Electronic Screen Time
Posted by: Peter Rillero in Classroom Best Practices, Instructional Leadership, tags: computer use, instructional technology, teens
I am just returning from one week of camping at Silver Strands State Park, which is in Coronado, just outside of San Diego. Our RV was camped right on the beach. I know for many, it is difficult to use the word “primitive” when an RV is involved, but this was pretty primitive in the RV world as there was no running water, no sewage hookups, and no electricity.
Of course the beach was wonderful and the temperate climate of the area was a welcome break from the 112 F heat of Phoenix. It was great to see our two sons take a break from electronic screens and spend so much time playing in the waves, building sand castles, riding bikes, tossing a baseball, bumping a volleyball, and hanging out with friends.
Like most parents today, we share the concern with how much our sons look at or interact with electronic screens at home. We have gone between various plans, some where they earn screen time by doing positive things, such as practicing soccer or doing math, others where we just flat out set a limit (although no where near as strict as my sister who limited her son to 30 minutes of any kind of electronic screen each day).
I wonder to what extent concerns about youth obsessions with different forms of electronic screens has limited the effective uses of educational technologies in schools? I can imagine a school board member, a principal, or a teacher who knows an adolescent who is obsessed with computers, and therefore concludes, “We certainly don’t need to give our students more time with computers.”
I don’t think this is an argument that is completely without merit. After all healthy young people should have a variety of experiences. Indeed, I could easily conclude that some young people spend so much time sitting and passively watching TV, that it is important to make learning active and to get them out of their seats.
Going back to the adult who knows an adolescent who is obsessed with computers, we must be careful of over-generalizing from an extremely small sample size of one or a few adolescents. While some young people do become obsessed with computers, others become obsessed with other things such as sports and music. While young people do seem positively inclined to use computers, a survey we administered to middle school students in a largely Hispanic urban school in Phoenix indicated that about half did not have computers at home.
There is no doubt, however, that some young people have become obsessed with computers as a means to enjoy, interact with, and learn about aspects of the world that they are curious about. In the past and present we knew and know adolescents who are passionate readers, yet I never heard school personnel advocate removing reading from the educational experience because of this. They would, however, try to have the students read what they consider to be the most important things, whether they are classics or textbooks, it is the content that is important. We recognize that reading is a great way to learn about life and the world.
Educational technologies have the potential to be great ways to learn about life and the world. Our goal should be to use these technologies to present the finest educational content in an engaging manner. If a student enjoys playing on computers or reading, we shouldn’t not use them in schools. Indeed their interest and experience with these media, probably make them more effective means for educating these children.
Of course, in a science class, I believe the variety of experiences that we can offer that give us the potential to create a rich climate of learning. Educational technologies should and will be a thread in the rich fabric or learning. Nevertheless, I don’t think the good feeling of seeing my son walking away from the computer to go for a bike ride will ever leave me.
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What you say here is true. We must make technology available to young people in our schools, and teach them how to use electronic technology as a tool for learning and creative expression. However, technology should not replace hands-on experiential learning for children. And at home, we need to recognize what kids are not doing while they are spending hours in front of a computer, video game or t.v. screen. Kids are not exercising or learning the give and take of socializing and playing with peers. Parents and schools need to teach children the art of finding a healthy balance of “screen time” and other activities.
Thank you Anne. Yes, the pursuit of a “healthy balance” in homes and schools is a great goal! I would be interesting in hearing from parents about how they prevent their children from overdoing electronic screens at home.