Children’s exposure to screen media can either distract or enhance their early brain development. The negative indirect effects of screen media include but are not limited to the restricted time spent with the parents, hence eradicating parental attachment and poor health, leading to obesity. However, most parents are motivated by “crowd hype” created by techno gurus and social media influencers to exhibit more screen media to their children. I believe building a balance of time, and the use of screen media through home literacy practices and classroom curriculums is necessary to influence the positive impacts of screen media on child development.
It is imperative for parents to moderate their children’s screen media type and time. Parents should subject their children to formative types of digital media that provide optimal content. Some of the screen media, such as video games, are unauthenticated hence likely implicating negative effects (Solomon-Moore et al., 2018). Overexposure to media also implicates children’s psychosocial behaviors, development, and health. Therefore, parents should create healthy routines of screen time for their children at a very young age. I am convinced that only restricted educational viewing should be allowed for young children to develop quality developmental, psychosocial, and physical health.
I recommend the adoption of screen media in the education curriculum to enhance classroom learning and faster brain development. Research-based evidence suggests that integrated visual and verbal learning in preschool learning is more engaging and has better children’s learning outcomes than contemporary learning (Canadian Pediatric Society, 2017). Visual media also enhances memory and creates a better learning environment for young children. Through visual media such as learning tablets, children can grasp complex ideas hardly learned in the classroom. Screen media in the classroom provide exposure to children and supplement their academic mastery.
References
Canadian Paediatric Society, Digital Health Task Force, Ottawa, Ontario (2017). Screen time and young children: Promoting health and development in a digital world. Paediatrics & child health, 22(8), 461–477. Web.
Solomon-Moore, E., Matthews, J., Reid, T., Toumpakari, Z., Sebire, S. J., Thompson, J. L., Lawlor, D. A., & Jago, R. (2018). Examining the challenges posed to parents by the contemporary screen environments of children: a qualitative investigation. BMC pediatrics, 18(1), 129. Web.