long-term effects of cortisol regulation and media experience in very young children. That said, cortisol varies throughout the day as a function of biological, circadian (daily) rhythms as well as other daily experiences. Cortisol levels have been shown to differ between the home and center-based settings.
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Q.25. Wondering about the radiation emitted from devices; is it harmful to young children?
A.25. The FCC and FDA set radiation regulations for all devices and considers who will be exposed.
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Q.26. I'm curious about using skype and Facetime with babies and young children. Do children understand connection between 3-D person and 2D screen version? Could this be considered educational and interactive use of media?
A.26. There have been a number of findings from research with military families that have demonstrated that using video chats can be an important way to maintain relationships at a distance. It has also been shown to be a helpful tool for communicating with grandparents remotely. Regarding children’s reaction to seeing someone on a screen, one study showed that babies were calmed by seeing their parents on a live video chat. This suggests that when children already have a relationship with an adult, they recognize him or her and can potentially benefit from seeing them, even on a screen. Consequently it seems that these are great tools for supporting relationships. As with all forms of screen media, it is important that the parent or another supervising adult be in the room with the child help him navigate some of the problems that may arise, such as disruptions in connectivity, challenges with eye contact (looking at the screen versus the camera), or to help interpret when there are communication challenges, such as if the child is pointing to something off-screen to show the person they are talking to via the screen. It is always important to observe the child to see her reaction and respond appropriately. If viewing a parent or other adult on a screen is upsetting, it is important to find other ways to keep the connection—such as using services like United through reading where a parent can pre-record a book-reading to share with the child. Note that it has been found that traditional phone calls are very difficult for young children to process.
Under 3, given the limited amount of hours children are awake, you want to be sure that the majority of their waking hours are in exploration of the 3D world with loving adults and peers to build strong thinking and social skills. Young children rely heavily on their senses for learning, and 3D experiences are more likely to be multi-sensory than 2D activities. Michael Rich—the “Mediatrician”—has suggested taking a holistic approach to making decisions about how much time to allow children to use screens. This means taking into consideration all of a child’s needs across the day; for example: sleep, outdoor and indoor play, book-reading, sharing meals, activities outside the home such as classes or preschool, etc, to consider how much time should be allotted to media use. So for example, the nap duration changes from 0 to 3 years, with sleep taking up a larger part of the daily budget for younger children. That needs to be calculated into the “budget”.
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Q.27. I have a follow-up question about screens and media use in infant and toddlers. We know that children don’t NEED screens to thrive, but we know that they need interactions. From this research synthesis today, we have also learned how important parent/caregiver involvement is. In light of this, why not keep infant and toddler classrooms screen-free? Because of ratios, it will not always be possible for adults to be involved, so why would we change our recommendations as they are now? Why not keep babies and toddlers away from screens in early care and education?
A.27. There is no reason to make a change to your policy. A few years ago we conducted a study to see how many organizations had policies on media and at that time there were very few. So it is really good that policies are being discussed and revised as new information becomes available. To clarify, we are not making policy. Our mission is to educate all adults who care for young children about what we know about the impact of screen use on young children so they can make informed decisions. The findings suggest that if technology is embedded into the classroom curriculum and used as a tool for learning, encouraging problem-solving and interaction/teamwork with peers, then it has the potential to be a helpful resource. But it is up to each center to decide on the policy.
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Q.28. Is it appropriate for a group of 4-year-old children to sit in a group and watch even an educational program on the computer?
A.28. Based on what we know from the science, we would not suggest this kind of use of screens in group care. If there is an adult who is participating and scaffolding the experience—making it interactive and extending the learning by discussing the content and connecting it back to the children’s experiences in the real world—it can have educational value. Teachers might devise an activity that extends the content from the program; choose a word of the day from the program; create or draw something that connects to the content of the program. These are all ways to extend and connect the learning. It can be something as simple as getting the conversation started between the kids or setting up an activity for them to play afterwards. As noted throughout our responses and resources—if providers choose to use screen media in the classroom, it is important that it be limited so that the vast majority of children’s time is spent in face-to-face interaction and exploration.
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