August 25, 2025 • 18 mins
In today's technological world, it is important to consider how using devices and apps impacts children's behavior and understanding of how the real world works. Join Cindy and Alison for a discussion about how children's behavior is shaped by their technological experiences.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to How Preschool Teachers Do It.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
This is Alison Kentto's I am an early childhood educator.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
And this is Cindy Tarr Bush. I am an early
childhood consultant.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
This podcast is for parents and early childhood professionals.
Speaker 1 (00:16):
Let our experience and research based knowledge become your guide. Hi,
preschool peeps, Hi peep. I keep trying to find different
ways to say hello for every episode, as this doesn't work.
So Hi, We're really, really really glad you're here and
that you keep coming back here, and we hope you'll
bring other people too. Yeah. In the meantime, we have
(00:38):
people listening and watching from all over the world, around
the world.
Speaker 2 (00:43):
And back again. So today we're shouting out Pakistan.
Speaker 1 (00:47):
Hello.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
Yeah. The last couple episodes we have shouted out countries
that we have never shouted out before, which is exciting. Exciting.
Speaker 1 (00:54):
They're showing up in our stats. We're spreading, Yes we are.
Speaker 2 (00:59):
We are also shouting out the people of the state
of Idaho.
Speaker 1 (01:02):
Hello, people in Idaho, thank you for being preschool peeves.
We appreciate your being here. Your being here really supports
what we do. Supports things like algorithms which we don't
fully understand. But okay, I am a little bit on
a campaign having to do with the YouTube algorithm. If
you really are I am. If you all would just
(01:23):
go to YouTube, look up this podcast, watch an episode, like,
and subscribe, that would help us out a lot. So
if you're enjoying this podcast, please go do that. I
don't even care if you put on the episode on YouTube,
walk out of the room, mow the lawn, come back,
hit like, and subscribe. But really, but really, look at us.
(01:45):
We're actually human beings.
Speaker 2 (01:48):
You don't mow our own.
Speaker 1 (01:51):
And I don't know why I gave that, as.
Speaker 2 (01:54):
We both live in like rental community, so we don't
have to do that.
Speaker 1 (01:56):
I don't know why I gave that example. Yeah, all right,
today's title might have people very, very excited. Today's title
is behavior training devices. And you're at home right now
thinking one of two things.
Speaker 2 (02:11):
You're thinking.
Speaker 1 (02:12):
They're thinking, is there a device that could help me
with children's behavior? Or what on earth are you doing
to the children with a device?
Speaker 2 (02:18):
Yeah, I was thinking, they're thinking, yay, I want one.
Speaker 1 (02:22):
Well, yeah, so there are a lot of there's a
lot of research right now about the impact of devices
and technology on young children. And one of the things
that's being talked about, and I suspect will be talked
about even more widely as time goes on, is not
(02:42):
just the impact of using technology, but particularly in particular
the impact of touch screens. So people are now seeing,
they're going, oh, this isn't going to a good place,
is it.
Speaker 2 (02:55):
It's not going where you expect it to go.
Speaker 1 (02:57):
Yes, there is one author I don't I wish I
knew his name right now, but there is one author
who says that, and he writes about how anxious society
is right now, and he writes about touch screens being
(03:17):
a behavioral training device, which when you think about it,
is like daunting. And we're gonna we're gonna talk more
about that. Alison's looking up his I know, we like
to give him credit. The name of the book, so
we like to give credit where credit is due. It
comes right up, John Jonathan Jonathan h Ai d T.
(03:41):
Thank you for this information. I saw you on an interview, yes,
and you were talking about uh. And by the way,
his book is called let's give him the Anxious Generation,
The Anxious Generation, Go get it. It's popular.
Speaker 2 (03:55):
Came up right Google New York Times bestseller.
Speaker 1 (03:57):
There you go, the anxious generation. And one of the
things that's making children expect immediate gratification plus causing anxiety
is the use of your touch screen. So those touch
screens exist on tablets, phones, and by the way, the
smartboard in the classroom. This is not good. I want
(04:20):
you to think about the use of a touch screen.
Speaker 2 (04:22):
Right.
Speaker 1 (04:22):
So, I'm doing something and it always the screen, whether
I'm playing a game or doing what is allegedly an
educational software or app, there's always an immediate response from
the screen. Yes, right, I touch the screen. I do
something and it gives me stars for doing it well,
or it makes a noise, it makes a noise, or
(04:45):
the character moves or and we're making that happen through.
Speaker 2 (04:50):
Through your movements. Right right, You're touching.
Speaker 1 (04:54):
And it's happening immediately, which teaches children that when you
do something something immediate, it should happen right right, So
when they don't immediately get the gratification that they're seeking
and that they learned to seek through the use of
touch screens from the time they were two years old
on an airplane, yes, then that's that causes them frustration
(05:17):
and anxiety. Because this is what they've seen their whole lives.
