Children, attention please

Today, a typical weekday in a household with schoolgoing children and working parents looks like several monitors lit up. After a full day of attending their classes on screens, many children stay logged in for the rest of the day, either to complete schoolwork, catch up with their friends or unwind.

During the pandemic, screen time exposure for children has increased exponentially. “Online learning has greatly aggravated the problem. Earlier, I used to restrict my children’s usage of gadgets, but now, I myself have to set them up on different devices for hours on end, for their classes,” said Mohammed Shakeel, president of a parents association.

Naveen Mittal, a parent of a high schooler, agrees, “Before the pandemic, I had the option to not expose my children so much to digital content. But now, with my older child being in high school, her classes, notes, assessments, assignments are all online. She needs to be hooked on to the laptop for a long time.”

One of the most concerning consequences of increased exposure is the detrimental effect on children’s attention spans. “Our children become so restless and get bored very easily. When they used to attend school in person, they would interact with other children, be focused on the teacher. But now, the kids just open a new tab, watch a YouTube video or play online games. Their attention spans were already short, but I have noticed that they have become even shorter,” Naveen says.

In addition to learning, devices have also served as the primary source of entertainment and socialisation. “As a parent, I am helpless. I try to restrict their gadget usage, but my kids get bored. We are afraid to send them outside too because of Covid,” said Sijo Sebastian, a software engineer.

Instant gratification

Research findings have shown that excessive technology exposure impacts retention and memory in the long term. “I have been finding some studies conducted in different countries, which say that the damage caused by increased screen time to the brain and grey matter is permanent and irreversible. The academic performance of children has come down, defeating the very purpose we have set out to achieve with online education,” said Mohammed.

Mental health professionals believe this is primarily due to the instant gratification available online, which is quite different from in-person social interaction. According to Dr Akila Sadasivan, a clinical child neuropsychologist, “Attention spans have been hit drastically because there is always constant movement online, with something happening at any given time. In real-life conversations, we take turns, with pauses and interactions. Therefore, children do not see the same entertainment value.”

In turn, shortened attention span has also affected the way kids learn. “We have found that children are not able to learn through auditory modes. They do not retain the information they listen to, without any visuals. Parents and teachers often have to keep repeating information,” explains Dr Akila. A recent study found that young children learnt significantly lesser words during the pandemic due to longer screen time exposure.

The effects of more screen time certainly vary from child to child and are also different across age groups. According to Sijo, “For my 12-year-old kid, since he had already been going to school, the classes moving online was a change he could adjust to. However, my younger child, who is now six, only started school after the pandemic. We found that he just did not socialise at all, but would sit and fidget with something in his hands throughout the class.”

Solutions

How then, can parents help their children navigate this increased exposure to gadgets? For Sijo, it was patience and a commitment to understanding his children’s needs. “There is no general methodology, and it is not about the skills we want them to learn, but about what is best for them. We needed to equip our son with communication skills, so we requested his teachers to engage him in friendly conversations.”

This manner of engagement by parents is the need of the hour. “This is a time when there is a real need for a quality parent-child interaction. In their limited processing of the world, we must understand that children have their own anxieties about the future, their friendships, what the present situation means for them. There is definitely a higher level of anxiety as they navigate these changes,” says Maullika Sharma, a counselling psychologist.

The best solution is spending quality time. “We encourage parents, who themselves may be working, to take a break too. Look at some form of physical activity as a family. Exercise can reverse many of the effects of excessive screen time. Other options for family activities are puzzles, games and books,” says Dr Akila.

While restricting device usage has become nearly impossible, the key is then to focus on defining clear and healthy boundaries for children. “It is important that we show children the way. With surfing online, there is no limit. We need to talk with children about how we can strike a balance in a healthy way.”