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How much screen time is appropriate for children? Should young kids be exposed to tech for any extended periods of time? The developmental debate has raged for decades, only to be reignited by the latest waves of iPads and social media.Dr. Larry Rosen’s experience as a research psychologist and computer educator has allowed him to witness both the positive and negative effects of technology use on young minds. Rosen is a professor of psychology and author ofRewired: Understanding the iGeneration and the Way They Learn. In the end, he sees innovations like social media as developmental pluses for what he calls the “iGeneration.”
“Social networking is really helping them with who they are, their identity in the world,” Rosen says of preteens and teens who engage with their peers via social platforms like Facebook.
According to Rosen, teens are able to test the identity waters, so to speak. For example, they can practice different forms of sexuality via their web presences, and receive feedback from peers. It allows them to “practice life” somewhat innocuously, says Rosen.
Although he is a proponent for technology integration in modern child rearing, Rosen says there is the very real possibility of overdoing it. Many parents believe they’re doing a great job raising their child if he is quietly playing video games in his room all day. That child will lose communication skills, he says. Technology must be “chosen correctly.”
But in a perfect world, technology wouldn’t be chosen at all, according to pediatric occupational therapist Cris Rowan. Author of Virtual Child: The Terrifying Truth About What Technology is Doing to Children, and founder of Zone’in Programs Inc. Rowan’s outlook on child technology use is bleak — and irreversible.
“I used to say to parents, ‘Look, it’s reversible. Just cut your kid [off] and they’ll be OK,’” says Rowan. “But that’s not true. They’re permanently altering the formation of their brain, and it’s not in a good way.” When asked how she foresaw children adapting or evolving if they were to continue at the level of usage seen today, Rowan responded, “Well, I see them dying.”
According to a 2009 Kaiser study, kids aged 8-18 are engaging with digital media an average of 7.5 hours per day. However, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends no more than 1-2 hours per day of screen-time. Rowan adds, “There is absolutely nothing in technology that is developmentally healthy. Any time spent in front of a device or with a device is detrimental to child development.”
She cites the research of Dr. Gary Small, Director of the UCLA Memory and Aging Research Center. Small studies how children’s brains today, specifically the frontal lobe, are developing differently than their parents’ due to technology exposure. “As young malleable brains develop shortcuts to access information, these shortcuts represent new neural pathways being laid down,” he writes in his book iBrain: Surviving the Technological Alteration of the Modern Mind.
Rowan references a study that indicates technology overuse is not only changing brain chemistry, but also increasing the likelihood of children developing mental illnesses. Human connection, eye contact and dialogue are paramount. Devices are hugely limiting this important exposure, Rowan says. As a result, therapists and clinicians are seeing an increase in attachment disorders, depression, anxiety, bipolar, obsessive compulsive disorders, and ADHD — all of which have been linked to technology overuse. “I’ve been working with kids for 25 years. I’ve never seen this,” she concludes. “This is something that’s epic. And we’re really just witnessing the tip of an iceberg.”
Although the debate rages on, Rosen and Rowan do agree on some things. Both referenced recent data indicating that extended use of social networks like Facebook can result in a decrease in empathy among teens, and thus an increase in narcissism. “[Overuse of Facebook by] teens can potentially lead to a problem psychologically,” says Rosen. It’s what he refers to as an iDisorder, a term he will discuss in his upcoming book about how to avoid tech-related psychiatric symptoms. However, it’s not the platform’s fault, he says. “It’s the way we relate to the platform. It makes it easy to be narcissistic. You can type anything and not see a person’s face crying on the other end.”
Furthermore, neither believes that a complete unplug is necessary — or even safe. In fact, Rowan cites tragic consequences of cutting one’s child off of technology completely — for example, the Ohio teen who killed his mother after his parents took away his Halo 3 video game.
What Can Parents Do?
1. Get the TV out of the children’s bedrooms: Kaiser studies estimate that 30% of children age 0-3 and71% of children age 8-18 have a television in their bedroom. Both Rosen and Rowan advise removing brain-drain technology from private spaces. That way, parents can both monitor the type of content kids are absorbing and limit their usage appropriately.
2. Talk about it: Engage in “co-viewing,” a practice Rosen defines as talking about media while both parent and child experience it together. He suggests playing video games with kids, and checking out their social networks (although he’s opposed to parents friending their children on Facebook, in most instances).
3. Evaluate appropriate tech by age: Rosen says that infants respond best to touchscreen technology that will foster their tactile/kinesthetic learning style. School age and young preteens have been shown to develop hand-eye coordination and decision-making skills through video games — ideally, those that have been properly researched, and coupled other imaginative play. For older preteens, mobile phone use fosters communication practice. Finally, despite studies that social networking decreases empathy in teens, Rosen has seen that platforms like Facebook actually aid communication and interaction among teens. “Virtually, you’re doing it behind the screen and you feel safe,” he says. “You have a free, anonymous feeling.”
4. Institute “tech breaks”: The breaks, according to Rosen, can be used at home, in the classroom and everywhere in between. During class or family dinners, have kids put their mobile devices face down. If they succeed in not touching the device for 15 minutes, allow them a 1-2 minute “tech break,” during which they can text, check email or log in to social media.
5. Set aside “sacred time”: Rowan advocates following the “one hour per day, one day per week, one week per year” plan, in which both kids and their parents alike completely unplug. Rowan warns it will be challenging at first: “It’s scary for some families. They don’t know how to talk to each other anymore. They don’t know what to say.”
6. Encourage “healthy” technology: For Rowan, devices like the iPod don’t inhibit social behavior as dramatically as other forms of media, like “brain-draining” video games or television. Rosen doesn’t believe it’s quite as simple anymore to limit certain types of technology — mainly because the lines are now blurred. We’ve integrated television into smartphones, and books into digital readers. He advises narrowing it down by app, and only approving ones based on solid research.
7. Trust your kids: Although parents shouldn’t give kids free reign of their social media presences, allow them to “clean up” their profile pages before you take a peek. Rosen suggests giving kids a 24-hour warning beforehand. From then on, after the initial look, parents have the right to drop by and view their kid’s page spontaneously.
Despite Rowan’s strong warnings against technology abuse by children, she is resigned to the fact that exposure these days in inevitable. On the other hand, Rosen exhibits enthusiasm about the knowledge and technical know-how of today’s youth. He sees a bright future for his friend’s nine-year-old son who, for example, can manipulate gadgets with ease.
When asked whether kids sheltered from technology risk falling behind in society, culture and the business world, Rowan responds simply, “Kids soak it up. Let’s worry about the fact that they may be illiterate by the time they finish high school.”
Anxiety over children’s technology use has existed before the dawn of MySpace, before the rise of the mobile phone, and even before the invention of calculators. Is today’s technology any different or scarier than the rise of technologies past? There’s no doubt that children are growing and developing differently than they did even 15 years ago. But it may still be too early to determine the lasting effects on today’s iGeneration.
Images courtesy of Flickr, Swansea Photographer, pvantees.
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