ay in heEnergetic, active, rambunctious, restless, always on the move, never sitting still, never tiring are some of the words used for toddlers and preschoolers few decades ago. Which is quite true because at this age, by nature kids have excessive energy which makes them move all the time. But Imagine a room, at present , full of toddlers sitting quietly and not moving at all, their heads bend with fixed look on the bright screens of their Ipads and tablets, their parents absorbed with their own phones gives a picture of a peaceful room right? But the question is : is it normal for toddlers to act like that ? Or they should behave the way they are supposed to? meaning they should be active instead of sitting like adults. An honest answer would be that this behaviour of the toddlers is not according to their age, and the reason being ; putting smartphones and ipads in their hands. Gearing toddlers with smartphones and tablets at this early age is not a healthy practice at all. Smartphones and tablets have become an essential part of the lives of the majority of the people and same is true with toddlers. A study revealed that 38% of toddlers in Us have used smartphones younger than 2 are using smartphones and tablets. ( Tsavliris). This percentage is quite alarming that is why the AAP( American Academy of Pediatrics) discourages media use by children younger than 2 years. Two famous and most influential personalities in tech field ( Bill Gates and steve Jobs ) who are considered the innovators of technology are very strict when it comes to technology use for their own kids. If the technology do more good than harm then these people and many other tech people who make money out of these gadgets would not mind their kids using smartphones or ipads. But in fact these people are aware of the drawbacks of technology on the kids. The effects of technology are far wore on toddlers than older kids. For this reason parents and caregivers should not allow their toddlers to use IPads, smartphones, tablets or even much tv to protect their little ones from the harms of the technology.
First, too much time spent on smartphones and tablets causes a speech delay in toddlers. Language and communications are key skills for humans. Speech is a verbal communication and language is an expression of feeling using words. The first five years are crucial in the development of the speech and other cognitive functions, during this time the brain develops new nerves and the connection between these nerves through the use of verbal expression ( Shiver). If a child is quietly looking at the tablet he or she is so absorbed in it that they do not use their voice most of the time and lack of this practice does not make nerve connections which causes speech delay. Study involving 900 toddlers ,aged 6-24 months found that the children who spent more time with handheld screens were more likely to exhibit signs of a delay in expressive speech. Every 30 minutes of screen time increased the risk of speech delay by 49%. ( AAP).
Little kids should not be given electrical devices because during this time of their developmental stages kids should hear words and sang by their parent or caregivers, that way when kids witness real life people talking and singing they try to imitate and this imitation allow them to utter the words as compared when kids are mindlessly watching screens which is far from real life communication. They stare at screens without making any connections whatsoever. Listening quietly to the screens does not help toddlers with verbal skills .They do not deliver the words unless they practice them through the use of their tongues. Hirsh Pasek said that, “Child development is relational, which is why, in one experiment, nine month old babies who received a few hours of Mandarin instruction from a live human could isolate specific phonetic elements in the language while another group of babies who received the exact same instruction via video could not. More and more studies are confirming the importance of conversation. Language is the single best predictor of school achievement, and the key to strong language skills are those back and forth fluent conversations between young children and adults.” ( Christakis). Toddlers who observe and listen to their parents talking will indulge in a conversation in their own language . This indulgence helps them refine their speech and language skills. It is same as when people can understand other languages, but they can not speak it fluently unless they practice it through talking in that language. The only way to speak is trying to say the words which toddlers do , but if they are preoccupied with bright screens they don't try to speak which causes speech delay. Tablets are a one way street , they don’t aid kids to utter vital words while they are young . That is why toddlers and preschoolers should not be given Ipads or phones in their hands.
Another drawback of too much screen time is that it disturbs toddlers’ sleep patterns. Sleep is very important especially in early years of life as new brain cells form at this age. Brian develops the most by the age 5 and sleep plays an important role in this development. Too much screen time indirectly affect brain development by changing sleep patterns. Data from 715 UK toddlers aged 6-36 months revealed the association between the use of touch screen and sleep quantity , and longer sleep onset. Every hour of tablet use caused 15.6 minutes less total sleep on average 26.4 minutes less of night-time sleep and 10.8 minutes more of daytime sleep. The parent questionnaire was administered between June 2015 and March 2016. (Cheung ).