This is what they've come to. If we are in
a restaurant with children, and I've seen it over and over, folks,
I'm in a restaurant where there are young children and
people hand them a device, even if they're sitting there
watching a video, which again you should be talking to
children in a restaurant, But even if they're sitting there
(05:39):
watching a video, it is a touch screen. You would
be amazed how quickly children learn that when I touch
this screen, the video will pause or unpause, pause, or
or it'll look different.
Speaker 2 (05:52):
It looks different.
Speaker 1 (05:53):
Yeah, something happens when I touched the screen. I was
in a classroom and they have had a smartboard in
there that they put on during free play so that
the children could go over and do an activity. It
was a literacy activity. The children could choose it right,
(06:13):
but even within the screen time limits, which they ensured
they were within the screen time limits for their age
and for their licensing requirements. They're going over to this thing.
They're moving things around the screen. They're touching something and
moving it. It's immediate gratification when they put it in
the right place. There was like confetti that came out
(06:35):
of the software. Not out of the software, but on
the software. There was confetti on the screen and the
children were like, yeah, I did it. Immediate gratification.
Speaker 2 (06:44):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (06:45):
And that's why today I get college students where if
I don't respond to them immediately, if I don't grade
their thing immediate, I have a certain amount of time
to grade your work, and if I'm teaching a large class,
it takes me that amount of time get through everybody's
work right, because it's not a long period of time
when I am required as the instructor of this college
(07:06):
course to get your grade to you right, right, right.
And this is why I get consistent emails like uh,
did you look at it yet? Okay, I have five
days to do this.
Speaker 2 (07:17):
Right right, Like there's no patience anymore because I think
our generation like we waited right, Like if you wanted
to find out information, I had to wait for my
mother to drive me to the library to look it
up in an encyclopedia. Now it's like, if I want
to know that, look, I just I just did it.
I wanted to know the author's name. I looked it up.
(07:38):
I found it out like that. But we didn't grow
up with that, right, so we can still kind of
delay things. Children now they just grow up with instant information.
If they want it, they can find it. They don't
need to wait, and they expect everybody else to be
on the same timeline wavelength as they are, and we're not,
(07:59):
nor should we have to do everything immediately.
Speaker 1 (08:03):
I have a particular email address for some work that
I do teaching credential students. It's its own email address.
I have an automatic response to every email that goes
out that says, please allow three business days for me
to respond, because I have a lot of other work
I do. I cannot tell you how many people go
(08:23):
in there multiple times in one day going to Hi,
I sent you something I didn't hear back. I didn't
hear back. I didn't hear back.
Speaker 2 (08:29):
And every time they're getting the wait three days.
Speaker 1 (08:33):
Like that's anxiety.
Speaker 2 (08:36):
Yes, Like I'm just gonna say, like, what is happening?
Why do you meet anxiety that we are causing such
anxiety when somebody doesn't call you back right away?
Speaker 1 (08:47):
You know, like touch screen, it is those smartboards, it
is the tablets, it is the phones, anything else you
have that is a touchscreen. There are their devices for
children that have a touchscreen. And by the way, I'm
not saying eliminate all technology. We can't do that either.
Speaker 2 (09:06):
I think that's the right thing either.
Speaker 1 (09:08):
Over the age of two years old, children do need
to be exposed to the use of technology, but good
uses of it. And we've recorded that in the past
and we've talked about it, and you can go back
and find that. I'm not saying get rid of the technology.
I'm saying we have to think about how often children
are using immediate response softwarrees or apps that teach them
(09:36):
and teaches their brain to expect immediate response, because don't
forget in brain development, the first five years is when
the brain, the architecture of the brain is developed and sculpted.
And so what they're learning in those first five years
about something like delayed gratification, having to wait for a response,
(09:57):
or that my every action will cause positive response is
being imprinted on their brains and then there's no going back.
There is no going back. It's being imprinted. I can't
emphasize that enough. Under the age of two, they shouldn't
be using any of those things. There really should be
no screen time other than with you as a family
(10:21):
or a teacher right to sit for a couple of minutes,
and the American Academy of Pediatrics says that that screen
time with children under the age of two should only
be to be to like sit with you on a
zoom with Grandma who lives far away. That's it. There
shouldn't be I'm going to hand you this in the
doctor's office to keep you quiet.
Speaker 2 (10:41):
That's what's happened, young lad. I see children who are
using strollers, which means to me they are probably under
two walking around with a phone. You know, they probably
know how to use the phone better than I do,
And that's sad. At that age they shouldn't. But then
it's like they're always down here.
Speaker 1 (11:01):
Right, Yeah, that's true. It's good for their neck, even.
