Hey there educators and parents, welcome back
to the Education Connection where we dive into
the real issues impacting our young learners.
I'm Robin Wilson, your host, bringing you practical
strategies to set kids up for success. Today
we're tackling a challenge many of us are facing.
How screens are impacting our youngest learners.
Tablets and phones are shaping how toddlers'
brains develop. research is showing it could
affect their future ability to read think critically
and be creative and you know how important reading
is to me almost if not every podcast that I've
done has talked about the importance of reading
and things that we can do to shape their reading
so this podcast is really important to me because
I see That screen time is affecting our youngest
toddlers, our elementary school students, our
middle school, high school. It's affecting adults.
It's affecting even our older generation and
even our aging parents. It is designed to make
you addicted to it and it's not your fault. There's
dopamine going on in your brain. I listened recently
to Mel Robbins love love love her and giving
her a shout out because this research is not
new but she brought light to it recently on her
podcast and as I was thinking about her podcast
I got thinking I have seen the effects of this
on our youngest of students and so that's where
My area is my expertise is what we can do to
help our littlest ones. And I'm also going to
be talking about how I want to make that change
in my life too. So I'm going to be giving you
some practical strategies as always to set kids
up for success. The as I said research is showing
it could affect the their future ability to read
Think critically and that's where we've talked
about those comprehension strategies and to be
able to infer visualize Use their brain to think
as what we were taught in kids to think outside
of In between the lines or outside the lines
or outside of the box So but here's the good
news Because I don't want it to be all doom and
gloom and we've already kind of fallen into this
and now there's nothing we can do because listen
the brain is Placid it is It's a muscle and it
can be changed. It is what we call resilient
and it can come back The brain is ever growing
and what I love about the brain studies is even
older people like me. I am 58 years old I found
out a few years ago now I was so excited like
I was calling my friends would excited about
it because I don't know if you know but every
night when you go to bed even at your age at
my age you get 1 ,400 new neurons every single
night and what you do with them determines what
how your day is gonna become, the things you're
gonna learn, how you think, how you act, how
you, it will affect the things that you do going
forward in the future. So if you're feeling like
you've already fallen into the trap of too much
screen time with your little one, don't worry.
There are simple effective ways that we can turn
it around. Today I'm gonna share some practical
steps to help your young child unplug. That's
right. We engage and develop skills. They need
to thrive So if this episode speaks to you Leave
a five -star review for me It's gonna help other
parents and teachers find me and if you know
someone who needs to hear this, please share
it with them Now, let's get started So yeah,
I know you want your child and your students
to be engaged. I want my students to be engaged
You want them to be curious learners who can
focus, think deeply, and express creativity.
But in today's world, screen times are every,
I'm sorry, screens are everywhere and screen
time is just getting longer and longer because
it is set up to make us become addicted to it
every time we're on it and we we swipe up or
we have the flashing thing over here or the ad
that's popping in over here we're getting a shot
of dopamine and it's easy to feel overwhelmed
it's easy to feel like you're trying to find
the right balance but you keep you know wanting
to look back at that phone and your child is
the same as you and when we take the guilt away
and we realize how it is manipulating us that's
when we can start seeing it for what it is and
maybe do something about it. So studies show
that excessive screen time in early childhood
is rewiring their developing brains. It's impacting
their attention spans and you know we have an
ADHD, ADD, I know they say there's no ADHD anymore
that it's only ADD but 80 ADD to me is just the
attention deficit disorder to where they're just
their attention is diverted and the ADHD is that
hyperactivity that comes with it I still see
that so I know that they're they're not wanting
to call those separate anymore But I do still
see that and as much as we're seeing those attention
spans reduced It does there's research that shows
that it's stemming back to the screen time For
a lot of these little guys that they had very
early there when their brains were developing
when our brain, you know Years ago and I have
a Christian audience and I know when God created
our brains over the centuries We were not wired
to have this electronic device in our hands at
birth at early early childhood at toddler age
and our brains it's rewiring our brains according
to research so it's reducing deep thinking and
it's making it harder for kids to engage in books
and hands -on learning because let's face it
a book is not going to pop out and animation
here and there a book is not going to you know
flash this shiny thing this shiny object over
here and so that's what they're looking for when
they're reading books and sometimes books then
become Something that they're not wanting to
do as much as they are wanting to play those
games on the screen So maybe you've already noticed
this in your child. Maybe they struggle to focus
on the books or they struggle to focus with their
teacher Because you know, she's not throwing
Flashes of light at them. She's you know, she's
up there teaching about math and it's a much
simpler Situation that they're in when they're
not on their screens so and they might get bored
easier and they seem to always want a screen
and begging for that screen time if it sounds
familiar you're not alone please please please
don't take this as judgment from me at all and
don't judge yourself don't judge your child that's
what the the The big companies are wanting to
do, they're wanting to sell your child that new
game. They're wanting to sell you that new product.