Sleep plays an important part in every aspect of toddler's development. Toddlers need 10-12 hours of sleep and naps during 24 hours but kids who sleep less and are nap deprived exhibit negative emotional behaviour . In a study 10 healthy children 30-16 months followed a strict sleep schedule for 5 days and were assessed for emotional behavior. Results showed that sleep restriction resulted in a 34% reduction in positive emotional response as well 31% increase in negative emotional response ( Berger). This shows how kids respond to their surroundings .They do not manage emotions effectively if they are deprived of sleep . If this deprivation continues it can put them on a risk of emotionally or behaviorally problematic when they grow old. The reason for the sleep disturbances is that the blue light emitting from screens interfere with body rhythms, preventing melatonin, an important sleep hormone ,from being released .As a result it causes sleep deprivation in both adults and children.( Solon). Furthermore irregular sleep and sleep deprivation causes toddlers more prone to unfavorable social behaviour. A study showed a connection between sleep and problematic social- emotional behavior .Less sleep predicted higher problem scores, which include withdrawal, anxiety and inhibition across infancy and toddlerhood (Mindell). Sleep is directly linked to the screen time which is causing less sleep and influencing the brain development in an unfavorable manner . For these reasons toddlers should not be provided with devices at this crucial stage.
Too much screen time also contributes to the adverse interpersonal relations and behaviour of the toddlers. These devices are just lifeless things that can not teach lessons that a little child learns from interactions with real people. Spending more time with parents and talking and playing not only brings health benefits, but it also develops a sense of self-regulation in them. Parents who use smartphones to calm their kids down are actually shutting their kids’ inner mechanism of self regulation. Jenny Radesky said, “children younger than 30 months cannot learn from television and videos as they do from real-life interactions. And to use a mobile device before that age on tasks that aren’t educational can be detrimental to the social-emotional development of the child.”(qtd.Mc Coy). Parents who absorb too much in their mobiles cause their kids use disruptive behaviour to grab their attention. When kids see disruptive behaviour as means of getting attention they make it a habit , if not corrected this habit becomes a permanent part of their personality. Children learn the qualities of empathy through real life situations which is impossible with screens. Human interaction is the basic necessity for the social wellbeing of humans, and if new generation is not provided with the opportunity then there are high chances that the kids will turn into socially unstable humans . An interesting experiment conducted by researchers at the Center for Toddler Development at Barnard College, showed that children between 18 to 36 months old, when given an iPad to play with, were so absorbed, that they did not respond to their names. Later on, children started playing without devices and they exhibited more social and creative behaviour ( Chang).
Too much indulgence in screen time whether it be the Ipads, smart phones or tv littler kids develop attention problem. Prolonged exposure to the rapid image change ( watching screen) during critical period of brain development (birth -5 years) would precondition mind to expect high level of stimulation that would lead to inattention in later life. The more tv children watch before age 3 the more likely they were to actually have attention problem at school age, specifically for each hour that they watch before age 3 their chances of having attention problem was increased by about 10%. So a child who watch 2 hours of tv a day before the age of 3 would be 20% more likely to have attention problems compared to a child to watch none. On the other hand kids who received more cognitive stimulation in terms of how often parent read to their child, how often they sang to them in other words face to face interaction reduced the chances of attentional problems in later life in fact each hour of cognitive stimulation reduced the chances by 30%. ( Christakis ).
Toddlers who spend most of the time on ipads and tablets tend to be less friendly due to the lack of social communication, as compared to the kids who go to parks and play with their peers on regular basis. Kids who play outside develop friendlier behavior and also learn social skills of sharing and caring. On the contrary iphone using toddlers do not learn the vital trait of self control due to the lack of this communication . When kids are out in real world they learn by using their five senses which aids them in making connections between their social behaviour and strategies to make adjustments in their own way , as a result these kids blossom into socially well balanced human beings. Parents who use these gadgets to pacify their kids are doing harm to them. These gadgets interfere with learning because when kids are watching screen , they are most of the time absorbed in it and do not pay attention to their surroundings . Michaela Wooldridge emphasis that “ toddlers learn through social interaction which devices can not provide, they need adult mediation otherwise these devices are distractions with lights,sounds and something which talks to them ( qtd.Tsavliris).”
Bright screens are the source of attraction not something which teaches good things to little kids. When kids watch colorful screen they only pay attention to bright colors and they do not learn something concrete which they can learn from face to face interaction. It does not take effort to teach toddlers these qualities because they learn these social qualities automatically through these social interactions .The parents who find it easy to pacify their babies with ipads anytime throw more tantrums, these tantrums are harming their babies’ ability to learn self-administration. Every time a baby throws tantrums they get an ipad or a mobile ,they learn that these outbursts is a tool to get a desired outcome. How can this practice benefit the babies? The unnecessary and excessive use of technology among toddlers can interfere with their problem solving skills which they can learn by exploring unregulated play, and merging with other kids. This objective can be achieved by replacing screen time with engaging in human – human interactions which will help in a good physical ,social and emotional health of toddlers.
