Children and Technology

[00:00:00 - 00:01:16]Kids nowadays are more exposed to lots of screen time and parents are using this technology to effortlessly help in getting kids preoccupied, however, this can result in massive meltdowns.Reporter:What do you think about the modern-day relationship between children and technology?Dr. Kimberley: I often see kids using - well not often - but like, it's becoming more regular that you see kids even as young as 2 using like, iPads, either in restaurants or while their mum's are waiting in line, you know, in the waiting room at our clinics as well.Kids are getting exposed more and more to screen time obviously and parents are using it as a way to keep the kids preoccupied. And, I think that’s great, except that there are usually some massive meltdowns involved - that I’m sure parents can relate to. As soon as they need to like pack up and go, and take the iPad away, these meltdowns are worse than your average tantrums. Because there is quite an addiction involved, you know, when it comes to the bright light, then in the middle of the game where you have to go through those stages to get to the next level again. So I think for parents, the tantrums can be more stressful because they last longer and are a whole lot louder. My advice would be try to avoid giving screens to kids under the age 5 because we can easily keep them entertained if we give them a book, and then you don't have the meltdowns afterwards. Or even just a fiddle toy would do. There're so many other options to avoid screen time that you can also carry in your handbag.[00:01:17-00:02:37] This technology is damaging to the cognitive and social development of these kids thus giving them limited interest to interact with other kids or adults.Reporter: In terms of long-term development, is it detrimental to their cognitive and social development?Dr. Kimberley: I think so. What I see, even in 15 years olds who have been doing a lot of gaming for long periods of time, is that they have really narrow group of friends with narrow interests. So they might have one close friend that they do lots of "gaming" with on the weekends (I’m probably not using the right lingo).But, if it doesn't have a screen and they have to go or something, like if it's someone's birthday, then it's just so hard for them to be there. It just feels more boring than it would have if they didn’t have such narrow interests because their social skills have been depleted and they haven’t been practicing on weekends, or having more conversations with people of different ages about different topics, because of their narrow interests.So we do see fifteen year-olds to want to broaden their interests, but that can be quite a challenge because they have to actually do stuff that they don't enjoy to start with, the enjoyment will grow when they develop new network of friends and they get more physically be able to run, jump or climb, so that can get back to a normal balanced lifestyle.[00:02:38 - 00:04:18]Kids these days have serious addiction to technology and it is making them more aggressive.Reporter: So you think that addiction to technology is real and it’s happening at the moment?Dr. Kimberley: Yeah, definitely.I saw a really good documentary but I wasn’t able to find it since I watched it. It was based on a Chinese rehab program for adolescent boys that have screen addictions. These are boys that have been gaming all through the night, have dropped out of school and have been spending like, 22 hours a day on screen. Some of them doing things like peeing in a bucket, wearing adult nappies so they didn’t have to come away from the screen. They serious wanting to be the best in world at whatever they were doing.In that documentary they were in full withdrawal when they have no access to a screen, and two of them in that period of time, like in that one month program, they broke out and they went straight to an internet cafe and started playing, trying to catch up after being away from it so long.Yes I do see it as a serious addiction. You want to watch it, because they're some really lovely kids that we worked with in that middle range, from 10-12 years old. Just lovely kids that are well educated. They have supportive families, but are becoming more aggressive, throwing huge rocks through the sliding glass doors trying to get back inside once mum gives up because of too much screen time on a Saturday morning. Or breaking into a filing cabinet trying to get the laptop, fully busting the lock, doing damage.[00:04:19 - 00:04:27]Kids who have attachment to technology are showing aggressive behaviours thus causing damage.Reporter: In terms of behavioural issues, there is obviously the attachment to technology but you are saying there's aggression as well?Dr. Kimberley: Yes definitely.[00:04:28 - 00:05:06]Technology is not the main cause of decreasing attention span of children, there are also other factors to consider.Reporter: I’ve read a study that the attention spans of children are decreasing because of technology. Do you find that this is true?Dr. Kimberley: It could be hard to pinpoint that as a cause and effect because there are just kids with short attention spans, with or without technology. But I think teachers are using more technology in the classroom and then, I suppose when they turn the screens off, they have to be, you know - I mean it's great to watch a YouTube video of something and then to have the teacher try explain every word, but it doesn’t have such an impact. I imagine the kids would become more accustomed to seeing things move and hearing different voices and different scenes. It's hard to compete with.[00:05:07 - 00:05:50]There are pros and cons in using technology in teaching. There are games that are educational that can help kids with spelling, reading, and mathematics.Reporter: Do you think that technology should be used in school for children in reception like iPads and that kind of thing?Dr. Kimberley: I know some school mums are sometimes annoyed at teachers that are giving little girls, like kindergarten/year 1/year 2, a lot of time on screens because that is something that they have tried to win as off time and only use it on weekends or something like that. And when they drop in to do reading at school and some kids spend the whole hour on screen and they feel that is not teaching. So, I think you get mixed reactions. Or the kids might love doing those educational games there are really some good ones out there that can really help children with spelling words, reading, mathematics. So there are pros and cons.[00:05:51 - 00:06:30]Technology is beneficial for children but you have to managed the use of it.Reporter: So do you think overall the increase use in technology is beneficial to children or detrimental?Dr. Kimberley: If it's managed, then beneficial, totally. I think it's a great reward for kids to get all their homework done, and then have some time to do something they really enjoy. And to use it as a reward and use it in limited periods of time so that they don’t develop that addiction. I think they get used to logging off after 5 t0 10 minutes - it not such a big drama, but if it's been 4 to 5 hours, thats a whole waste of the weekend I think. And it’s not the right parenting in my opinion.Reporter: Yes, fair enough.[00:06:31 - 00:06:57]Children in general should only be allowed to have screen time for 1 hour every day.Reporter: One last question - so how long should children in general be spending on screen everyday?Dr. Kimberley: Research says maximum of 2 hours but for me that feels like high school age when they have laptops and homework to do online and things like that. So I think two hours for those kids who have to do homework online. But for other ones, maybe two hours on weekends and one hour every day.