We live in a time when technology is expanding our horizons and creating new opportunities. We have limitless information at our fingertips and can learn just about anything without even leaving our homes. In fact, technology has become such a central part of our lives that we are rarely, if ever, without it. And as long as we continue to live and interact in the real world, I can’t say that there’s anything wrong with that. Where the concern comes in is following a line of growing research about the effects of this technology on children.
The most obvious effect is that as we are more tuned in to our technology and the media it provides us with, we are more tuned out to our children. This means less interaction with them – less playtime, less parental responsiveness, less communication, and less cognitive stimulation. This, in and of itself, has the potential to delay a child’s development compared to those whose parents are tuned in to them, especially in the very early years.
The most obvious effect is that as we are more tuned in to our technology and the media it provides us with, we are more tuned out to our children. This means less interaction with them – less playtime, less parental responsiveness, less communication, and less cognitive stimulation. This, in and of itself, has the potential to delay a child’s development compared to those whose parents are tuned in to them, especially in the very early years.
It isn’t uncommon for parents at home with small children to have a television show or movie running in the background throughout the day. Studies have been done on the effect of this “background media” on infants and toddlers. According to research conducted by Doctor Ari Brown, children exposed to background television played for less time and were less focused during their play. Study results further suggest that “background media might interfere with cognitive processing, memory, and reading comprehension.”
If background media reduces attention span in young children, what kind of effect do the shows have that are actually intended and produced for them? Studies to answer just this question were conducted for the first time by Doctor Dimitri Christakis. He began his research on mice, placing young mice in a box that played music from the Cartoon Network and lights generated by the sound. They spent 6 hours a day in this “television” box for 42 days (which is the equivalent of a mouse’s childhood). The tests that were conducted on the mice afterword showed far more activity and risk taking than ‘normal’ mice, as well as far poorer memory.
These results hold true for children as well. Christakis explains why by using a clip from the widely popular movie series Baby Einstein. A random 20 second clip goes through 7 scene changes – too much for even adults to make sense of. He explains that prolonged exposure to this kind of rapid image change during this critical period of brain development alters how connections in the brain are made. It teaches the brain to expect high levels of stimulation, which of course in real life is not going to happen. This leads to inattention later in life.
If background media reduces attention span in young children, what kind of effect do the shows have that are actually intended and produced for them? Studies to answer just this question were conducted for the first time by Doctor Dimitri Christakis. He began his research on mice, placing young mice in a box that played music from the Cartoon Network and lights generated by the sound. They spent 6 hours a day in this “television” box for 42 days (which is the equivalent of a mouse’s childhood). The tests that were conducted on the mice afterword showed far more activity and risk taking than ‘normal’ mice, as well as far poorer memory.
These results hold true for children as well. Christakis explains why by using a clip from the widely popular movie series Baby Einstein. A random 20 second clip goes through 7 scene changes – too much for even adults to make sense of. He explains that prolonged exposure to this kind of rapid image change during this critical period of brain development alters how connections in the brain are made. It teaches the brain to expect high levels of stimulation, which of course in real life is not going to happen. This leads to inattention later in life.
Each hour of television that children under the age of 3 watch per day increases the likelihood of attention problems by 10%.
Right now you may be thinking “Okay, so maybe watching television does affect their attention. But can’t we justify it a little because the children are learning from their educational programs? “
Developmental research shows a line drawn at about 2 years of age in the cognitive levels and understanding of children. Children over the age of 2 can benefit from certain high-quality educational programs, showing improved social and language skills. Children younger than 2 are at different cognitive levels than children over 2 and process information differently. Watching the same shows as children barely older than them actually had a negative effect on their language.
Developmental research shows a line drawn at about 2 years of age in the cognitive levels and understanding of children. Children over the age of 2 can benefit from certain high-quality educational programs, showing improved social and language skills. Children younger than 2 are at different cognitive levels than children over 2 and process information differently. Watching the same shows as children barely older than them actually had a negative effect on their language.
In an attempt to understand the difference, several tests were conducted in which children watched someone hiding a toy. Half of the children watched this on a video and the other half watched this as a live demonstration through a television-sized window. They were then taken into the very room they had seen and were asked to find that toy. The children watching through the window went straight to it, while the children who had watched the identical thing on a television did not know where to find the toy. Even when a person in a video directly told the children where to find the toy, they couldn’t do it (Anderson).
We call this lack of learning a “video deficit.” Children under the age of 2 simply don’t understand television. They are interested in it because it is bright and flashy, but they don’t learn anything from it because they don’t yet have the developmental capacity. From all the evidence we see that “learning from television by very young children is poor and that exposure to television is associated with relatively poor outcomes” (Anderson).
As we saw from the study with the hidden toy, learning in young children best takes place with a real person. All children need human interactions to learn. For children under the age of 2, this is even more critical. The more real cognitive stimulation (like reading, singing, going to museums) children receive from a real person the better. In fact, each hour spent doing this reduces children’s risk of attentional problems by 30% and increases the real learning that takes place (Christakis).
What children need is more real-time play and less fast-paced media.
Sources:
Anderson, D. R., & Pempek, T. A. (2005). Television and very young children. The American Behavioral Scientist, 48(5), 505-522. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/214764765?accountid=9817
Infants, Children, and Adolescents by Laura E. Berk
Dimitri Christakis’ Ted Talk at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BoT7qH_uVNo
http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/113/4/708.full
Christakis, D. A., Zimmerman, F. J., DiGiuseppe, D. L., & McCarty, C. A. (2004). Early Television Exposure and Subsequent Attentional Problems in Children. Pediatrics, 113(4), 708-713.
Ari Brown, MD - Media Use by Children Younger Than 2 Years
Anderson, D. R., & Pempek, T. A. (2005). Television and very young children. The American Behavioral Scientist, 48(5), 505-522. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/214764765?accountid=9817
Infants, Children, and Adolescents by Laura E. Berk
Dimitri Christakis’ Ted Talk at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BoT7qH_uVNo
http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/113/4/708.full
Christakis, D. A., Zimmerman, F. J., DiGiuseppe, D. L., & McCarty, C. A. (2004). Early Television Exposure and Subsequent Attentional Problems in Children. Pediatrics, 113(4), 708-713.
Ari Brown, MD - Media Use by Children Younger Than 2 Years