By: Niyati Handa, Co-founder and Director of Eklavya School
There is a growing movement worldwide to ban phones in schools and restrict social media for children under a certain age. How did we arrive at this particular moment? We live in a modern age where screens have replaced real companions. There was a time when the inquisitiveness of a child knew no stillness, and now the child is constantly stimulated due to hyperfixations and rarely still.
This illuminated world is making children lose out on activities like going out and getting themselves muddy, cycling, or just being connected to the outside world. Now, they are glued, rather enamoured, by this soft glow of their devices. And amidst this, they are losing something truly important – a sense of self and identity. And this might be a matter of concern.
What Are These Constant Stimulations Costing The Children?
Early cognitive development becomes an essential part of how a child navigates the real world. But this constant exposure to screens and logging in social media may pose a serious threat to their psychosocial behaviour. Research published by JAMA Network co-relates the usage of social media in early adolescence to lower performance in certain aspects of cognitive functions. And this is reflected in classrooms when a student is unable to form a clearer thought or argument, or school corridors beaming with screen lights during breaks.
Even toddlers are affected by early exposure to digital media. As per the mandate, children below one year of age should not be given screen time at all, whereas children between the ages of 2 and 4 must have only one hour of sedentary screen time. But if it exceeds more than two, the child faces issues with ancillary skills like problem-solving, cognition, and comprehending languages.
Some studies also turned the attention from children to adults who are prone to greater use of social media around them. A study linked anger and other behavioural issues among many children due to technological interference between children and parents, affecting the children’s well-being.
These studies and observations reflect a collective responsibility of not just schools but also parents to help children develop a relationship with themselves, forming a firm sense of self. It is the best antidote when children are bombarded with unnecessary information. Educators and parents need to step up and teach children how to sit in discomfort, be bored, and not resort to phones when they feel a flicker of discomfort.
Are Only Parents To Be Blamed?
There is a serious structural imbalance when it comes to consumption, or rather addiction, to social media and parenting. When parents are trying to create a home environment which restricts longer exposure to screens, they are up against the best reinforcement systems in the world.
The algorithms are designed in such a way that appeases the children and provides them instant gratification and relief. When they have phones, the entire world is at their fingertips. There are more distractions in the world in the current times than any other time in history. As technology ethicist Tristan Harris highlighted how we are up against thousands of engineers and most personalised data on the other end.
So, when parents are trying to curb the screen time with good intentions, they are still up against these other forces. This can’t be deemed as a personal failing but a rooted structural issue.
How Real Play Is Essential To Get Out Of This Rut
When children go outside, occasionally get their knees grazed, and negotiate rules of any benign game, they are allowing their brains to develop better cognitive and motor skills. Keeping children away from the outside environment, especially nature, can make them feel lonely, less inquisitive, and more stressed.
From an early age, children should be nudged to test their potential and learn what their bodies are capable of doing. By being outside, they can learn about stimulation in a healthy way through varied sensory experiences. Climbing, running, and swinging can enhance physical health, coordination, and balance. Nature’s cycle can help them learn life’s uncertainty, embrace discomfort, and be resilient.
D. W. Winnicott, a British paediatrician and psychoanalyst, talked about potential space—a fantasy zone that opens between the child and the real world. This world helps the children to carve their own identity, creativity, and develop self-worth without the digital gratification. It is for this reason that children should not be given unlimited access to the screen, as it is very important that they learn about this potential space and constantly interact with it.
Schools Provide An Environment For This Space To Thrive
School acts as a haven for children to retreat from this unlimited screen access and interact in a simulation of the real world. They interact with their peers, learn comprehension skills, motor skills, and emotional resilience through various activities. This very design must be made mainstream to make schools the last defence against early screen dependency.
While there are legislations passed in countries like the UK and Australia to ban phones in school and restrict the social media age, respectively, there are many schools promoting innovation to bring in holistic design to limit heavy screen reliance. They are building a curriculum that rewards sustained attention through project-based learning, promoting activities like farming, and knowing its profound value in shaping early childhood. This, along with digital literacy, will be essential for children to build boundaries around technology for their well-being.
The Responsibility We Hold
The debate about the early introduction of screens and children cannot be held without nuance. Screens have also become one of the learning tools, and EdTech investments are essential. One of the important goals is to attain digital fluency, and iPads may be tempting pedagogical assistants.
However, there is a clear distinction between using technology as a pedagogical tool and completely inundating children’s day with technology. The former is an educational design, and the latter is a matter of convenience and compliance.
Children don’t come to us to be freed from the allure of the screens and phones. They arrive drawn to it. Young children are most vulnerable to this allure, rather perceptive to whatever it is feeding to them. But it is beyond their reasoning capabilities to understand what they are bartering in return for instant dopamine.
Educators have a responsibility to reconnect children with non-stimulant environments, where they play, solve, thrive, and learn the most. This learning that unravels at a human pace is not going against the zeitgeist. It is to help them be fully present, engaged, and think deeply on their own terms, guiding them to shape their self-perceived identity.
Schools have always helped in designing that infrastructure, and at this very moment, it might be the only institution that is structured enough to maintain that commitment.
