Why would an organization promoting education in young children actually recommend screen time in the classroom?
According to the very annoying computer-generated response you get when you send them feedback on the new draft of their position on technology in the classroom, the National Association for the Education of Young Children is an organization trying to improve education:
Founded in 1926, the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) is the world’s largest organization working on behalf of young children from birth through age 8 and promoting high-quality early childhood education.”
Yet their 18-page rather dense, ridiculously circuitous, and dismayingly verbose drafted policy statement from 2011 actually suggested that early childhood educators incorporate screen time (computers, television, video games, and other digital media) into their curricula.
“The fundamental premise of the position statement is that technology and interactive media are tools for teachers and administrators to use in early childhood programs,” they write in the draft report.
My grandfather was the first person on his block to buy a television. It was a Freed Eisemann. His friend and neighbor, Morris Wigler, got it for them. My dad was excited. They owned the Rolls Royce of TVs, even though it kept breaking. The TV was a small screen mounted in a big cabinet. A solid piece of furniture. This entertainment in a box heralded the future, and people thought watching television would make Americans smarter! More sophisticated! More knowledgable!
Maybe some educational television does help Americans learn more about the world and be more educated. I don’t know. I’m skeptical.
Violence on TV
So much of what’s on TV is glam violence and overly sexualized young women (both the cartoon and silicon-enhanced variety). Even supposedly “objective” television news glorifies violence, sexualizes women, and exaggerates everything.
And it’s indisputable that screen time is helping make our children fat, sluggish, uncreative, and unable to entertain themselves.
Our children suffer from nature deficit disorder and a lack of vitamin D because they spend so little time outside (and use too much carcinogenic sunscreen when they do, but that’s a rant for another post.)
According to a Kaiser report, the average 8-year-old spends 7 hours and 38 minutes using media. An 8-year-old child in America is in front of a screen (or maybe in front of two or three screens since so many kids multi-media task) every single day.
Kids, especially preschoolers, don’t need screen time in school
And, adults, like children, need limits on their screen time.
They don’t need television or computers, or video games, or iPods or iPhones or any other digital technology.
They get too much already, outside of school.
What do preschoolers really need?
I think the Waldorf educational philosophy offers the best ideas for early childhood education.
In Waldorf programs preschoolers get:
- Plenty of time for imaginative play
- Plenty of time outside exploring and learning about the natural world
- Loving caregivers who listen and talk to them
- Open-ended stories told to them
- Toys that encourage open-ended play like scarves and wooden blocks
- Bread-baking and other cooking projects, including grinding whole grains by hand, learning to cut vegetables (yep, my 4-year-old was using a knife in his Waldorf-inspired preschool), and make-your-own delicious nutritious creations
However, the NAEYC’s draft policy suggests we should forgo this kind of early childhood education in favor of its proposal. Their emphasis: “Early childhood programs have an obligation to use technology to bridge the digital divide.”
Say what?
Screen time for children harmful, not helpful
The Campaign for a Commercial Free Childhood is headed by Susan Linn. Linn is an instructor at Harvard University and the author of the excellent book, Consuming Kids: The Hostile Take-Over of Childhood. She is campaigning against mandating screen time and other technology in the classroom.
Here are excerpts from their advice sent in a newsletter to subscribers, forwarded to me by a reader (thank you Natalie!):
NAEYC draft’s recommendations are troubling. The statement:
- Undermines major public health efforts to reduce screen time in order to help curb childhood obesity and other child wellness problems. It does not support the American Academy of Pediatrics’ recommendation of no screen time for children under two and limited screen time for older children. In fact, reducing the amount of time children spend with screens isn’t even a stated priority.
- Prescribes that screen technologies should be included in all early childhood settings, regardless of the age of the children served or type of program. Even play-based and outdoor preschools will be expected to incorporate screens.
- Provides no objective criteria or guidance to educators about whether or when to incorporate screens into their classrooms.
- Does not address the growing problem of screen-based commercialism in preschools.
A better plan for children’s health
Parents, educators, and anyone who cares about early childhood education should be aware that the best plan for our children’s health and happiness includes:
- No screen time for children under two and limited screen time for older kids. The less time your child spends on screens, the less likely he will become overweight or obese. And the healthier he will be.
- No screen time in preschools ever. Screen time takes time away from activities with proven benefits—like engaging in creative play or interacting with adults.
- An end to the commercialism that is so rampant in screen media for children. Relentless advertising to children is harmful to their psychological health.
The 15-page NAEYC final report is available as a PDF. Read the full report here.
Are you worried about your children’s education? Do you think they’re getting too much screen time at school?
Related posts:
A New Book Redefines Feminine Strength
Learning to Love Pink
Art Will Make You Happier, Healthier
Published: May 27, 2011
Last update: May 10, 2021
Kris @ Attainable Sustainable says
I was shocked to read that the *NAEYC* is advocating for this. Adding television to a preschool setting is criminal in my mind. Kids should be there to interact, either with other children or art supplies and tactile material. NOT television. Odds are good that most of those kids get plenty of TV at home.
Jennifer Margulis says
I’m shocked too. If enough people send them feedback, I think they will redraft/rethink their position. Or not? I didn’t have time to research it thoroughly today but I suspect there are some big business interests behind this recommendation. Where we live in southern Oregon there is not television in the classrooms but even here I feel like our two who are in the public school watch too many “educational” videos and spend too much time on computers. In contrast, my daughter who goes to the Waldorf-inspired school is seeing Shakespeare plays at the Festival, spending time in the woods doing challenge courses, and learning art and music and math (Waldorf is woefully bad about science though they do some of that too.) Am I worried that when she gets to high school she will be deficient for lack of screen time? Of course not. I’m delighted she is getting such a good, well-rounded, thoughtful, values-based education.
