#415 - The Real Cost of Screens in Classrooms

We don't need to choose between technology and development, but at the end of the day, development always has to come first and foremost. We know technology is here. Technology is here to stay. But trust me when I say that your kid is going to learn technology.

They're learning technology even when you don't realize they're learning technology. They're watching you pinch and scroll on your screen. And even if they've never touched a phone before, I guarantee if you hand one to a child, they're going to immediately somehow know how to use it. So I promise these children aren't going to fall behind because we're not giving it to them.

It's actually quite the opposite. I think children are falling behind because we're implementing technology too soon and too often. So don't be afraid that technology is the future. And if we don't start implementing it now, our kid's never going to learn.

I'm here to tell you. they're going to learn it and they're going to be okay. Welcome to All Things Sensory by Harkla, your go-to podcast for practical insights on sensory processing and development from an occupational therapy perspective. Welcome back to this week's episode on All Things Sensory.

I'm Amanda, and this is my first solo episode. Our crawling queen is out at a t-ball practice this week, so it's just me. And we've got a fun topic for you. I'm just going to dive right into this statement here.

I do not think that screens have any place in a preschool classroom. There, I said it. I ripped the bandaid right off. I am not anti-technology whatsoever.

I actually really love screen use in certain scenarios. I think it's super fun here and there to throw up a little YouTube movement video for our younger kids. It can be super motivating for them to have that, But if you are going to a preschool classroom and you're there to learn, you're there to color, you're there to have social interaction with your peers, there is no need to have a screen during that time whatsoever. It's actually taking away from those fun play learning interaction opportunities.

Yeah, there's a time and place for it. And I just don't think the preschool classroom is it. So let's dive a little deeper into that. Why I wanted to talk about this specific topic today is because I've been working in a school district since last March.

So a little bit over a year, I took over a maternity leave and then ended up signing on with the school district as a travel OT for the remainder of the next school year. So it was super awesome. I am obsessed with school-based occupational therapy and I love it. And a few of the schools that I was working at, they have a special education 3K and 4K classroom and then gen ed 4K through fifth grade.

So I really got to be inside the classrooms and was able to be not even a fly on the wall, but like in the middle of what's happening in the elementary schools right now. And it honestly kind of broke my heart a little bit. And this is no shame on the district that I worked for. or the teachers that I was working with, but they really in the current day, and I'm assuming this has been growing over the last decade or so, but the amount that we rely on smart boards and Chromebooks and state testing on our computers is crazy because research is saying the complete opposite, that kids should not be on screens at like really at all, especially in those first like three to four years of life, but even through the elementary age, as minimal as possible.

Obviously, you know, movies are super fun and we should be learning how to type and use technology because it is a current, you know, piece of the 21st century, but the classroom use and how much it's utilized is insane right now. When we're thinking specifically about the preschool rooms, and let's even go as far as saying like the daycares as well, because this is a similar age range that like two to four age range. We have to think about what shows and programs we're presenting to kiddos nowadays and what is out there and available for our preschoolers.

A lot of it is centered around those super bright, super high interaction like Cocoa Melon and Gracie's Corner and all of these things that are just really overwhelming, overstimulating, and they're kind of selling them to us as teachers and providers and parents like, oh, this is a morning song. This is an afternoon song. This is a song to help you learn your numbers and your colors and your letters. And yes, that's all great.

And I love that they're trying to add an educational piece to it, but really we can do that ourselves and kids can learn more from watching our own body movements and our mouth and our hand gestures more than they can from the screen. So if we're like, well, we need a morning song for our kids. Okay, well let's look one up and do one ourselves as the teachers and the paraprofessionals and dance for our kids or roll around on the floor with our kiddos. Just because they're presenting it as an educational tool does not always mean that it's going to benefit them in an educational setting.

And I also want to touch on the educational apps because I know a lot of kiddos have iPads and things now and I'm not saying that you should completely throw it out, but I see time and time again that these apps are marketing themselves to parents and teachers like oh this is going to help your children learn to write This is going to help teach your child how to do a puzzle And why are we replacing the actual hands-on materials? You know, we can learn how to write with a pen and paper and crayons and chalk and paint.

