Too Much Screen Time Harms Development

Fred Rogers with the real Daniel!

I was shocked to find The Fred Rogers Company trademark on PBS kid shows like Daniel Tiger and Super Why! I wonder what Fred himself would have thought of  very young children watching these 3D animated shows, or playing the game versions on computer or iPad!  Is it a coincidence that 'his' company started featuring these shows, after his death? 

The company that was started by Fred Rogers in 1971, began making 'educational' programs like Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood, "a new animated program for preschoolers ages 2 to 4" in 2012.

"In 2006, three years after Fred's passing, and after the end of production of Blues Clues, The Fred Rogers Company contacted Angela Santomero [creator of Blues Clues  and Super Why] to ask what type of show she would create to promote Fred’s legacy. That conversation was about the birth of "Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood."

PBS initially ordered 40 episodes, which were broadcast between September 2012 and February 2014. ...Santomero confirmed that PBS Kids has renewed the show for a second season of 25 episodes to premiere September 2014." (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Tiger's_Neighborhood)

"Two of the women behind Nickolodeon's biggest shows [Blues Clues] are now rolling out their own line of educational programming, toys and books for kids." Says Angela Santomera in this interview on Fox: "It's an interactive show where kids are able to practice the key literacy skills as identified by the National Reading Panel, so it's the first 3-D animated series for PBS kids.."

The Digital Daniel

In an interview in Forbes magazine, A Different Kind of Tiger Mom, she says:

"This “interactive” model has proven effective by numerous educational studies done on Blue’s Clues and Super Why, proving that kids who watch scored statistically significantly better on standardized tests than kids who did not watch."

So, it appears that entertainment for kids is no longer educational in the broadest sense, but focused on the components of the standardized tests! What would Fred Rogers have thought of that? The people who now run his company clearly don't care about that.

I'm sure Mr. Rogers would have wholeheartedly agreed that "what’s most important for children is lots of time for hands-on creative and active play, time in nature, and face-to-face interactions with caring adults."

And as  stated in the report Impact of Screen Time on Development and Learning,

"Regardless of content, excessive screen time harms healthy growth and development.”

And, lastly ponder the following about how students best retain information!

‎”[Those], who held a paper copy in their hands, averaged a retention level of 85%. Those who saw it on the movie screen had a retention level of between 25 to 30%, and those who studied it on the TV monitor had a retention and comprehension level between 3 and 5%.

One professor from MIT made the passionate plea that we must encourage children to develop the ability to think first, and then give them the computer…if you introduce the computer before the child’s thought processes are worked out, then you have disaster in the making.

This is because, as Piaget pointed out, the first twelve years of life are spent putting into place the structures of knowledge that enable young people to grasp abstract, metaphoric, symbolic types of information. The capacity for abstract thinking developed as a result of the natural concrete processes that have been going on for millions of years. The danger here is that the computer, which operates by the same artificial, cathode-ray-tube technology as the television, will interrupt that development.”  ~ Interview with Joseph Chilton Pearce

Current Education Reforms Ignore Neuroscience

Education reformers should acknowledge advice from child development experts and neuroscientists on how and when children learn best,  and then tailor material and curriculum to kids' needs and brains! It is for instance totally absurd and counter productive to rob kids of recess, and even more unconscionable, to deny them of playtime in kindergarten!

I watched the video, High-Quality Kindergarten Today  of what is purported to be a high quality kindergarten and yes, a lot of the activities are engaging the children, but...there is still no time for free play. The teacher gets too involved and actually helps direct the play. She also expects feedback on it, but kids need to be able to play for its own sake instead of as a goal oriented, and teacher-directed learning experience!

Recess and playtime are good for all kids as it literally helps stimulate their brains which facilitates cognitive learning, but it is even more important for kids from poverty as they very likely have missed out on important early childhood experiences! In an infant’s life, stress especially can seriously hinder brain development. Anxiety and tension deplete the glucose necessary for mental learning and processing.

“The experiences of the first year can completely change the way a person turns out”, says neurobiologist Harry Chugani in the book Teaching With The Brain In Mind written by Eric Jensen.

And from research by Dr. Bruce Perry, Childhood Experience and the Expression of Genetic Potential: What Childhood Neglect Tells Us About Nature and Nurture the following:

Page 89: "The earlier and more pervasive the neglect is, the more devastating the developmental problems for the child. Indeed, chaotic, inattentive and ignorant caregiving can produce pervasive developmental delay in a young child."

Page 91: "...[I]n a study of more than 200 children under the age of 6 removed from parental care following abuse and neglect we demonstrated significant developmental delays in more than 85% of the children. The severity of these developmental problems increased with age, suggesting, again, that the longer the child was in the adverse environment – the earlier and more pervasive the neglect – the more indelible and pervasive the deficits..."

Page 92: "...when early life neglect is characterized by decreased sensory input (e.g., relative poverty of words, touch and social interactions) there will be a.. [negative] effect on human brain growth as in other mammalian species. The human cortex grows in size, develops complexity, makes synaptic connections and modifies as a function of the quality and quantity of sensory experience. Sensory-motor and cognitive deprivation leads to underdevelopment of the cortex in rats, non-human primates and humans."

Watch the interesting presentation Brain Development & Addiction by Gabor Mate in which he explains how addiction is the result of lack of proper brain chemistry caused by environmental factors  in the young child's life.

Schools Complicit in Child Abuse and Neglect

So, there! I said it. What is it based on? Well, when you hear a parent of a kindergartner say that he hates going to school, you know something is dreadfully wrong. No, kids are not beaten (I trust!), but I heard of a teacher who did not allow a child in third grade to go to the bathroom, or get cleaned up after she peed her pants, all because there's a  strict lock-step schedule to be followed. Every school in my district is on the same page at every hour.

