The Screen Time Effect on Little Readers

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Hey there educators and parents, welcome back

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to the Education Connection where we dive into

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the real issues impacting our young learners.

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I'm Robin Wilson, your host, bringing you practical

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strategies to set kids up for success. Today

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we're tackling a challenge many of us are facing.

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How screens are impacting our youngest learners.

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Tablets and phones are shaping how toddlers'

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brains develop. research is showing it could

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affect their future ability to read think critically

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and be creative and you know how important reading

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is to me almost if not every podcast that I've

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done has talked about the importance of reading

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and things that we can do to shape their reading

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so this podcast is really important to me because

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I see That screen time is affecting our youngest

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toddlers, our elementary school students, our

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middle school, high school. It's affecting adults.

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It's affecting even our older generation and

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even our aging parents. It is designed to make

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you addicted to it and it's not your fault. There's

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dopamine going on in your brain. I listened recently

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to Mel Robbins love love love her and giving

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her a shout out because this research is not

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new but she brought light to it recently on her

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podcast and as I was thinking about her podcast

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I got thinking I have seen the effects of this

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on our youngest of students and so that's where

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My area is my expertise is what we can do to

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help our littlest ones. And I'm also going to

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be talking about how I want to make that change

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in my life too. So I'm going to be giving you

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some practical strategies as always to set kids

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up for success. The as I said research is showing

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it could affect the their future ability to read

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Think critically and that's where we've talked

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about those comprehension strategies and to be

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able to infer visualize Use their brain to think

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as what we were taught in kids to think outside

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of In between the lines or outside the lines

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or outside of the box So but here's the good

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news Because I don't want it to be all doom and

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gloom and we've already kind of fallen into this

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and now there's nothing we can do because listen

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the brain is Placid it is It's a muscle and it

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can be changed. It is what we call resilient

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and it can come back The brain is ever growing

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and what I love about the brain studies is even

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older people like me. I am 58 years old I found

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out a few years ago now I was so excited like

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I was calling my friends would excited about

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it because I don't know if you know but every

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night when you go to bed even at your age at

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my age you get 1 ,400 new neurons every single

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night and what you do with them determines what

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how your day is gonna become, the things you're

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gonna learn, how you think, how you act, how

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you, it will affect the things that you do going

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forward in the future. So if you're feeling like

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you've already fallen into the trap of too much

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screen time with your little one, don't worry.

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There are simple effective ways that we can turn

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it around. Today I'm gonna share some practical

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steps to help your young child unplug. That's

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right. We engage and develop skills. They need

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to thrive So if this episode speaks to you Leave

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a five -star review for me It's gonna help other

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parents and teachers find me and if you know

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someone who needs to hear this, please share

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it with them Now, let's get started So yeah,

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I know you want your child and your students

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to be engaged. I want my students to be engaged

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You want them to be curious learners who can

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focus, think deeply, and express creativity.

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But in today's world, screen times are every,

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I'm sorry, screens are everywhere and screen

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time is just getting longer and longer because

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it is set up to make us become addicted to it

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every time we're on it and we we swipe up or

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we have the flashing thing over here or the ad

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that's popping in over here we're getting a shot

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of dopamine and it's easy to feel overwhelmed

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it's easy to feel like you're trying to find

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the right balance but you keep you know wanting

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to look back at that phone and your child is

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the same as you and when we take the guilt away

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and we realize how it is manipulating us that's

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when we can start seeing it for what it is and

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maybe do something about it. So studies show

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that excessive screen time in early childhood

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is rewiring their developing brains. It's impacting

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their attention spans and you know we have an

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ADHD, ADD, I know they say there's no ADHD anymore

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that it's only ADD but 80 ADD to me is just the

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attention deficit disorder to where they're just

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their attention is diverted and the ADHD is that

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hyperactivity that comes with it I still see

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that so I know that they're they're not wanting

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to call those separate anymore But I do still

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see that and as much as we're seeing those attention

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spans reduced It does there's research that shows

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that it's stemming back to the screen time For

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a lot of these little guys that they had very

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early there when their brains were developing

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when our brain, you know Years ago and I have

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a Christian audience and I know when God created

