Attention to the screen: parents change communication with children to video content
Smartphones and tablets entertain kids and give adults free time. But there is a high price to pay for this. Poor speech, lack of imagination, and emotional stupidity are side effects of an early fascination with gadgets. How a flat image affects the brain, why it is more important for a child to turn various objects in his hands than to press buttons, and what is the importance of reading paper books — in the Izvestia material.
Visual and auditory development
Izvestia experts believe that the fascination with gadgets at the age of three can lead to a delay in speech development.
— Our speech is formed not by itself, but on the basis of complex processing of sensory flow and coordinated work of the cerebral hemispheres, — explained speech therapist, psychologist, teacher of Russian language and literature, author of the book "I speak, read and write correctly" Inna Bogoroditskaya. — A child learns to speak when he simultaneously receives visual, auditory, tactile, emotional information, smells, interacts with objects and people. All this adds up to a holistic experience, from which the opportunity to express oneself through speech is gradually born.
The gadget impoverishes the child's worldview, the teacher warns. When in contact with a flat screen and an image, most often only visual and auditory effects are involved. And the sound environment is often monotonous: games are accompanied by rhythmic, repetitive signals without speech and emotional diversity.
— Even a bright, emotional and high-quality cartoon cannot replace live communication for a child. There should be an adult nearby to comment, ask questions, help understand the plot and recognize the emotions of the characters. If a child is left alone with a gadget, then he only passively consumes information, and does not live and comprehend it, — says the specialist.
Therefore, it makes sense to talk about a delay not only in speech, but also in mental development, the editorial interlocutor emphasizes.
— Mental development is based on the fact that a small person learns to distinguish and compare signals coming through different senses. When this experience narrows down to on—screen, the process becomes incomplete," the expert explains.
How are neural connections formed?
Anna Guseva, a practicing psychologist, emphasizes that gadgets influence the formation of neural connections.
— At an early age, a child is sensitive to the registers and vibrations of the surrounding world — this can be seen in his reactions. And in the first three years of life, the brain is particularly active in forming neural connections responsible for understanding and producing speech. These connections are formed not by themselves, but through active interaction," she comments.
A child cannot learn to speak well through watching movies, video games, or electronic toys, no matter how interesting they may be, the expert emphasizes. Modern technologies in this important period do not have a very good effect on brain development — excessive use of gadgets can slow down the formation of neural networks responsible for understanding and producing speech.
— This is due to several factors, and above all, the lack of feedback. The screen does not interact with the child in the same way as a living person. In the absence of two-way communication, the baby receives passive information. This hinders the development of the serve-and-return mechanism (literally, "feed and return"), which is the basis for building complex neural pathways, explains the practicing psychologist.
The interlocutor of Izvestia draws attention to the fact that children learn to speak and understand the world through interaction with people. Parents, grandparents, and other adults play an important role in language learning. They help the child connect words with objects and actions, and this contributes to the formation of strong associations in the brain. If you replace live communication by hanging on your tablet, social interaction slows down.
She also points to a slowdown in sensory experience—tactile sensations, smells, and tastes are important for early development.
"When a child touches an apple, tastes it, and listens to his mother pronounce the word "apple," he has a complex experience that strengthens neural connections," the specialist notes.
That's why the first three years of life are crucial for speech development, Anna Guseva emphasizes. At this time, the child's brain forms the basic structures necessary for understanding and producing sounds and words. The active participation of parents and other adults in the learning process significantly speeds up this process.
Why is it useful to collect pyramids?
Inna Bogoroditskaya explains why when interacting with a gadget, a child gets a much more limited sensory experience than with full-fledged communication and regular play. Since visual and auditory perception are mainly involved, the tactile information transmission channel is "idle". Meanwhile, it is extremely important for development. It is not for nothing that exercises related to the effect on the pads of the fingers are of great importance in correctional pedagogy, the specialist emphasizes.
— The child touches surfaces of different textures, feels and distinguishes between smooth and rough, warm and cold, compares objects. This directly affects the development of the brain, says a speech therapist-psychologist. — That's why ordinary toys are so important: pyramids, nesting dolls, cubes, Montessori frames, Zaitsev manuals. Through them, the child learns the size, shape, color, the ratio "more — less", learns to compare, perform logical operations.
For example, when a child tries to fit a figure to a slot, he first acts with his hands: puts a diamond or a circle to the hole, makes a mistake, tries again. Then it gradually moves on to visual correlation. According to the expert, this is already a higher level of brain activity and it cannot be replaced by an on-screen one.
— The gadget offers a ready—made picture, and real objects make the brain work actively: through movement, touch, spatial perception, attempts, mistakes and successful repetition, - says Inna Bogoroditskaya.
Anna Guseva also points out the importance of activities such as playing hide-and-seek and reading books aloud. They help to activate thought processes and improve communication skills. And walking in the fresh air, observing animals and plants enrich a child's vocabulary and develop his imagination.