Speaker 2 (11:04):
It's not good for their fine motor skills because there's
been an upcrease in like fine motor skill issues because
they're so used to doing this or this that they
now can't hold pencils properly.
Speaker 1 (11:17):
For those of you just sorry, I forget that.
Speaker 2 (11:19):
We're not for those of you just using me tapping,
like the tapping that you would do on an eye
phone or the thumb that you would maybe use to
text or text right, is making their muscles grow in
a way that then now they can't grip a pencil properly,
right because they're in this like hook I don't know.
(11:40):
I think it's shaped like a hook their fingers, I
don't know. And there's been like more fine motor struggles
I think with children, because they're so used to just
tapping everything.
Speaker 1 (11:52):
Yeah. I'm continually disturbed by the number of very young
children who pick up a book and try to swipe
it rather than turn the page. Disturbed by that, and
then they get very frustrated when the picture doesn't change. Yes,
we so, in addition to thinking about screen time limits
and how are we managing screen time in a way
(12:13):
that's good for them, we also have to add another
layer onto that. I think. I think we have to
add the layer of touch screens. They are imprinting on
their brain. This immediate gratification that's not going to be
good when they get older and the boss says, I
can't see you today, I can't work on this right now.
Speaker 2 (12:30):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (12:31):
Right. When someone says you need to wait for the
results of this test.
Speaker 2 (12:37):
Wait listen. Waiting is not easy for anybody it's not
easy for us adults who had to wait to go
to the library to look it up in encyclopedia.
Speaker 1 (12:45):
But imagine now you're dating us.
Speaker 2 (12:47):
Well yeah, but like it's not I'm just saying for us.
So you want to wait for a test result for
like say medical that that I'm having anxiety for three
days because I want to know. Am I okay?
Speaker 1 (12:59):
Absolutely?
Speaker 2 (13:01):
But imagine growing up in an anxiety where with the
anxiety of like I get it immediately and now I
have to wait three days.
Speaker 1 (13:07):
That's right, Like you're you're.
Speaker 2 (13:08):
Setting yourself into a tizzy.
Speaker 1 (13:10):
I think it's messed up. I'm just gonna go with
it's messed up.
Speaker 2 (13:14):
It's messed up. And then what you're contacting the professor
or the doctor or whoever every five seconds. It's not
going to make it happen faster. But you're so used
to snapping your fingers and being like, oh if I
if I just do it again, it'll happen again because
you used to pushing that button on the touch screen
and something happens, it doesn't work.
Speaker 1 (13:33):
I think it's impacting all of us. I think, even
if we are adults, this immediate gratification thing is impacting
all of us in some way. Yeah, we've become a
lot less patient, a lot less willing to wait for
things like test results, if like medical test results, a
lot less willing to wait for someone to call you
about something, a lot just because things are happened, because
(13:56):
information moves very quickly. It does. But what we're talking
about the structure and architecture of a child's brain, I
think it has more gravity, It has more importance, you know.
I So I was recently facilitating a parent group, which
I do sometimes, and we were talking about screen time
(14:16):
limits and they have very young children and they're like, well,
how do I start to set these limits. I've never
had limits at home, And I'm like, you have to
start to set it. And in that group there was
one person who said I never let my children use
the technology. And I was like, wow, Wow, good for
you bucking society in that way.
Speaker 2 (14:34):
Yeah, but I feel like it's you should like.
Speaker 1 (14:38):
But honestly, if I am as a parent of young
children now, I think I would use it. Honestly, I know,
if I'm gonna be totally honest, I can't sit here
and say I wouldn't use it.
Speaker 2 (14:49):
But here's the hard part is like they need to
know how to use it. Like they're gonna grow up
always having technology, and if they don't.
Speaker 1 (14:57):
Know how to use it, yeah.
Speaker 2 (14:59):
I at a certain age. Now they're at a deficit. They
have to know how to use it. Yeah right, And
the technology is changing every single day, so if you're
not up with it, you're already obsolete what you learn
two minutes ago. But I don't think we should just
be handing them things and like just out of boredom
(15:19):
or to pass the time. Like like remember, like when
we were in the car, Like now kids are just
tapped into like when they're in a car, And when
we were in the car, we would play games and
talk to each other and like maybe we're bored and
that was okay.
Speaker 1 (15:31):
Or I'd be bored at my house.
Speaker 2 (15:32):
You find something to do, and like now it's like
nobody's bored anymore because I just play with this game.
Speaker 1 (15:37):
There are certain things that we were taught were bad
to feel, and they really aren't bad to feel. Who
says that boredom is a bad thing.
Speaker 2 (15:44):
No, they actually say the most creative ideas come out
of boredom.
Speaker 1 (15:47):
They do, don't.
Speaker 2 (15:48):
Now, children aren't bored.
Speaker 1 (15:50):
Yeah, so they're not having as many creative ideas, is
what they're saying.