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our brains over the centuries We were not wired

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to have this electronic device in our hands at

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birth at early early childhood at toddler age

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and our brains it's rewiring our brains according

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to research so it's reducing deep thinking and

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it's making it harder for kids to engage in books

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and hands -on learning because let's face it

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a book is not going to pop out and animation

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here and there a book is not going to you know

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flash this shiny thing this shiny object over

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here and so that's what they're looking for when

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they're reading books and sometimes books then

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become Something that they're not wanting to

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do as much as they are wanting to play those

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games on the screen So maybe you've already noticed

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this in your child. Maybe they struggle to focus

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on the books or they struggle to focus with their

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teacher Because you know, she's not throwing

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Flashes of light at them. She's you know, she's

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up there teaching about math and it's a much

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simpler Situation that they're in when they're

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not on their screens so and they might get bored

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easier and they seem to always want a screen

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and begging for that screen time if it sounds

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familiar you're not alone please please please

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don't take this as judgment from me at all and

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don't judge yourself don't judge your child that's

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what the the The big companies are wanting to

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do, they're wanting to sell your child that new

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game. They're wanting to sell you that new product.

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They're flashing things at you. Social media

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is wanting you to stay on there longer. Instagram

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Facebook all of these social me, you know, and

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they're good things. I love my Facebook. I love

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Instagram I can connect with my friends. I can

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do my art and things on there that I do but There

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it's wired to keep you on there longer So if

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it sounds familiar you're not alone, but there

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is hope the brain is not set in stone as I mentioned

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earlier It is what we call Resilient it can adapt

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and change at any stage of development or even

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in adulthood adulthood because guess what you're

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getting those 1400 new neurons every night and

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you can rewire your brain if you've ever read

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books about the habits You can rewire your habits

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and so that's kind of what this podcast is about

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Focusing mostly on that screen time and it's

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never too late to make a positive shift So as

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a longtime educator, I've seen firsthand how

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different learning environments shape young minds

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over the years that I've taught I've noticed

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when I first started teaching um it didn't seem

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like I needed to be animated. I could teach of

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course we wanted to do different things give

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kids ways to move around the room ways to go

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um to you know to the rug or get up here but

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it seems like today I have to be more animated

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I have to come up with more sing songy songs

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I have to shift the focus quite often and so

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doing a different activity with the same Concept

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so if I this week I'm teaching double -digit

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addition and so teaching it in one way I've got

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to teach it in several different ways and we

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need to Sing about it and we need to move with

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it and we and these are all good things and I

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love my job I love doing what I do But because

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of the technology that our kids are used to it

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has to be almost replicated in the classroom

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And it's not always possible So but the good

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news is you're not powerless. There are research

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back strategies that Parents and teachers can

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use to reverse the effects of too much screen

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time and build healthier habits So if you're

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looking for ways to cut back on screen time I'm

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here for you and I want to help you and your

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child regain focus Creativity and a love for

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learning. So here's a simple plan number one

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start small Don't go in and announce that there

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will be no more screen time for your child, because

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that's going to set you up for a disaster. There's

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going to be arguments and fights and everything.

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But one of the things you can do is just start

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by reducing it by 10 minutes, 10, 15 minutes.

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So if your screen time a day right now is an

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hour. two hours shave that back by ten minutes

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and if they're really young they may not even

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realize that you have taken that back by ten

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minutes. Swap so when you get ready to you know

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shut off that screen of course I you know it's

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something that they're going to be invested in

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elsewhere so you might instead of saying no screens

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offer better alternative hey you want to go outside

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and play? Have some play -doh here or look at

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these blocks I built and if your child is into

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building or creating Things maybe painting. I

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know a lot of times you can buy little paint

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sets and they're not too much Get your child

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involved in something else that they like to

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do. Maybe they want to cook with you So swap

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it out. You don't want to just say no more and

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then leave them with nothing swap it out with

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something that's fun that you both can do together.

