Do Screens Help Children Learn?

While we live alongside immense technological leaps and bounds we must consider the generation coming up within this frenzy of innovation. What many see as tools to improve the minds of the next generation, psychologists question the legitimacy of this hopeful perspective. While data continues to come out about the pros and cons of raising children with the aid of phones and tablets there is no clear answer as to what the long-term implications of prolonged screen time with children may be. This is primarily because there hasn’t been enough time for such studies to occur.

In recent years psychologists and child development experts have been taking a closer look at the relationship young children have with handheld technologies from tablets to phones and other screens. Researchers have been focusing on the content children are consuming on these devices as well as their environment while using these devices. The environment includes parenting habits and socioeconomic status. As we are hardly past the infancy of this screen-binging generation many researchers are set to endure lasting studies to help answer complicated questions about young people and their relationship to screens.

Of particular interest, researchers have focused on the benefits of continual access to screens for kids as well as the potential detriments such as physical and mental developmental delays. This article will focus primarily on the educational effects of screens for children 5 years old and younger. Multiple studies performed thus far suggest that very young children have greater difficulty learning directly from screens and require more engagement and direct guidance from someone in order to learn. As kids age, they become more capable of absorbing information taught through a screen.

While having smart phones in each of our pockets is a common, it is crucial to remember that this is all fairly new. It was only 16 years ago the first smart phone, the iPhone, was released. 3 years later Apple released the iPad. While handheld devices have existed for decades, the way we interact with and rely on our smart devices is like nothing we have ever experienced. As technology progresses, these devices further implant themselves in our lives and the lives of our children.

The rapidly increasing reliance on smart devices makes it difficult to scientifically prove how much screen time is too much. Still, there are still recommendations we should consider when it comes to children using devices.

In the modern era it has become common place to give young children phones and tablets to play games and learn from for hours at a time. While many parents believe they are giving their child an enriching learning experience, studies indicate otherwise.

The American Academy for Pediatrics has recommended that children should not have any screen time until they are 18 to 24 months -except for video calls- while they suggest kids between 2 and 5 should only have as much as an hour of screen time per day. The World Health Organization has similar recommendations stating children under 2 years should not have any screen time and children between 2 and 5 years should have less than an hour per day. The same recommendations are touted by the government of Canada.

One longitudinal (long term) study led by University of Calgary psychologist Sheri Madigan, PhD, examined 2 441 children. The study focused on instances where the child was given a device when they were distraught or angry. These children showed no detectible developmental issues. However, the study also focused on children who used screens excessively. What was found is children aged between 24 and 36 months using devices excessively performed worse on tests of behavioural, cognitive and social development at 36 months old.

Despite concerns from experts in the field of developmental cognition the market has been flooded with digital educational resources intended for young children. Research indicates that digital learning for children is much less effective than in person teaching. A study done in 2005 showed that children under 2 years old consistently failed to learn from language and simple imitation tasks shown on a television.

Children of the same age were able to learn the same information when being taught face to face. Countless studies have been done to show that a person on a screen will not be able to teach a child as effectively as face-to-face teaching, even if it is the same person teaching them on screen.

Recent studies indicate children under the age of 3 tend to perceive what they view on screens as separate from real life. The child is cognitively ill-equip to determine if what they see on screen is real. One such study showed a toddler a toy being hidden in a neighbouring room on a screen. When the child is brought into that room immediately after viewing, they cannot find the hidden toy.

When a child of the same age was shown where the toy is hidden on a screen disguised as a window, the child was then capable of identifying the place the toy was hidden. The perception of seeing through a window gave the child the feeling they saw something real, whereas when the same clip is shown on an obvious screen the information is not interpreted as reality.

As for children between 3 and 5 years old, studies beginning in the 70’s around the premier of Sesame Street have consistently shown that children this age are capable of understanding slow-paced material shown on screen. They can interpret what they are seeing and apply it to the real world.

This leaves us with the same question we started with: How much screen time is too much?

While there comes a point of cognitive development where children can draw directly from what they see on screens and actually learn from devices, there are still boundaries to the value of screen time for children.

It is important to bear in mind that the formative years of neurological development of a child establishes the basis of their perception of reality and life in general. Whether an infant is being spoken to by an adult or by a character on a screen has provably different effects. While a 5 year old can improve their knowledge of numbers and the alphabet through shows and videos, direct supportive interaction from a parent is shown to reflect deeper learner. There is plenty to learn online but there is no emotional investment in the teacher the way there is with a parent or other familiar person. This separation of emotional investment creates a ‘shallow’ learning experience, whereas learning while bonding with someone creates a deeper learning experience for the child.

It is crucial to note that all children in today’s day and age must understand modern technology. As a result, to give a child no time with screens may hinder their technological fluency later in life. While the digital age expands further into every domain of life it is paramount that young people, the adults of tomorrow, understand the tech they are dealing with. Early introduction is important, but we must still consider when it is time to put the screens away.