Another drawback of this practice is a physical aspect of toddlers. Sitting and watching screens lead to sedentary trend ,obesity and other health problems. Children aged 2 to 5 years showed a sharp increase in obesity prevalence from 2015 to 2016 compared with the previous cycle( Skinner). This trend also cause health issues in later years. When kids prefer sitting and spend time on their devices they develop sedentary habits which will continue with age and sedentary lifestyle leads to obesity which can contribute to high cholesterol and blood pressure . Obesity in childhood tend to continue into adulthood thus causing drastic effects on health.( qtd.LaMotte)
. Exercise is important in each phase of life especially in the early years. Playing outside ,running ,and swimming help strengthen kids’ muscles, and it also boosts metabolism by good blood circulation. They get a good night sleep which has positive effects on their moods .Toddlers addicted with ipads tend to exhibit bad temperament when are stripped or deprived off the mobiles or ipads .They get so absorbed with these gadgets that they lose the touch with their surroundings ;this fixed vision leads to less use of their five senses, as a result, they do not develop a sense of awareness of their surroundings .On the other hand toddlers who go outside and engage in physical activities develop an active lifestyle which they accompany throughout their lives . The Canadian Society of Exercise Physiology released physical activity and sedentary behavior guidelines for young children it says that children under 2 year should not engage in any screen time and children ages 2-4 should be limited to less than 1 hour per day( Vanderloo).
Although some People argue that mobiles and ipads have nothing to do with kids development instead they believe that ipads help toddlers with education. These days there are great educational apps which help in the learning process .This is the age of technology and if we equip our babies with devices, they will have a tremendous amount of knowledge by the time they are school going.These kids will have an edge over the kids who do not have access to ipads or mobiles. Letting babies play with mobiles and tablets boost their ability of independence .They are able to operate devices long before they can talk, which is a good indication that these kids will grow into individuals who are self-reliance and confident. A study of how technology influence toddlers’ learning demonstrated that the technologies had positive effects on children's performance across developmental domains. Particularly, in social domain, most studies showed that technologies enhanced children's collaboration and interaction with others and their development of multiculturalism.(Ching). Through internet kids can learn a lot in less time through educational apps and can learn about other races and cultures which will enhance their sense of diversity and respect for divert groups when they go to school and grow up.
Although this is an age of technology and kids will learn to handle it but at this age it is not useful. Toddlers who spend more time on tablets are not better learners as compared to the toddlers who are engaged in hands on activities.. In an experiment 200 toddlers were divided in two groups and one group was given building blocks at the beginning of the study. The other group got it at the end of the study ,six months later. The group which got block at the beginning were also given a list to the parents what they called “blocktivities”. Parents played , stacked, sort divide them by color etc.children in this group scored in 52nd percentile and the kids who got it later were in 42nd percentile which shows that having blocks and more importantly having activities that promote caregiver and child interaction resulted in learning and language improvement. (qtd.Westervelt).
These devices do not help in learning rather they hinder the learning process As Dr. Dimitri Christakis said, “simulating conventional toys through apps doesn’t help kids with the crucial life skills that come from physically engaging in a three-dimensional world.”(qtd. Miller).
These devices takeover the hands-on activities which are important for the growth of visual and motor skills, and for the learning and application of math and science in three dimensional world. The children who play with blocks and abacus are likely to have better cognitive development , because brain develops the ability to think in three dimensional world. It also helps with the learning and retention process.These touching ,gripping and banging of blocks help with the development of creativity and understand concepts , which is not the case with the kids who are most of the time on their tablets. The more the babies indulge in the real world the better .
Babies are the future, the early part of their lives is the most crucial part, when they are learning and developing socially and intellectually . Babies learn better by social communications not by lifeless screens . Talking ,playing ,singing to them,asking questions ,reading with them will boost their personality which is impossible with these devices . The brains of babies and young children require stable, caring, interactive relationships with adults in order for healthy brain development to take place. Parents must ensure that they are given the attention and tools for them to succeed and make the world a better place.When the foundation will be strong the building will be stable and strong and vice versa .The need is to produce human beings with well-balanced personalities not robots. Ipads and mobiles make the kids addicted to technology ,which if get penetrated into their system is hard to get rid of. Parents should wait for the right time to hand over the technology to the kids.This stage does not last for long, so parents should start spending more time with toddlers and take the smartphones and tablets away. It will have a positive impact on toddlers’ learning ,speech, social ,physical and emotional development, because nothing can replace face to face interactions.
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