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I would set clear consistent limits and you know

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you may get a little pushback from that but if

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you set those limits decide as a family when

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screens are allowed and stick to it create a

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screen free zone so be you know if you're deciding

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separate time is going to be a time that we don't

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have any screens um we're not going to have our

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phones you know ask the family can we put the

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phones away during this time and you know if

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it's too hard to do it for the whole time maybe

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you do for part of the time but i i think your

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family will um go along and try to put those

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away if they can engage in fun um connection

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with you and conversation with you um encouraging

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boredom i heard i listen to podcast all the time

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and I found out actually a few years ago that

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when we are bored a lot of times that's our brain

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taking a break and sometimes it's actually okay

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to be bored. Do you remember when we were kids

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and those lazy summer afternoons when we would

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say mom I'm bored and she would say go outside

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and play and a lot of times that's what would

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start to build our creativity. That's when we

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become more interested in other things that we

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didn't realize that we would have been interested

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in. That's actually where creativity begins.

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So give kids space to be bored. You don't have

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to plan every waking hour of their day and you

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don't have to rescue them from boredom. They

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have if they have any things in their room they

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want to play with you know they can go play with

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those or they could go outside find some sticks

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and build something build things with their sticks

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in the yard. So it doesn't even have to cost

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a lot of money. But boredom is not a really not

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a bad thing. And so read together. And if you've

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listened to my podcast, actually every podcast

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that I've done, I don't know that I've not mentioned

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reading. Read together. So read to your children

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or read with your children and let your children

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read to you. just if you want to do all three

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of these in the same day or if you want to split

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it up today tomorrow and the next day share that

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experience of books with them go to the library

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pick out books that they love have them pick

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out the ones they love because their interest

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is always more when they are reading and something

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you can do is spend time at the library so pick

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the books out at the library Find a cozy corner

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and read to them at the library. That's going

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to give that physical separation from screen

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time as well. And let's be the model. And I'm

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speaking to myself because this is a big one.

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There's nothing better for me on a weekend to

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just get my phone and do some mindless scrolling.

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But I'm going to try to cut back my own screen

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time and work on building my own creativity and

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see if I can just leave my phone in another room.

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I don't need my phone with me all the time 24

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-7. I do like to check it during the day for

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my family like at my lunchtime or in between

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but I'm going to try to like in the evening even

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separate my phone because at work I don't look

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at it all day. You know, I do check it at lunch

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and stuff, but at home I'm checking it quite

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often I'm coming in the door and checking it

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and I'm making dinner and while I'm making dinner

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I might be scrolling through Social media and

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then after dinner, you know I'm looking through

00:16:47.500 --> 00:16:50.120
again and then I do set it down if I'm working

00:16:50.120 --> 00:16:53.340
on a podcast or if I'm working on a product I

00:16:53.340 --> 00:16:56.620
will set it down If I'm working on lesson plans

00:16:56.620 --> 00:16:59.440
and it really does set to the side and I don't

00:16:59.440 --> 00:17:02.500
look at it too much want to start separating

00:17:02.500 --> 00:17:07.039
from it a little bit even during while I'm cooking

00:17:07.039 --> 00:17:10.799
separate stuff and see you know if I can do without

00:17:10.799 --> 00:17:12.960
it because the phone is set up for an addiction

00:17:12.960 --> 00:17:16.740
and I'm really trying to separate myself from

00:17:16.740 --> 00:17:20.079
that addiction if you haven't listened to Mel

00:17:20.079 --> 00:17:24.099
Robbins latest podcast on that you should go

00:17:24.099 --> 00:17:29.569
to her podcast and listen to that episode So

00:17:29.569 --> 00:17:31.910
try one small change this week. I just want to

00:17:31.910 --> 00:17:34.269
give you something little. Maybe it's a tech

00:17:34.269 --> 00:17:37.210
-free dinner or swapping 15 minutes of screen

00:17:37.210 --> 00:17:40.750
time for outdoor play. Little by little these

00:17:40.750 --> 00:17:45.170
shifts add up to big impact. Imagine your child

00:17:45.170 --> 00:17:48.369
excitedly flipping through a book. playing outside

00:17:48.369 --> 00:17:51.509
without asking for a tablet or engaging in deep

00:17:51.509 --> 00:17:54.650
conversations at the dinner table. Imagine them

00:17:54.650 --> 00:17:57.809
developing the creativity, problem -solving skills,