We can learn how to do puzzles by actually using puzzles. And when we're using a non-3D object, you know, if we can't actually have to orient the piece and use our fine motor skills to push the things together, we're taking away so many of those important skills that go into puzzles and handwriting and grip strength if we're trying to do it on just with one finger on a screen. You know, if you want to download those apps, that's totally fine, but we shouldn't be replacing the actual hands-on activities with these apps.

And from the lens of a therapist, I just keep coming back to and asking myself, what are kids not getting to do and not learning because screens are taking over that time that should be spent with hands-on activities? Super important disclaimer here. I really want to address the fact that I don't think technology is the enemy. And I do think, again, there's a time and a place for technology, especially with our kiddos that might need an AAC device, a communication board.

You know, there are times when technology is beneficial for us. And I don't want to discourage us completely against all things technology, but just being more conscious of how often are our kids on the screens and how much time in their day is being taken away from the real world experiences and language and sensory experiences that are happening because our brain is so trapped into that one device and the music and the sounds of whatever is in capturing their attention on that thing.

I want to think about when does the technology or the device actually start to replace those true activities that kids should be participating in. And with this, I think about, you know, a lot of times we are using it again, as like a morning warmup, like let's do a morning warmup video game workout. I actually used to love using them, especially during the pandemic when I was doing virtual therapy sessions a lot. And I do continue to recommend it sometimes in classrooms.

But what if we can do like crawling and animal walks and things around the classroom instead, or we just come up with a morning routine of jumping jacks and wall pushups and things instead of using the screen. And I don't want to call it lazy teaching or lazy parenting because it's truly not like it could be a good resource but can we go back to the basics and find just genuine activities and exercises to do with our kids because prior to the last like five to ten years no one ever used smart boards no one ever had to use this technology and we all still got through our days just fine and it was okay so what can we be doing in our day-to-day activities instead of always leaning on this technology or smart board as a crutch?

All right, let's talk about what kids actually need more of that a screen could literally never replace. First thing is movement. Kids need so much more movement. And I've talked about this before with recess and holding recess from children or using with holding recess as a punishment and it's just so counterproductive, but solely because kids need more movement than they're getting, especially in preschool.

I had a really hard moment a few months ago where I walked into one of our preschool classrooms and they were just really pushing the kids to sit down on the carpet and watch the screen. And the kids weren't being bad. They were trying to crawl away and go to the play kitchen or go to the block center because they wanted to play with the toys and they just wanted a little bit more heavy work and hands-on and they were actually getting reprimanded to be back on the carpet and paying attention and I know the intention of the teacher was good it was like oh we need to teach our children to follow directions and sit and attend to a task which is all great but we're replacing those true learning moments and those fine motor skill development opportunities with a screen that's just absolutely not okay and I did stay quiet at the time and I'm kind of beating myself up over it right now because I'm like, that was a really good learning opportunity or teaching opportunity for me as a therapist to not reprimand anybody or judge anybody, but just be like, hey, maybe like let's take notice of this.

What do you notice your students are leaning towards or moving towards and how can we implement that into our daily routine and replace, you know, this 30 minute of screen time use with that different opportunity and what opportunities and what outcomes might look different if we replace that just this week. And if you don't see any differences, that's fine. Let's go back to how you were doing it. But like maybe just those small tweaks.

And if you're a therapist out there and you found yourself in those similar scenarios and you're like, ah, I just don't want to step on anybody's toes or I don't want to feel like I am acting like I know more than the teacher does. that's okay to feel that way. But how can we introduce this conversation in a way that feels not demeaning, but like we're on the same team and we have the same outcome that we're looking to get with these students and just get on their level and just be like, hey, I kind of noticed this today with this student.