Natalie says
We followed the pediatric guidelines for screen time (no screen time under age two) very strictly. When our daughter turned two, it seemed so silly to suddenly allow her to watch entier half hours of TV. So her use of screens has come on very gradually. Some weeks she watches no TV at all, and other weeks she might watch two episodes of Sesame Street. She’s three now. I would never want screen time to be a part of her daycare routine. Her daycare is such a wonderful place. The kids play – a lot – with really wonderful toys that encourage imagination and they do a lot of arts and crafts. I can’t imagine a screen in that setting. It would upset me greatly. Kids learn best by having new experiences and interacting with real humans as they have those experiences. There are a lot of appropriate things for kids to learn about media, but those are for school aged kids. Preschoolers are a totally different topic.
Jennifer Margulis says
I agree Natalie. Introducing screen time into a preschool classroom is not best evidence based, scientifically based, or even sensical. It sounds like your daughter goes to a wonderful school. How could any group purportedly advocating for early childhood education actually want to prioritize digital learning? It’s absurd and infuriating. I hope they re-think their position.
Christine says
I’m wrapping up a research trip to Europe, where I spent time in a forest kindergarten in Germany and mainstream public schools in Finland. This makes it doubly shocking for me to read your post and know I am going to be going home to a country where this sort of thing happens. Needless to say, the idea that young children should have screen time is highly discouraged in play-first, let children be children, cultures. When I raised my first two in the U.S. we actually enrolled them in Waldorf classes so that we could find like-minded parents and a school which cared about the same things we did, and valued the same type of early childhood education.
Alexandra says
I’m shocked but not surprised. If the screen time recommended was in front of educational programs, that would be one thing. Any type television show? Children absorb the message in commercials for sugary breakfast cereal and plastic toys when they watch ordinary programming. Some mothers will use these guidelines as an excuse for sitting toddlers in front of a TV set. Such a bad idea!
It’s hard to say no to television. I tried, but my son simply went to the neighbor’s house to watch.
Jennifer Margulis says
The report does stipulate “educational” screen time, Alexandra, not just any television or digital media. But, sadly, in America today a lot of what passes for “educational” in digital media is just companies trying to sell products. Even PBS now has advertising from places that sell plastic toys and unhealthy foods, advertising directed at children (under the guise of “sponsored by”). It’s just not right.
Susan says
I suspect that many of these kids get plenty of “screen time” at home, so why include it in preschool curriculum? My Mom allowed us to watch TV growing up (PCs weren’t mainstream yet and we weren’t allowed to play video games), but she considered it a cop-out, so she forbid our babysitters from sitting us in front of the TV. “Why pay someone to sit and watch TV with my kids when they could be reading together or playing outside?” was her philosophy. We’d watch TV together so she could pick the program or if she needed a little quiet time, she’d put in a video that was kid-appropriate. But it wasn’t the default activity.
Jennifer Margulis says
Here is another letter sent via email to NAEYC (published with consent of the author), for readers wondering how to voice their concerns:
I am incredibly opposed to your statement on technology in early childhood programs. We have done everything we can to keep our daughter from watching television. It has been shown over and over again to be harmful to brain development, behavior, and attention span. To require it or even allow it in preschool or daycare situations is outrageous.
We had trouble even finding a daycare that didn’t rely on TV as a babysitter for the kids. Most kids already spend too much time at home watching television.
Let’s not compound that harm by also promoting it at school.
Thank you,
Marni
Jennifer Margulis says
And another:
Dear National Association for the Education of Young Children:
I believe it was fairly recently that findings were made public that showed that screen time (including computers and “interactive” activities) for young children should be drastically reduced to 0 for kids under 2, and 1 hour or something to that effect for older preschoolers. My own preschooler just finished a wonderful bilingual head start program where they did a lot of art, science and math activities, pre-literacy activities, story time, and outdoor playtime.
If this federally and state funded school were forced to fit computer time into its short 4-hour program guess what teachers would have to reduce? Everything that is educational, intellectual, social, and wholesome! Also, parents like myself who let my child watch an occasional 30 minute educational video so my child and I can get some downtime would be forced by conscience to completely eradicate this special parental lifesaving device!
Please do not push for MORE screen time. Our kids need to be outside playing and socializing as much as possible. When they are inside they should NOT be looking at screens, televisions or anything resembling them!
Thanks for listening,
Concerned Southern Oregon parent
Jeanine Barone says
Starting kids so young with screen time seems a little ridiculous. Though I watched plenty of tv as a child, I also had plenty of outdoor time where I was physically active and I spent plenty of time reading books. I’m sure it’s possible to do it all. But it does seem odd to advocate that kids this young have mandatory tv time.
Jane Boursaw says
Well that’s just crazymaking. Thanks for shedding light on this important topic, Jennifer. I so agree with you. Kids don’t need screen time at school. Good grief.
ruth pennebaker says
With all the education cuts going on in Texas and elsewhere at every level — kindergarten through college — I think we can expect to see more and more of these heinous suggestions.
Kristen says
I’ve given this some thought (not the preschooler side because my kids are older than that) but this year all of my kids have mandated computer-time homework. I hate the idea of my kids coming home from school just to get onto the computer. And the computer records if they’ve been on or not. I try to limit their screen time so that makes it tough.
Living Large says
This is exactly what I thought of when I saw the invention of the “Baby” channel. It just gives parents more opportunity to plop their children down in front of the tube.
Sheryl says
What are they thinking? Preschool is a time to learn and explore in REAL life, not in front of a television set.