00:17:57.950 --> 00:18:01.289
and focus they need to succeed in school and

00:18:01.289 --> 00:18:04.650
beyond. That's what's possible when we take small

00:18:04.650 --> 00:18:10.109
steps toward balance. So if we don't step in

00:18:10.109 --> 00:18:14.130
now, I have been concerned for a while and I've

00:18:14.130 --> 00:18:16.569
talked to other educators that have been very

00:18:16.569 --> 00:18:20.609
concerned. We're going to risk raising a generation

00:18:20.609 --> 00:18:24.930
that struggles with attention. That lacks creativity

00:18:24.930 --> 00:18:27.369
because you know that screen is doing it all

00:18:27.369 --> 00:18:30.809
for them and they're going to be finding it harder

00:18:30.809 --> 00:18:35.849
to engage in meaningful learning. Those comprehension

00:18:35.849 --> 00:18:38.390
skills are going to fall to the wayside because

00:18:38.779 --> 00:18:42.019
you know to infer or to think outside the box

00:18:42.019 --> 00:18:45.319
or to visualize if they've never had to do it

00:18:45.319 --> 00:18:47.460
on their own that's going to be difficult for

00:18:47.460 --> 00:18:49.980
them when they're reading a story and they're

00:18:49.980 --> 00:18:53.119
having to take a test and pass a test for maybe

00:18:53.119 --> 00:18:56.240
a state test that you have when your littles

00:18:56.240 --> 00:18:59.099
get into second and third grade if they've never

00:18:59.099 --> 00:19:01.000
had to visualize and you know they've always

00:19:01.000 --> 00:19:03.500
had the screens doing it for them it's going

00:19:03.500 --> 00:19:06.579
to be difficult for them so Take those steps

00:19:06.579 --> 00:19:10.319
now to help your littles. And if you've already

00:19:10.319 --> 00:19:13.259
been doing that, it's okay. It's okay. Start

00:19:13.259 --> 00:19:17.440
small, let's turn it around. But we do know the

00:19:17.440 --> 00:19:20.720
research is clear. Too much passive screen time

00:19:20.720 --> 00:19:24.279
in early childhood has long -term consequences.

00:19:24.839 --> 00:19:30.700
But we as the teachers and as parents have the

00:19:30.700 --> 00:19:34.470
power to change that. So I hope you've enjoyed

00:19:34.470 --> 00:19:38.450
today's episode and I hope it gave you hope and

00:19:38.450 --> 00:19:41.130
practical tools to help the little ones in your

00:19:41.130 --> 00:19:44.250
life. Remember no matter where you are in this

00:19:44.250 --> 00:19:46.670
journey it's never too late to make positive

00:19:46.670 --> 00:19:50.950
changes. The brain is resilient and small shifts

00:19:50.950 --> 00:19:54.849
can lead to big results. So if this episode speaks

00:19:54.849 --> 00:19:57.809
to you I'd love to hear from you. Have you struggled

00:19:57.809 --> 00:20:01.500
with managing screen time? I know I have. Do

00:20:01.500 --> 00:20:03.880
you know someone who needs to hear this message?

00:20:04.119 --> 00:20:07.599
Send this episode their way and help spread awareness.

00:20:08.019 --> 00:20:10.900
And if you haven't already, please take a moment

00:20:10.900 --> 00:20:14.480
to leave a five -star review. It helps more parents

00:20:14.480 --> 00:20:18.240
and teachers find this podcast. And before you

00:20:18.240 --> 00:20:22.019
go, if you have an almost kindergartner, first

00:20:22.019 --> 00:20:24.980
grader, or second grader, be sure to check out

00:20:24.980 --> 00:20:29.980
episodes 24, 25, and 26. or all three of them

00:20:29.980 --> 00:20:33.240
if you have all three or if you have one or the

00:20:33.240 --> 00:20:36.859
other you can find each one of those there they're

00:20:36.859 --> 00:20:39.839
packed with insights to help young learners get

00:20:39.839 --> 00:20:44.099
a strong start so thank you so much for listening

00:20:44.099 --> 00:20:46.240
and I'll see you next time