iPad kids
how a lack of play has made kids more inept
my friend recently sent me a screen recording of a TikTok (since I refuse to download the app) of a teacher explaining the decline of kids’ social and physical skills and how it relates to the amount of play they had as kids. I immediately related to the video; I’ve known since my senior research project in high school that recess and play are directly linked to various social-emotional and physical skills that are vital to children’s development.
in the video, the teacher, who says she has taught 11th grade for several years and before that worked in a Head Start program, discussed the ways that she has directly seen the effects of a lack of play impacting her juniors. she says that her students, born around 2007-2008, have lived their entire school lives in the age of standardized testing that developed with the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (now called the Every Student Succeeds Act) initially brought into law by the Bush administration. these students, surrounded by standardized testing since preschool, also grew up in the boom of technology and social media. nowadays these children are referred to as “iPad kids,” left to stare at a screen 8 inches from their faces for hours at a time instead of being given attention by their parents or friends in their neighborhoods. in the video, the teacher explains that her students, who are required to hand write essays by the end of the year, have struggled with this task not because they don’t know the content of the course, but rather because holding a pen or pencil is their biggest hurdle. she demonstrates the way that some of her students hold the pencil, in the palmer grasp position, which is typical for children 2-3 years of age. the biggest reason for these students’ gaps? a lack of fine motor skills developed through play at a young age.
play has been found for decades to be directly linked to a child’s ability to learn social-emotional skills, fine motor skills, and gross motor skills. according to Pediatrics: The Official Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics (2018), “Play is not frivolous: it enhances brain structure and function and promotes executive function (ie, the process of learning, rather than the content), which allow us to pursue goals and ignore distractions.” when children are put in front of a screen for hours a day, every day, with no access to play, they are unable to develop those skills that are so essential. In an article titled, “The Power of Play: A Pediatric Role in Enhancing Development in Young Children,” from the same journal mentioned above, the researchers state,
Media (eg, television, video games, and smartphone and tablet applications) use often encourages passivity and the consumption of others’ creativity rather than active learning and socially interactive play. Most importantly, immersion in electronic media takes away time from real play, either outdoors or indoors. Real learning happens better in person-to-person exchanges rather than machine-to-person interactions.
in a society where the majority of parents and caretakers are overwhelmed by stress and burnout, it is simply easy to decompress from a long day of work by providing a child with an iPad, laptop, TV, or gaming device. not to mention the sneaky ways that advertisers mislead well-meaning parents into thinking that media literacy is the best way to support their child’s growth. think of all the youtube videos and apps out there that claim to be educational. “The Power of Play” goes on to state,
Researchers have compared preschoolers playing with blocks independently with preschoolers watching Baby Einstein tapes and have shown that the children playing with blocks independently developed better language and cognitive skills than their peers watching videos. Although active engagement with age-appropriate media, especially if supported by cowatching or coplay with peers or parents, may have some benefits, real-time social interactions remain superior to digital media for home learning.
the implication for parents and teachers alike here is that no amount of youtube videos, educational tv, or seatwork can help a child grow and learn as much as unstructured play.
as a teacher of first grade students myself, I am lucky to say that the county for which I teach makes play and recess a priority, requiring 30 minutes of recess each day. unfortunately for many places across the U.S., this is becoming less and less of a standard. a whopping 23 states have no recess or physical activity laws. in its place is an increasing focus on academic readiness, which begins as early as preschool. while academics are certainly important, it simply cannot replace the endless benefits of unstructured play that recess time allows for. instead, the American Academy of Pediatrics suggests,
The optimal educational model for learning is for the teacher to engage the student in activities that promote skills within that child’s zone of proximal development, which is best accomplished through dialogue and guidance, not via drills and passive rote learning. There is a current debate, particularly about preschool curricula, between an emphasis on content and attempts to build skills by introducing seat work earlier versus seeking to encourage active engagement in learning through play. With our understanding of early brain development, we suggest that learning is better fueled by facilitating the child’s intrinsic motivation through play rather than extrinsic motivations, such as test scores.
in concurrence with the removal of recess and physical activity in schools, the current presidential administration already has plans to remove funding for the federal Department of Education, which, according to their website, works “to promote student achievement and preparation for global competitiveness by fostering educational excellence and ensuring equal access.” the already concerning lack of funds from the federal government, only at about 8 percent, is only made more distressing by the idea that it could all be taken away in its entirety. this is not to mention the budget cuts that have already been occurring in states across the nation. just last month my own school system raised concerns that we would be losing funding in the coming school year, potentially losing instructional assistants, building substitutes, and other vital resources. for years now, we have already seen the impacts of losing funding for teaching the arts in schools. how much more can we lose before we are willing to recognize the deficit it is creating in our students’ learning?
i am lucky to teach in a county that prioritizes student educations and learning through play. my hope is that we are able to come to a consensus as a nation about this importance, too. otherwise, it will be our children whom will be most hurt; and aren’t our children our future?