Parents against the scourge
of Digital Screens
Parents are rising up against the scourge of digital screens drastically disrupting the brain development in their pre-schoolers’ language, communication and rate of learning.
These same parents are discovering the amazing benefits of reading aloud to their child as the perfect antidote to the hovering menace of digital devices.
Digital Screens: A Whole New World
It’s a whole new world out there – especially for our children. They live with digital screen devices all around them. And the marketing for them is intensely effective. The screens lure and invite with popping images, clouds of fast dialogue, 15 second videos, and enticing tunnels to follow into the depths of whatever they are marketing, leading our children down the rabbit hole of their empty, do-nothing games and posts.
Marketing Digital Screens
The marketing for video games and social media is purposely created to addict the viewer. Unfortunately, it is so easy to inveigle children. Worse, digital screens are in every nook and cranny out there.
Everywhere we go with our Grands – restaurants, sports centers, dental check-ups, even museums – digital devices with touch screens access movies, videos, and game systems. The marketing of digital screens offers limitless channels. Infinite voices.
This is what every child – and every parent – is faced with in the digital screen world in which we live.
Research: Digital Screens Impacting Your Child’s Brain
Parents are waking up to the recent research that these digital devices not only addict the viewer – their child – but they drastically reduce brain development – especially in our young pre-school children. Those young children who have used digital screens for even 1 hour a day have underdeveloped and disorganized brain matter, for communication, language and literacy; as well, they react more slowly to other learning activities.
Good News for Parents and Children:
Reading Positively Impacts Your Child’s Brain
Fortunately, Reading has the opposite effect of digital screens. Yes, as I wrote in my last blog, Reading actually boosts brain development and thus, boosts success in learning experiences. The brain on books improves memory, imagination and empathy… and more:
Parents Make the Difference
Parents, you may feel overwhelmed, but you do want to know how to handle all this. How to protect your children. Wanting your children to have their own real, everyday adventures. Playing with friends and family in real life – not the fake life on a video screen. Parents want to help children learn to solve real everyday problems and challenges. They need to know how to get their children off the digital screens and into a book.
New Opportunities for Parents
There are all kinds of parent-child activities that help children’s development. They all come down to the same thing: connect emotionally with your child. For you, the parent, this means dedicating time to talk, share, laugh, sing, dance, play games. And there is one activity you can do that can answer all your wants best of all – READ ALOUD to your child.
Parent Questions
When they get started, some parents wonder how to choose a book for their child.
What is appropriate for the age of their child? What about subject matter? How long is the book? What type of reading is most important?
There is one answer to all the questions: don’t worry about finding the perfect book. Just read! Read to your children in a loving and consistent way. Make a routine and let it become your family tradition. Being consistent means to read to your child on a regular basis, whether at snack-time, or after bath-time, or at bedtime. Make a commitment to read aloud every day.
I do have a favorite reading list from Good Reads of the best in classic literature. And I proudly submit my own two books as the best in read aloud chapter books for children: Becoming Jesse and The Secret of Windy Hill.
How to read to your preschool child
There’s no “best” way to read to your child. But there are some tips on what may work best to engage and entice your child to love books and reading.
The National Institute for Literacy has compiled suggestions in an online booklet called, “A Child Becomes a Reader”. Some of their suggestions include:
1) Start from birth by talking to your child and responding to their attempts to “baby talk”
2) Sing the ABC song
3) Have your child use their imagination and make up stories — and ask lots of questions about those invented tales
4) Pick books with interesting characters — and have fun role playing with different accents and voices for the characters
5) Have your child point to pictures and words and repeat them
6) Most important — enjoy yourself!
Pour your energies into reading aloud to your child instead of allowing the scourge of digital devices. You will find yourself looking forward to this special time with your child. It’s a whole new world! Of course… with your…
LIGHT ON!