What do you think about tweaking this tomorrow? And just, you know, say it cool, calm, collected and see what they think. I bet you they're going to be more open to the conversation than you think. Another thing that I think kids need more of is just normal fine motor skill play and games using scissors using tongs getting messy with paint and chalk and just free play time I think so much time now is spent using flashcards to learn.

Okay, let's learn our letters and shapes with flashcards or let's learn our fruits and vegetables with flashcards, but I'm like, why don't we actually give them an orange? Like nothing can replace the way our brain learns about something when we can actually feel it, smell it, taste it, see it, like see it when it's on a flashcard. It's so one dimensional that our kids aren't actually able to fully form a memory and knowledge about that item. So throw, you don't have to throw out the flashcards, but honestly, maybe throw out the flashcards, especially for those preschoolers, get hands on, let them get messy, let them play.

I know scissors can be a little scary, but they should know how to use scissors like at two and a half years old, even if it's just cutting and snipping. So grab a pair of safety scissors. You know, they're like plastic little, almost like Play-Doh scissors. You can get them at the dollar store.

You can get them on Amazon and let them cut Play-Doh. Let them cut the grass. You know, Just let your child learn how to use those skills because there's nothing that can replace the amount of like opening and closing and these intra hand muscles that are forming intrinsic hand muscles that are forming in those early years through these hands-on activities. Even, I mean, not even having to use tools, but just on the ground, crawling in the sand, the grass, climbing on playground equipment.

Like we just need to let kids play and motor plant and have free time. And that's so important in those preschool classrooms and daycares is that it doesn't always have to be a structured activity. We don't have to do a structured craft every day. It's okay if your craft time looks like just putting out glue and safety scissors and pom poms and letting your child come up with whatever they want to.

We don't have to make a bear or, you know, an ocean scene, you know, just let your kid get creative and make their own scene. And that's more important to me than getting, you know, when I become a parent one day, I would much rather see my child's random little goofy craft that they come up with than a craft that the teacher put together for them. And it looks perfectly placed and put. And as an OT, I know this and you know this, that so many of the skills that we work on develop naturally just from those hands-on learning experiences with actual tools and materials.

I also want to touch a little bit on our older elementary kiddos, and I get so many referrals for handwriting, obviously, as a school-based occupational therapist, but I want to invite us to get curious about why are we getting so many referrals? Are kids actually getting enough opportunities to practice handwriting, or are there actual deficits going on here? Because I think there's a little bit of a combination of both things going on. But, you know, we need to practice those early fine motor skills and tool play and animal walks and playground stuff to develop the underlying skills for handwriting.

But I also wonder if we're introducing Chromebooks and laptops and those things too early on that we're completely replacing those wonder years for developing the proper handwriting skills. and on top of that I don't know about other schools in the country but I know some of the people I've talked to that work in schools and within the school district that I was working in they do not have a typing program for these students to actually learn how to type and how to isolate the fingers to touch all the proper keys I'm like what is going on so then we're getting kids sent to us to help them learn how to type because they don't know how to type but I'm like, okay, well, let's create a program to teach these children how to properly use their laptops and their computers and not just swipe with the touchscreen on their Chromebook, but actually appropriately use the laptop and the keyboard that we're providing to them.

So that's another key thing that I think we need to discuss as a country here in the United States. And I don't know about other countries. Please comment and let us know if you guys are in another country or in states that do have typing programs, but like what's going on? Why are we not teaching typing anymore?

Because I'm 31, but when I was in school, we learned typing. They would cover up our keyboard with a thing. We'd have to memorize where the keys were. And there's such a motor learning piece to that and motor memory when you have to learn the keys without the visual piece of it that I think is really missed in the current elementary education setting, at least from what I've experience.

So let me know if you've had a different experience with that. And I know there's a reason why the keyboard is all goofy and like why the letters aren't actually like the most common letters that we use and that we need to use when we type. But I know our social media manager, she has experience with this. So if she feels confident enough, I'm going to invite her over here to share the history on why the laptop keyboard is why it is.

