I Screen, You Screen....
When I was growing up, we had two screens in our house. One
was the heavy tube television that sat in the corner of my parents’ room, and entering
much later, was a computer on which we could play Reading Rabbit or occasionally
Crayola Art for 30 minutes a day. The
most technical toy I can remember was a phaser – yes, super cool…. the sound could
be set on Stun *or* Kill. Hardcore. As a little kid, I was allowed to watch Sesame
Street and Reading Rainbow, and would occasionally sneak-watch Star Trek, standing
just outside my parents’ doorway when I was supposed to be in bed. We had TGIF
and walkmans later, with the big chunky buttons to fast-forward through any commercials
accidentally recorded on a mix tape. There were no iPads, no laptops, no smart phones,
no iPods, no xbox; Nickelodeon and Mario Cart were outlandish treats at our
friends’ sleepovers. We had toys, crayons, books, outside, and each other.
No, we did not walk uphill in the snow barefoot to get to
school, but… things were different, and as Adalyn grunts and points at every electronic she spots incessantly needing it, I am uneasily aware of the
far more digital world surrounding her.
Screens are as ubiquitous today in our culture as skinny
jeans. There is no escaping them. My
husband loves technology (almost as much as Kip[1]),
but both of us have emails, texts, facebook messages or notifications, and as
anyone who loves Sheaff knows, news to read.
And our daughter, who is roughly 17 months, can smell these things, whether the electronic is in view or not.
If, god forbid, she gets her hands on one, she goes all Gollum on us and hovers
over it, whispering “My preeeecious.” And
when I catch myself yoinking my phone out to see what the latest ding was, how
is she supposed to react? Some days, it
makes me want to quit it all. But then I see a picture of my friend’s baby
across the world, or Alphie’s latest Chicago adventure, or connect with a mom I
met at the library, or my grandmother
likes a picture of Adalyn on facebook, and I appreciate the positives too much
to walk away from the negatives. I mean,
let’s be honest, and as Sheaff would say, call a spade a black kettle[2]. I’m writing a blog here, and that’s not
exactly screen-free.
But when does technology cross the line from a tool to
connect or educate, to the [mind-dulling] crutch for either ourselves or the
kids? According to the American Academy
of Pediatrics, today’s children are spending on average, SEVEN HOURS A DAY
looking at some sort of screen. Seven![3]
Over 40 percent of children under the age of 2 use mobile devices….you know,
checkin’ their stocks, posting selfies from the crib on Instagram, browsing
amazon for a new Sophie giraffe. If you look at babies to 8 year olds, usage is
up to 72 percent. While the educational
value of some screen time has fabulous benefits, too much can lead to attention
problems[4],
school difficulties, irregular sleep, and obesity in children.
Research gives little tips to help with this… ideas like create
“screen free zones” in the house, or purge with a screen-free week. Limiting movies or games to weekends, throwing
televisions out the window, zapping a child after 20 minutes on the iPad. But the most prevalent for me with a one year
old was easy…. set a good example. Take time to unplug. De-screen. Detach our
attention from the sound of an iphone message. And I now plan on doing that
daily.
That being said, will Adalyn continue to steal her favorite
people’s phones? Yes. Will we still watch Duke games and will I still love the
filters on instagram? Uh, obviously. Will we end up using this stuff as last-ditch efforts
to keep her awake in the car, or occupied during a brutally long wait at the
doctors? Of course. Do I look forward to
watching all my favorite Disney movies with her when she’s old enough? OMG!
Hakunah Matata! We are humans in 2014 with a lot of Really Cool technology at
our finger tips and really old songs to re-memorize (psh, like I’ve ever forgotten
my Disney tunes).
Yet. I’d like to become more aware, more conscientious of
when and how I’m using screen time with Adalyn around. I’d like to unplug often, and so far, consistent
efforts to do so have been awesome. I
want my child to grow up with the warmth of the sun on her face, rather than
the glow of a computer. I want her to turn pages, not scroll. I want her to
invent make-believe worlds, not mindlessly videogame. I want her imagination to
be as big as the blue sky stretched outside my window as I sit here and write,
and I want her to know that is more
important that the bling of the phone
on the kitchen counter.
What Dad always told me when I tried giving up brownies or
chocolate or boys (har har) was “Everything in moderation.” It’s about finding the balance. As parents, I guess that’s the teetering walk
we must now be willing to tread the rest of our lives.
Man. There’s gotta be
an app for that, right?
love your thoughts and perspectives, Carly! Adalyn is so fortunate to have you and Sheaff for her parents :-) And thanks for the memories of your generation's days...they are sweet!
ReplyDeleteI have these same worries every day. Good to see your perspective on them :)
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