Walking the line between screentime and non-screentime
There’s plenty of disturbing data around concerning children and screen-time. From changing eye-shapes to attention difficulties and the smartphone obsession we all seem to be suffering from, it’s easy to wish for your child to never look at a screen again.
But it’s not that simple.
Computers are how the majority of us work nowadays. Computer skills are crucial for the job market, and plenty of cross-disciplinary skills like research or strategic planning involve screens. No one is going back to the days of adding up bills by hand or inviting people to conferences via letter.
So how can we balance teaching kids’ computer literacy while making sure the monster of smartphone addiction (and all his other friends) doesn’t arrive to stay.
As someone with a Diploma in Digital Education it’s something I spend a lot of time thinking about.
I don’t have an answer other than moderation and compromise, which are always the most frustrating answers.
I know I deliberately designed DTK workbooks to be a combination of online and offline activities.
To complete one of our workbooks requires working with a computer, doing some online research as well as writing down answers on sheets of paper, with a pen or pencil, developing those motor skills. Some of our activities involve cutting things our and sticking them together (although not many – I’m fully aware of how many parents HATE those activities). We’ve even for additional Physical Challenges in some of our workbooks.
We can’t solve the issue of screentime or no screentime – I suspect no teacher can. But we hope that our multidisciplinary approach allows kids to develop both sets of skills in tandem, using both forms together to reinforce the other. If nothing else, our offline worksheets force kids to take their eyes off the screen regularly, which apparently is great for preventing the epidemic of myopia which is currently surging.