They're flashing things at you. Social media
is wanting you to stay on there longer. Instagram
Facebook all of these social me, you know, and
they're good things. I love my Facebook. I love
Instagram I can connect with my friends. I can
do my art and things on there that I do but There
it's wired to keep you on there longer So if
it sounds familiar you're not alone, but there
is hope the brain is not set in stone as I mentioned
earlier It is what we call Resilient it can adapt
and change at any stage of development or even
in adulthood adulthood because guess what you're
getting those 1400 new neurons every night and
you can rewire your brain if you've ever read
books about the habits You can rewire your habits
and so that's kind of what this podcast is about
Focusing mostly on that screen time and it's
never too late to make a positive shift So as
a longtime educator, I've seen firsthand how
different learning environments shape young minds
over the years that I've taught I've noticed
when I first started teaching um it didn't seem
like I needed to be animated. I could teach of
course we wanted to do different things give
kids ways to move around the room ways to go
um to you know to the rug or get up here but
it seems like today I have to be more animated
I have to come up with more sing songy songs
I have to shift the focus quite often and so
doing a different activity with the same Concept
so if I this week I'm teaching double -digit
addition and so teaching it in one way I've got
to teach it in several different ways and we
need to Sing about it and we need to move with
it and we and these are all good things and I
love my job I love doing what I do But because
of the technology that our kids are used to it
has to be almost replicated in the classroom
And it's not always possible So but the good
news is you're not powerless. There are research
back strategies that Parents and teachers can
use to reverse the effects of too much screen
time and build healthier habits So if you're
looking for ways to cut back on screen time I'm
here for you and I want to help you and your
child regain focus Creativity and a love for
learning. So here's a simple plan number one
start small Don't go in and announce that there
will be no more screen time for your child, because
that's going to set you up for a disaster. There's
going to be arguments and fights and everything.
But one of the things you can do is just start
by reducing it by 10 minutes, 10, 15 minutes.
So if your screen time a day right now is an
hour. two hours shave that back by ten minutes
and if they're really young they may not even
realize that you have taken that back by ten
minutes. Swap so when you get ready to you know
shut off that screen of course I you know it's
something that they're going to be invested in
elsewhere so you might instead of saying no screens
offer better alternative hey you want to go outside
and play? Have some play -doh here or look at
these blocks I built and if your child is into
building or creating Things maybe painting. I
know a lot of times you can buy little paint
sets and they're not too much Get your child
involved in something else that they like to
do. Maybe they want to cook with you So swap
it out. You don't want to just say no more and
then leave them with nothing swap it out with
something that's fun that you both can do together.
I would set clear consistent limits and you know
you may get a little pushback from that but if
you set those limits decide as a family when
screens are allowed and stick to it create a
screen free zone so be you know if you're deciding
separate time is going to be a time that we don't
have any screens um we're not going to have our
phones you know ask the family can we put the
phones away during this time and you know if
it's too hard to do it for the whole time maybe
you do for part of the time but i i think your
family will um go along and try to put those
away if they can engage in fun um connection
with you and conversation with you um encouraging
boredom i heard i listen to podcast all the time
and I found out actually a few years ago that
when we are bored a lot of times that's our brain
taking a break and sometimes it's actually okay
to be bored. Do you remember when we were kids
and those lazy summer afternoons when we would
say mom I'm bored and she would say go outside
and play and a lot of times that's what would
start to build our creativity. That's when we
become more interested in other things that we
didn't realize that we would have been interested
in. That's actually where creativity begins.
