MANY
MANY PARENTS REPORTED A BIG JUMP IN THEIR CHILDREN'S SCREEN
TIME THAT'S PROMPTED
THE CREATION OF THE DIGITAL
WELLNESS LAB AT BOSTON
CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL.
CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL. WITH US NOW IS DR. MICHAEL RICH
IS THE LAB FOUNDER AND
ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF
PEDIATRICS AT HARVARD MEDICAL
SCHOOL.
SCHOOL.
SCHOOL. HE'S JOINING US LIVE.
AND DR. RICH, YOUR LAB IS
TRYING TO HELP FAMILIES
UNDERSTAND THE IMPACT OF
DIGITAL MEDIA ON CHILDREN.
WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNED SO FAR?
WELL >>, ONE REASSURING THING
IS THAT SIXTY TWO PERCENT OF
PARENTS FEEL THAT KIDS HAVE
DONE QUITE WELL WITH REMOTE
LEARNING IN THIS UNIQUE SCHOOL
YEAR.
YEAR.
YEAR. WE'VE HAD AT THE SAME TIME
ABOUT A THIRD OF THEM ARE
CONCERNED THAT THEIR KIDS
SOCIAL SKILLS HAVE BACKTRACKED
REGRESSED IN SOME WAY BECAUSE
THEY'VE JUST NOT HAD
THE INTERACTIONS WITH FRIENDS
IN REAL LIFE AS OPPOSED TO ON
SCREEN.
SCREEN.
SCREEN. WELL, WE USED TO HEAR NO MORE
THAN TWO HOURS OF SCREEN TIME
EACH DAY BUT I THINK THAT'S
PROBABLY IMPOSSIBLE FOR
CHILDREN AND ADULTS WHO ARE
SPENDING MOST OF THEIR TIME ON
ZOOME FOR SCHOOL AND OTHER
ACTIVITIES.
ACTIVITIES. SO WHAT WHAT CAN WE DO TO
BALANCE THIS?
BALANCE THIS? WELL, EVEN BEFORE A PANDEMIC
THE CONCEPT OF A SCREEN TIME
LIMIT WAS PRETTY MUCH OBSOLETE
IN THE SENSE THAT IT REALLY
CAME OUT THE YEARS OF
TELEVISION AND PASSIVE USE OF
SCREENS NOT FROM
THE INTERACTIVE USE OF SCREENS
.
.
. WE
. WE HAVE
. WE HAVE SCREENS IN VIRTUALLY
EVERY ENVIRONMENT WE'RE IN.
WE HAVE THEM IN OUR POCKETS AND
ON HER WRISTS.
WHAT REALLY MATTERS IS WHAT
WE'RE DOING WITH THE SCREENS
AND WHAT WE'RE NOT DOING
BECAUSE WE'RE ON THE SCREENS IF
YOU WILL.
YOU WILL.
YOU WILL. AND SO THE USE OF SCREENS FOR
SCHOOL TIME HAS ACTUALLY DONE
SOME VERY INTERESTING THINGS
WHICH IS THAT FOR KIDS WHO USED
TO RACE HOME FROM SCHOOL, GET
ON SCREENS AND THEN NOT BE
PRIED OFF FOR HOWEVER MANY
HOURS THEY COULD GET AWAY WITH
.
.
. NOW
. NOW AT
. NOW AT THE END OF A SCHOOL DAY
THEY WANT TO SHUT THAT SCREEN
DOWN AND GO OUTSIDE AND SHOOT
HOOPS OR RIDE A BIKE OR
SOMETHING.
SOMETHING. AND SO ACTUALLY BY EVOLUTION
THEY'VE LEARNED THAT THESE ARE
VERY POWERFUL TOOLS NOT NOT A
PLAYGROUND.
PLAYGROUND. SO IT'S ALL SCREEN TIME IS IT
CREATED EQUALLY ACTUALLY NOT
RESEARCH THAT WE DID NOW
SEVERAL YEARS BACK REALLY
LOOKED IN A VERY PRECISE WAY AT
WHAT SCREENS WE'RE USING AND
KIDS WERE USING AND WHEN.
AND WHAT REALLY MATTERS IS TWO
THINGS WHAT IS WHAT IS
THE CONTENT THAT THEY ARE
INTERACTING WITH ON SCREEN AND
WHAT IS THE CONTEXT IN WHICH
THEY'RE DOING IT IN OTHER WORDS
,WHILE FACE TIMING WITH A
FRIEND MIGHT BE GOOD, IT'S NOT
GOOD WHEN YOUR PARENT IS TRYING
TO TALK TO YOU OR AT SLEEP TIME
OR WHATEVER.
OR WHATEVER. SO IT'S REALLY MORE ABOUT USING
THESE TOOLS IN WAYS THAT ARE
BALANCED THAT ARE MINDFUL AND
ALLOW US TO BE PRESENT FOR EACH
OTHER >> AND TELL US QUICKLY
WHAT ARE THE SIGNS THAT
CHILDREN NEED TO TAKE A BREAK
FROM A SCREEN >>?
I THINK REALLY ONE SHOULD GIVE
OUR KIDS A DIVERSE MENU OF
EXPERIENCE.
EXPERIENCE. WE NEED TO HAVE NOT JUST SCREEN
TIME WHICH CAN BE ENRICHING BUT
ALSO PHYSICAL ACTIVITY.
A SIT DOWN FAMILY MEAL EVERY
DAY.
DAY.
DAY. SO
DAY. SO INSTEAD OF LOOKING AND
TRYING TO FIGURE OUT WHEN
THEY'VE HAD TOO MUCH, I THINK
IT'S MORE IMPORTANT TO CREATE A
SCHEDULE A DAILY SCHEDULE THAT
ALLOWS THEM DISCREET AMOUNTS OF
TIME WITH EACH OF THESE THINGS
AND THAT ALLOWS THEM TO MOVE TO
THE NEXT THING BEFORE THEY BURN
OUT ON SCREENS.
>> WONDERFUL.
>> WONDERFUL. WELL, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR
YOUR TIME.
YOUR TIME. I KNOW YOU JOINED US ON YOUR
VACATION.
VACATION.
VACATION. WE APPRECIATE ALL OF THE ADVICE
AND RESEARCH THAT YOU ARE ABLE
TO SHARE WITH US BECAUSE THIS
HAS BEEN SUCH A UNIQUE SCHOOL
YEAR FOR OUR CHILDREN AND YOU
SAW THE DIGITAL WELLNESS GUIDE
.
.
. YOU
. YOU CAN
. YOU CAN GO CHECK THAT OUT AT
OUR