(James M. Lang is professor of English and director of the Center for Teaching Excellence, Assumption College, Massachusetts, USA) Millions of working parents have spent months trapped in their homes with their children. Many are trying to do their jobs remotely in the constant presence of their kids, and they are desperate for some peace and quiet Many mothers and fathers have sought any available remedy that would enable them to do their jobs and fight cabin fever — including some who have given their children a free pass on video games, social media and television. One survey of more than 3,000 parents found that electronic screen time of their children had increased by 500 percent during the pandemic. Screen time rules In case you missed it, when the World Health Organization released daily screen time guidelines for children in April 2019, it suggested tight limits. Infants should get none at all, and kids between the ages of 1-5 should spend not more than an hour per day staring at devices. WHO does not prescribe specific limits for older children, but some research has suggested that excessive screen gazing by teenagers could be linked to mental health problems such as anxiety and depression. Kids were already spending far more time than recommended with screens before the pandemic, and had been, for years. As far back as the late 1990s, children between the ages of 3-5 were averaging two and a half hours per day watching screens. And, naturally, what screen time rules families had been enforcing have been on hold since at least mid-March 2020, when most US communities entered the era of social distancing. Prone to distraction Should parents worry if their children are spending more time than ever online to learn, play and while away the hours until they can freely study and socialize again? The short answer is no — as long as they don’t allow pandemic screen time habits to morph into permanent screen time habits. Shortly before the Coronavirus led to schools across the country suspending in-person instruction for safety reasons, I wrapped up my upcoming book on the power of digital devices to distract students from their learning In Distracted: Why Students Can’t Focus and What You Can Do About It, I argue that trying to eliminate distractions from classroom is the wrong approach. The human brain is naturally prone to distraction, as scientists and philosophers have been attesting for centuries. The problem with distraction in school is not the distractions themselves. Children and adults alike can use social media or view screens in perfectly healthy ways. The problem occurs when excessive attention to screens crowds out other learning behaviors. A child watching YouTube on her phone in the classroom or during study time is not developing her writing skills or mastering new vocabulary. Teachers should consider how to cultivate better attention to those behaviors, rather than trying to eliminate all distractions. Likewise, parents should not view screens as the enemy of their children,…