So give kids space to be bored. You don't have
to plan every waking hour of their day and you
don't have to rescue them from boredom. They
have if they have any things in their room they
want to play with you know they can go play with
those or they could go outside find some sticks
and build something build things with their sticks
in the yard. So it doesn't even have to cost
a lot of money. But boredom is not a really not
a bad thing. And so read together. And if you've
listened to my podcast, actually every podcast
that I've done, I don't know that I've not mentioned
reading. Read together. So read to your children
or read with your children and let your children
read to you. just if you want to do all three
of these in the same day or if you want to split
it up today tomorrow and the next day share that
experience of books with them go to the library
pick out books that they love have them pick
out the ones they love because their interest
is always more when they are reading and something
you can do is spend time at the library so pick
the books out at the library Find a cozy corner
and read to them at the library. That's going
to give that physical separation from screen
time as well. And let's be the model. And I'm
speaking to myself because this is a big one.
There's nothing better for me on a weekend to
just get my phone and do some mindless scrolling.
But I'm going to try to cut back my own screen
time and work on building my own creativity and
see if I can just leave my phone in another room.
I don't need my phone with me all the time 24
-7. I do like to check it during the day for
my family like at my lunchtime or in between
but I'm going to try to like in the evening even
separate my phone because at work I don't look
at it all day. You know, I do check it at lunch
and stuff, but at home I'm checking it quite
often I'm coming in the door and checking it
and I'm making dinner and while I'm making dinner
I might be scrolling through Social media and
then after dinner, you know I'm looking through
again and then I do set it down if I'm working
on a podcast or if I'm working on a product I
will set it down If I'm working on lesson plans
and it really does set to the side and I don't
look at it too much want to start separating
from it a little bit even during while I'm cooking
separate stuff and see you know if I can do without
it because the phone is set up for an addiction
and I'm really trying to separate myself from
that addiction if you haven't listened to Mel
Robbins latest podcast on that you should go
to her podcast and listen to that episode So
try one small change this week. I just want to
give you something little. Maybe it's a tech
-free dinner or swapping 15 minutes of screen
time for outdoor play. Little by little these
shifts add up to big impact. Imagine your child
excitedly flipping through a book. playing outside
without asking for a tablet or engaging in deep
conversations at the dinner table. Imagine them
developing the creativity, problem -solving skills,
and focus they need to succeed in school and
beyond. That's what's possible when we take small
steps toward balance. So if we don't step in
now, I have been concerned for a while and I've
talked to other educators that have been very
concerned. We're going to risk raising a generation
that struggles with attention. That lacks creativity
because you know that screen is doing it all
for them and they're going to be finding it harder
to engage in meaningful learning. Those comprehension
skills are going to fall to the wayside because
you know to infer or to think outside the box
or to visualize if they've never had to do it
on their own that's going to be difficult for
them when they're reading a story and they're
having to take a test and pass a test for maybe
a state test that you have when your littles
get into second and third grade if they've never
had to visualize and you know they've always
had the screens doing it for them it's going
to be difficult for them so Take those steps
now to help your littles. And if you've already
been doing that, it's okay. It's okay. Start
small, let's turn it around. But we do know the
research is clear. Too much passive screen time
in early childhood has long -term consequences.
But we as the teachers and as parents have the
power to change that. So I hope you've enjoyed
today's episode and I hope it gave you hope and
practical tools to help the little ones in your
life. Remember no matter where you are in this
journey it's never too late to make positive
changes. The brain is resilient and small shifts
can lead to big results. So if this episode speaks
to you I'd love to hear from you. Have you struggled
with managing screen time? I know I have. Do
you know someone who needs to hear this message?
Send this episode their way and help spread awareness.
And if you haven't already, please take a moment
to leave a five -star review. It helps more parents
and teachers find this podcast. And before you
go, if you have an almost kindergartner, first
grader, or second grader, be sure to check out
episodes 24, 25, and 26. or all three of them
if you have all three or if you have one or the
other you can find each one of those there they're
packed with insights to help young learners get
a strong start so thank you so much for listening
and I'll see you next time