As the resident English major, former English major. I don't know if you're still allowed to be an English major from college at 30, but as the person who was an English major, I know these nerdy things. And the typewriter actually is where the QWERTY keyboard came from. And the QWERTY keyboard was designed so that the prongs of the typewriter would not get jammed based on the frequency of how they being typed on the typewriter So we just transferred that over to the modern keyboard that we use on all of our laptops But if you really hate this, you could probably get a keyboard that's been, that's not on your laptop, of course, but has like a different layout that's a little bit more ergonomic for your hands.

So that's the English major fun fact. Wow. I love that. Thank you so much for helping because I knew, I knew there was a reason there, but I did not know all the scientific evidence there.

Thank you, Cameron. You're so welcome. Okay, I know we got a little bit off topic there. I'm going on and on about typing.

I have so many thoughts when it comes to school-based OT and handwriting, typing, screen use in the classrooms. Let's bring us back in. How can we reduce screen time in the classroom? How can you make those small tweaks within your own classroom, within your OT classroom.

You know, let's just try to get these kids as much hands-on movement learning opportunities as we possibly can every single day. And screens aren't the enemy. Remember, they're not. But especially for our kids under the age of five, if we can keep it out of the classroom for as long as possible, the better the developmental outcomes are going to be for our children.

All right, my last little thoughts here. Teachers are not the problem. Teachers have never been the problem, but in the current day and age, teachers are overwhelmed. They're overworked.

They have so many kids in their classroom. They don't have enough support in there, but I want us to think about how we want our preschool classrooms to look and how we can go back to the basics. And we really need to be able to balance the expectations that we have of the teachers and the children with the actual developmental needs of these children and meeting them where they're at. One of the things that I know still exists in the classroom are the classic whiteboards.

So how can we start bringing back those whiteboards more than the smart boards? So letting your kids have the markers. Maybe we're making obstacle courses. We're doing like hangman up on the whiteboards.

Like let's get back to the old school, classic handwriting, whiteboards teaching and try to limit our smart board use as much as we possibly can. Here is my final thought, my final takeaway. We don't need to choose between technology and development, but at the end of the day, development always has to come first and foremost. We know technology is here.

Technology is here to stay. But trust me when I say that your kid is going to learn technology. They're learning technology even when you don't realize they're learning technology. They're watching you pinch and scroll on your screen.

And even if they've never touched a phone before, I guarantee if you hand one to a child, they're going to immediately somehow know how to use it. So I promise these children aren't going to fall behind because we're not giving it to them. It's actually quite the opposite. I think children are falling behind because we're implementing technology too soon and too often.

So don't be afraid that technology is the future. And if we don't start implementing it now, our kid's never gonna learn. I'm here to tell you, they're gonna learn it and they're gonna be okay. So if a child that you're seeing in your clinic or in your home is struggling with things like attention and handwriting and all of those school-based learning things, I really want us to take a step back and consider how much of this child's day is spent with their face in any type of screen or device and what will actually happen if we slowly start to chop away and remove that screen time.

Let's see what kind of changes can happen. So I invite you to comment or share your experience if you're a teacher, if you're an OT, If you're a parent and you utilize screens or smart boards, or if you've noticed the negative impact of these things, how has it changed in your home or in your classroom since you started removing it? Have you seen improvement in regulation and behavior and handwriting? I'd love to know.

I'd love to chat about it. Or if you have cool, unique ways to implement these technologies and still be implementing movement and hands-on learning, let's learn together and find out how we can better support these children's development. If you enjoyed the conversation today, please send this to a teacher, a friend, an administrator, anybody that you think could really benefit from this conversation. And if you've been noticing some of these challenges in your own students or your own child, just remember that behavior is almost always communication and oftentimes their nervous system just needs a chance to calm down and needs a little bit more support and they need less screen time.

So let's reduce that as much as we can. And with that, we'll see you back here next week on all things sensory. Bye. Thank you so much for listening to all things sensory by Harkla.

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It isn't medical advice. Please consult your healthcare provider for support specific to your child. Thanks again for listening and we'll see you next time.