A new report detailing the pervasive struggles of young children in school represents both the failings of the COVID-19 lockdown policies and disillusioned parenting.
The story from the New York Times detailed how the pandemic’s babies, toddlers, and preschoolers are showing distinct signs of being “academically and developmentally behind.”
Problems include not being able to hold a pencil, struggling to identify shapes and letters, and a lack of play and peer interaction. Brook Allen, an interviewed kindergarten teacher in Martin, Tennessee, even mentioned that some children have problems speaking and aren’t toilet trained. Lissa O’Rourke teaches preschool and said the most severe concern is behavioral problems: “It was knocking over chairs, it was throwing things, it was hitting their peers, hitting their teacher.”
So, who’s to blame for this?
The key culprit is no doubt the strict lockdown policies that forced children into isolation indoors and disconnected them from peers and the world around them. Common Sense Media reported that “on average, children from birth to age 8 used about two and a half hours of screen media a day” in 2020. That number is far too high, given that screen usage negatively affects attention span and takes time away from developing fine motor skills.
The most telling statistics involve not the children struggling in school but the parents who allowed screen time to spike so dramatically. That same report cited that “parents of 0- to 8-year-olds have overwhelmingly positive views of the screen media their children use.” Six in 10 parents believed that their children use “the right amount of time,” and almost three-quarters said the media their children consume assist in learning.
Given that just 28% of kindergarten students in the Cincinnati Public Schools system began this year prepared, it’s clear that these parents have been deceived.
It would be easy to cast blame upon these disillusioned parents, but the data suggest such parenting decisions stem from a genuine desire to help children. This begs a vital question: How did so many parents receive such misleading information regarding screen time? Why is it that so many parents have been tricked into believing that scrolling through a phone is somehow more beneficial than reading a book or playing outside?
Setting the pandemic aside, the underlying problem is that social media and technology companies are incentivized to have children glued to screens. The more scrolling and browsing these children engage in, the more advertising revenue is kicked back to the corporations whose business model is predicated upon such mass usage.
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As such, Surgeon General Vivek Murthy recently called on Congress to add warning labels to social media that detail the negative health impact it has. This is a step in the right direction and will partially nullify the stronghold that screens have on children, but much more needs to be done to communicate adequately how detrimental such technology can be.
Those pandemic-era children have already shown clear signs of academic and developmental challenges. It’s up to public leaders such as Murthy to make sure the next generation of children isn’t hampered by the technology companies that have already caused such harm.
