When the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently studied the amount of time children spend in front of a screen, the national public health agency presented a jarring estimate. According to the CDC, youth ages 11–14 spend nearly nine hours per day using media devices for entertainment. That doesn’t even factor in their use of computers and tablets at school.
In an increasingly digital landscape, kids are as plugged in as the rest of us. That means educators around the country, including here in St. Louis, are wrestling with a question: How can schools balance concerns about overexposure with the need to prepare kids for a world of limitless technology?
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“I don’t think there’s any one good answer,” says Tonya Thompson, program coordinator for Lindenwood University’s instructional technology master’s program.
But, Thompson adds, there are ways for both teachers and parents to navigate such tricky terrain. Although it’s important for adults to be aware of the detrimental effects that excessive usage can have on young minds, it’s also crucial to recognize that there is such a thing as good screen time. That’s partly why, in 2016, the American Academy of Pediatrics updated its guidelines to recommend that parents consider the quality of their kids’ digital media usage rather than simply the quantity.
“We have to be cognizant of the fact that we live in a digital world,” Thompson says. “The jobs these middle schoolers will have in the future, we don’t even know what some of them are because things change every day. We can’t hand them a pencil and paper and expect them to use things like that all the time when that’s not the world they live in now and definitely won’t be in the future.”
For schools, there are considerations, such as the culture that administrators create surrounding technology usage. Is there a plan for how and when devices are used? Are there consequences for students when devices are used inappropriately or at the wrong time? Consistency, Thompson says, is crucial.
JP Prezzavento is the chief technology and communications officer for the Fox C-6 School District in Jefferson County, where he collaborates with teachers to develop best practices for integrating devices and new tech in the classroom. In his district, students in grades 6 through 12 receive a Chromebook for use both at school and at home. Prezzavento says he reminds educators that devices shouldn’t become the teacher or drive the lesson. Rather, they should be viewed and used as tools to enhance both instruction and the classroom environment.
“When I think of some of the best times I’ve had in a classroom watching kids engage with technology, it’s not when a student is in front of their computer or an iPad in isolation,” Prezzavento says. “It’s when you get two or three kids huddled around a device engaging with visual content and creating something digital. You still have that in-person collaboration that we really need, but you’re also giving kids an opportunity to engage and create. It’s a happy medium.”