— Creative activities: drawing, modeling and designing help to develop fine motor skills of the hands, which has a positive effect on the formation of speech centers of the brain, — emphasizes the practicing psychologist. — Limiting the time spent in front of screens, as well as actively involving the child in a variety of activities, are key elements for the successful development of his speech and cognitive abilities. It is important to allow children to explore the world through touch, play in the sandbox, ride slides and interact with various materials.
Cartoons or books
Obsessing over electronic toys, cartoons, and gadgets won't do any good. It is important for a child to hold real paper books in his hands, look at pictures, get answers to his questions, and play "in a fairy tale."
— A paper book is important not only as a source of text. For a child, this is an object that can be held in their hands, flipped through, viewed, discussed with an adult. When a mother reads a book with a child, he doesn't just hear the story: he looks at the pictures, asks questions, gets answers, experiences emotions, and then can transfer the plot into a game. This is how speech, imagination, memory, thinking and the ability to communicate develop," notes Inna Bogoroditskaya.
A smart speaker or smartphone cannot be a full-fledged replacement for this development. They are only able to tell or show something, and this does not replace a lively adult, joint attention, dialogue, emotional response and play, the teacher emphasizes.
— Hand development and fine motor skills are also important. If a child interacts only with a gadget, does not draw, does not sculpt, does not hold a pencil, brush, book, or small objects in his hands, it will be more difficult for him at school. Writing requires a well-developed brush and subtle movements. Such children develop graphic skills later, it is difficult for them to write quickly and accurately, and to keep up with the pace of written tasks, the expert warns.
The editorial's interlocutor calls reading a unique psychophysiological process. The child sees small signs, and the brain turns them into words, images, meanings, builds whole worlds.
— Nothing gives such food for the work of imagination and thinking as a book. If a child does not read, he loses one of the key ways of learning about culture and the world around him," explains the speech therapist-psychologist. — We already know which generations grew up on classical reading and live communication with the book. But we do not yet know what the generation will be like, which will completely abandon paper books and will receive basic information only from gadgets. Replacing a book with a screen or speaker is definitely not worth it.
Why do you have to play with children?
Anna Guseva lists other problems that inevitably arise with the excessive intrusion of gadgets into the lives of children and adults. In her opinion, the problem of modern parenthood is the lack of attention to the child due to the fascination with technology of moms and dads themselves. Instead of communicating with the kids, they stick to the screens. Parents may be emotionally unavailable to the child, even if they are physically nearby, and this creates stress and anxiety.
— The first months and years of life are important for establishing an emotional bond between a child and parents. Replacing live communication with electronic devices hinders not only the development of social skills and emotional regulation in a child — the lack of eye contact with parents can lead to vision problems such as astigmatism, the psychologist warns.
Difficulties that arose in the first year of life are easier to fix than those that appeared later, she emphasizes. Parenting style and relationships with parents lay the foundation for a child's future life experience. Therefore, adults will also benefit from activities that develop tactile sensitivity.
In an "old-fashioned" game, a child touches and moves things, smells them, is surprised, tries objects on his teeth, throws, breaks. All this serves the development of the brain and the acquisition of the first life experience. A child who spends a lot of time with a gadget has less tactile, motor, olfactory and emotional experience, Inna Bogoroditskaya emphasizes.
— And not only sight and hearing are important for development, but also smells, touches, sensations of shape, weight, texture, temperature, — explains the speech therapist-psychologist. — We all know how strong childhood smells can be: the smell of home, pies, the countryside, winter air, perfumes. Such impressions become part of the child's emotional memory. The gadget does not have this layer of experience.
In addition, the usual game does not only come down to interacting with objects — it is a social process, adds the interlocutor of Izvestia. A kid takes a toy, passes it to an adult or another child, compares, tries, examines, and comes up with a plot. Such story games gradually appear already in preschool age. The child himself becomes a participant in them, or acts as a small director — distributes roles between toys or involves other children in the fun.
— This is a whole world of interaction, thanks to which speech is formed, thinking is honed, the emotional sphere develops, imagination and social skills are formed. No gadget can replace this experience," emphasizes Inna Bogoroditskaya.
Time cannot be turned back, and it is also impossible to abandon the tools of scientific and technological progress. But, according to a practicing psychologist, it is important to adhere to strict rules that will help avoid problems.
— There should be no "screen time" at all until 18 months. From 18 months to two years, high-quality content is possible, but only under adult supervision. From two to five years, no more than an hour of high—quality content per day is allowed," says Anna Guseva.
The expert considers high-quality content to be clear video without fast frame changes, with a slow pace of speech, and the absence of aggression. The child should be able to compare, classify and distinguish pictures, and receive new information.
—Gadgets are a tool that can be useful if you minimize their use, or dangerous if you sacrifice their interaction with people and the world," the expert summarizes.
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