CHENNAI: Arundathi R is a working mother. Between work, household chores and handling her 4-year-old son, she “barely gets time to breathe”. From a young age, her son was drawn to her phone screen like a moth to a flame, and before she knew it, he was hooked.
“He does not eat until he watches his favourite video on YouTube. As a working mother, the guilt of not spending enough time with your child overrides and I just gave in to whatever he wanted,” she said. “In hindsight, I feel I should have been firm. I’m being more assertive now but the issue is he is already accustomed to a screen — he plays games, watches videos and is also addicted to cartoons on television. I didn’t realise how detrimental this could be because my focus was just to keep him happy and tantrum-free.”
Pleading guilty
A large majority of working women who CE spoke to agreed that it was this “guilt” that made them succumb to handing over devices to their infant either to keep them engaged for a while or to stop them from throwing a tantrum.Being called the ‘nannies of the digital age,’ exposure to screens of any kind can be detrimental, counsellors and doctors said.
Toddler tension
“Screen-based entertainment is like junk food for a toddler’s brain,” said Bindiya Murgai, mental fitness and digital detox coach. “Children learn to interact and communicate through facial expressions, tone of voice, and body language of those around. This cannot happen via screen as infants don’t understand what’s happening there until the age of two. Until then, a screen is just a fascinating device of flashing images, exposure to which can negatively impact a child’s language development, reading skills and short term memory.”
She said that this can lead to dwindling attention span and deteriorating quality of sleep. The sedentary nature of viewing has the potential to hamper physical activity, which is essential for their growth and development.
S Meghana’s three-year-old is often left with her in-laws because of the irregular timings at the BPO she works for. “I am quite particular to not expose my daughter to screens for prolonged periods, but my in-laws are quite old and they don’t have much energy. So for them, the television becomes an easy way to keep her occupied,” she said. “I did read the WHO guidelines though and have told my in-laws to make sure that the television is not switched on in her presence, and because it is after all their child too, everyone immediately conceded.”
Teachers’ concern
Montessori teachers too share a similar concern. “In our time, ayahs used to give us biscuits to keep us quiet or to have our undivided attention,” said A Sumanlatha*, a Montessori school teacher. “Today, you put a screen in front of a child and it has the same effect. They’re instantly drawn towards it which is why parents must be careful and not expose them to it for prolonged periods. We see that children have short attention span. If they have to commit to a task that takes more time than they want it to take, they give up. This is not healthy, so parents should inculcate screen hygiene in their homes.”Rather than keeping the television on, parents can play music in the background, she said, adding that reading bedtime stories will hold them in good stead. Physical activity is non-negotiable.
WHO says
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the members of the Guideline Development Group (GDG) found benefits of less screen-based sedentary behaviour (TV viewing, watching videos, playing computer games) to include reduced adiposity, improved motor and cognitive development and psychosocial health. The GDG added that more time spent with a caregiver reading or storytelling (while sitting or lying) improved cognitive development. However, there was no evidence of risks of harms associated with reducing screen-based sedentary time and time restrained.
“The GDG concluded that although there may be some variability on how some groups value adiposity in children and that in some contexts there may be issues about reducing time spent restrained for infants, due to cultural norms and values and caregivers’ multiple responsibilities, the potential benefits of reducing sedentary screen time and time spent restrained outweigh the possible harms or costs and may increase health equity by improving health outcomes,” the report said.
* Name changed
