Babies need humans, not screens
Did you know that the negative effects of too much screen time for babies and toddlers range from shorter attention span to lower empathy?
Babies, toddlers and screen time. In today’s tech and media-driven world, many parents use screens to keep young children entertained or distracted while they juggle other needs. It works. Screens captivate children’s attention in a way almost nothing else does, allowing parents a bit of a breather. But what is the impact of screens on young brains and how much screen time should they be exposed to? Brain scientists who study the impact of screens on baby brains don’t have all the answers yet, but what they do know will help parents understand how critical it is to provide off-screen experiences. Only then will children learn, improve their social and cognitive skills and be healthier and happier in the future.
Babies learn the most from human interaction. Patricia Kuhl is one of the world’s leading brain scientists and runs experiments with more than 4,000 babies each year. “What we’ve discovered is that little babies, under a year old, do not learn from a machine,” she says, pointing to several brain scans on a computer. “Even if you show them captivating videos, the difference in learning is extraordinary. You get genius learning from a live human being, and you get zero learning from a machine.” Perhaps that is why the World Health Organization recommend no screen time for babies under 2 and no more than one hour of screen time a day for those aged 2 to 4.
Screens hijack attention spans. For children to be successful, they need to learn how to concentrate and focus. That ability starts to develop during their earliest years when their brains are more sensitive to the environments around them. For a brain to develop and grow, it needs essential stimuli from the outside world. More importantly, they need time to process those stimuli. While reading storybooks out loud gives children time to process words, images and voices, the constant absorption of on-screen images and messages affects their attention span and focus.
Screens curtail ability to control impulses Young children need their dose of boredom. It teaches them how to cope with frustration and control their impulses. If young children are constantly being stimulated by screens, they forget how to rely on themselves or others for entertainment. This leads to frustration and hinders imagination and motivation.
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