Stories like this do not make it into the news, so parents still think school is a good place for their kids, never mind that kids are now deprived of recess which, research bears out, enhances learning capability. Never mind that kids in  kindergarten no longer get to play (at all!) with dolls, cars, blocks,  and jigsaws, or do quality crafts that help develop fine motor skills. Those learning activities are now deemed unnecessary as kids "need to be prepared early to 'succeed' and 'compete' in a global economy".

Someone on the Facebook group Opt Out of the State Test, discussing Diane Ravitch' latest book " Reign of Error" wrote,

"..in my small town, I don't think parents see the connection with test scores. If parents routinely are measuring their kids against others by asking all their friends what their kids scored, then we have an uphill battle to educate them. As I read, I am constantly trying to decide where to start educating my community.

Our parents need to feel assured that the "answers" are not necessarily in homeschooling, post secondary (dual enrollment) online schooling and open enrollment. Charters are 50 miles away. Instead of taking a complacent role that are school is here, I see us pro-actively promoting and advocating for our district so that fewer parents feel the need to look elsewhere."

In response I shared that in our district, young kids' needs are neglected in all regular schools, so any parent who can seek out more appropriate education (in my opinion only one of the three charters here qualifies), or who can homeschool, absolutely owes it their child to do so!

My heart still aches for all the kids, year after year, who enter kindergarten and are trained like dogs, not just with learning how to read by scripted Reading First curriculum, but also by means of the PBIS program. Plus, no recess, and no play in kindergarten.

Sadly, parents have been brainwashed to believe that school is a, "safe and nurturing place where all kids will have a chance to learn and reach their fullest potential", as written in many a school's mission and vision statement.

As a young parent I trusted those 'good' intentions, and back then in the early nineties, school was still a relatively good place for kids. I say relatively because, seriously...how many kids do you know of who will say they love school? But now, schools have become toxic, here in Greeley, Colorado especially, and their toxic overhaul in 2006 was used as a shining example for other failing districts to follow!

And now parents buy into the propaganda that all these reforms and tests, to track their kids' performance,  are needed so their kids can 'succeed' and 'compete' in the 'global economy', never mind what the experts say whose findings are never even presented to parents, because school administrations are complicit in keeping the reforms going. And how do they do that?

By insidious coercion and threats. A parent shared this letter (click on the photo to enlarge) she received from the superintendent when she chose to opt out her child from testing, and to her credit, DIBELS testing as well.

[caption id="attachment_1760" align="aligncenter" width="300"] An Opt Out threat[/caption]

PTA's and PTO's should step up to the plate, but they too believe the propaganda. See what the New York State PTA shares on the issue: Testing Opt-Out, Just the Facts




 

Impact of Screen Time on Development and Learning

From a newly released report by the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood and the Alliance for Childhood.

Conclusion

More independent research is needed on the impact of screen technologies on young children. But whether you believe that early childhood settings should include screen time or not, there is enough evidence to draw these conclusions:

Many young children are spending too much time with screens at the expense of other important activities. There’s no evidence that screen time is educational for infants and toddlers, and there is some evidence that it may be harmful. Some carefully monitored experience with quality content can benefit children over 3.



But what’s most important for children is lots of time for hands-on creative and active play, time in nature, and face-to-face interactions with caring adults. And, regardless of content, excessive screen time harms healthy growth and development.

Based on the available research, ...this guide contain[s] practical information and suggestions for making your own decisions about using screen technologies with young children.

Access the report below

Facing the Screen Dilemma: Young Children, Technology and Early Education

A Facebook page has been set up devoted to discussing the ideas in Facing the Screen Dilemma.  Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood

Kindergarten: It's the new first grade

From the article in the Chicago Tribune:
Kindergarten: It's the new first grade

"With homework, testing and full-day classes, today's kindergarten bears a striking resemblance to first grade. Some experts call that progress, but others worry that 5-year-olds are being pushed too hard, too soon".

.."If you want children to know how to read, you don't work on their social skills" in a play-based kindergarten, said Tom Loveless, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, a nonprofit public policy organization based in Washington, D.C."

I am always disappointed in articles such as these when for balance, a so-called expert is asked to give an opposing view. Sorry, but when it comes to young children we only need the expertise of true child development experts and those who know how the brain functions and is affected by undue stress.

Ask Dr. Bruce Perry from the Child Trauma Academy, Dr. Joe Frost with 30 years of play research experience and Dr. Stuart Brown of the Play Institute for their findings, rather than opinions. They all will wholeheartedly agree that kids need to play in order to develop healthily, and do well academically later on.

Note the following in a research paper on neuropedagogy by ZHANG Dingzhang, titled Trend of Neuro-pedagogy and Brain-based Education. Emphasis mine.

“..brain development is inspired by free creative environment and blocked by pressed, forced or threatened circumstances. Brain-based education is the education to understand, use, protect and develop brain based on the scientific research on brain, so as to promote each learner to optimize and develop his brain.”

The current NCLB and Race to the Top reforms leave no room for individualization in public school classroom because of the high-stakes testing preparation. Parents need to inform themselves and then take action on behalf of their own and all children at risk of being cognitively damaged. Read the book "Educational Genocide" by Horace (Rog) Ludido. It is eye-opening!

Parents need to join together with education activists who are trying so hard to turn the tide on these ill conceived reforms without ethical reservations and regard for how children learn best. 

If you are an education activist, please join Uniting 4 Kids on Facebook which links to the National Stop Standards group in which authors and experts are uniting to take a collective stand.