I can’t believe I forgot to post about this. It happened way back on November 21.
The MOPs guest speaker today talked about the horrifying effects of media and technology on kids. We didn’t know all this stuff years ago, but the research has now been done and the results aren’t good.
So I had been feeling pretty good about how little they use media now—but after listening to her talk for an hour I decided to remove even more media/screen time from their lives. They just DON’T need it and their behavior is so much better without it.
She told a story about Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood. She said the opening scene is like 2:32 long—one long scene, no cuts—and kids sit still and watch the whole thing. Then she said, watch the intro to Paw Patrol and see if you can count the number of cut scenes in it. SHE LOST COUNT. So how can we expect our kids to sit and pay attention to teachers for longer than five seconds if we’re training their brains to watch the fast-paced BAM BAM BAM BAM BAM video style? It’s impossible. And there really is no such thing as an educational app—kids can’t really learn off a cold glass screen. They need tactile learning—feeling the smoothness of the paper, hearing the pencil write on the paper, smelling the crayon. (There are very few actual educational apps and shows—like Sesame Street and Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood from the Children’s Television Workshop.)
We told the kids at dinner…explaining that it wasn’t a punishment but that people/parents/we didn’t know better at the time, but as we learn and grow and scientists do research, we learn things that may change our behavior and how we live our lives. And technology is one of those things
Overall, honestly, it wasn’t a huge change. They still get video game time (Owen) and computer time (Katie) but only on the weekend (no more during the week). They don’t get to play computer games masquerading as math or language arts apps (we have workbooks for that). No more unlimited video after video at night on YouTube before bed (they’ll get one if they’re lucky). And don’t even ASK to use the computer.
The biggest thing is that Owen loses Chromebook time (he needs it for band but unless he has specific homework, it stays closed) and a too-adult videogame (I haven’t liked it from the beginning but I didn’t fight Tom on it—but Tom now agrees). But the videogame was really killing him. Like he was crying and said he was really upset and went to his room. When he calmed down and came back I reminded him about a game he used to play that was PERFECTLY appropriate and he thought for a moment, smiled, and thanked me for thinking of it and reminding him.
And just so you don’t think it was all about the kids…we also agreed to no devices at the table. And we are all going to try to look at one another when we’re talking to each other so they can learn how to react to people and pay attention.
Oh, and we watched an episode of Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood tonight. Holy crap. We weren’t quite sure what to expect—I mean, Owen hated the original Star Wars episodes after seeing the whiz bang newer versions first so I didn’t hold out much hope. But I knew both would give it a shot because they will watch ANYTHING on a TV. I think they’d watch static, frankly.🤦🏻♀️
So imagine our surprise when we put the first episode on and they sat and watched, totally entranced. They both loved it. They asked questions. They talked to the screen. We discussed things. WHAT?! It’s amazing.
(We’ve also started watching The Brady Bunch—and while not educational, those shows have a lot of good lessons and they love it, too.)
So I will continue to be a hard ass on this so my kids don’t turn into little terrors. And enjoy some walks down memory lane…