Speaker 2 (15:53):
So, like all of these companies that are super big
now that you know about came from some guide being
bored in his garage or woman bored one day. All
your artists, those artistic types, they were bored one day.
Speaker 1 (16:09):
This is why I say things like the best ideas
come to me when I am like just doing nothing
in particular, or.
Speaker 2 (16:16):
Sometimes you know how like you and I have a conversation,
I'm like, I don't know, I have to think about that.
And then I'll get home and I'm in the middle
of like watching TV, and I think it's because my
brain is maybe at peace, yeah, or like concentrating on
the show that I'm like, oh, I get it, and
I text you in the middle of the show. Yeah
you know, Oh I thought about what you said. But
it's because my brain released or something like. And that's
(16:39):
but if I never have time to just or sometimes
i'm driving home, like you know, like your brain is
like on autopilot. That's when sometimes it pops into my
head like oh I get it now, yeah, because my
brain was like, oh I processed it. But if you're
never allowing your brain to be at rest or at
boredom or just clear. When do you have time to
(17:01):
think and process things.
Speaker 1 (17:02):
We were taught the following things are bad boredom hunger.
Speaker 2 (17:08):
Yeah, yes, because this is why we all have weight
issues at our generation.
Speaker 1 (17:14):
You're supposed to wait for the hunger to eat, not
try to avoid the hunger.
Speaker 2 (17:19):
But you know what a lot of it is, you're
just bored so you're gonna eat. Yes, Okay, we.
Speaker 1 (17:24):
We're taught boredom, hunger, even being tired with no good right,
that's it's not true.
Speaker 2 (17:32):
No, it's not true.
Speaker 1 (17:33):
It's not true.
Speaker 2 (17:33):
It's not true.
Speaker 1 (17:34):
It's we people, but we digress somehow.
Speaker 2 (17:36):
Oh we did. Yeah, yeah, because we we got passionate
about something else we do.
Speaker 1 (17:41):
That's why. That's why the podcast is the one of
the top podcasts.
Speaker 2 (17:44):
Because we're just well I think it's one of the Yes,
I think it's one of the top.
Speaker 1 (17:51):
Because we're just real people.
Speaker 2 (17:53):
We're very real people. So yeah, in our real lives,
we go on tangents all the time and then twenty
minutes lateter like, oh remember when we talk about that.
Speaker 1 (18:00):
Yeah, okay, yeah, that's true. That's what real that's true.
Speaker 2 (18:02):
That's what real, real interacting with human beings is like,
you know, and I think we're just real and people
relate to that.
Speaker 1 (18:10):
And I hope people relate to really think about that
touch screen. It's not good for your child's brain. It's
not good for your student's brain. It's not good for
the brain. Yes, all right, folks, we're gonna go. We
will take this side conversation offline right now, Yes, and
we will catch you next time on the podcast pe
Welcome to How Preschool Teachers Do It.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
This is Alison Kentto's I am an early childhood educator.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
And this is Cindy Tarr Bush. I am an early
childhood consultant.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
This podcast is for parents and early childhood professionals.
Speaker 1 (00:16):
Let our experience and research based knowledge become your guide. Hi,
preschool peeps, Hi peep. I keep trying to find different
ways to say hello for every episode, as this doesn't work.
So Hi, We're really, really really glad you're here and
that you keep coming back here, and we hope you'll
bring other people too. Yeah. In the meantime, we have
(00:38):
people listening and watching from all over the world, around
the world.
Speaker 2 (00:43):
And back again. So today we're shouting out Pakistan.
Speaker 1 (00:47):
Hello.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
Yeah. The last couple episodes we have shouted out countries
that we have never shouted out before, which is exciting. Exciting.
Speaker 1 (00:54):
They're showing up in our stats. We're spreading, Yes we are.
Speaker 2 (00:59):
We are also shouting out the people of the state
of Idaho.
Speaker 1 (01:02):
Hello, people in Idaho, thank you for being preschool peeves.
We appreciate your being here. Your being here really supports
what we do. Supports things like algorithms which we don't
fully understand. But okay, I am a little bit on
a campaign having to do with the YouTube algorithm. If
you really are I am. If you all would just
(01:23):
go to YouTube, look up this podcast, watch an episode, like,
and subscribe, that would help us out a lot. So
if you're enjoying this podcast, please go do that. I
don't even care if you put on the episode on YouTube,
walk out of the room, mow the lawn, come back,
hit like, and subscribe. But really, but really, look at us.
(01:45):
We're actually human beings.
Speaker 2 (01:48):
You don't mow our own.
Speaker 1 (01:51):
And I don't know why I gave that, as.
Speaker 2 (01:54):
We both live in like rental community, so we don't
have to do that.
Speaker 1 (01:56):
I don't know why I gave that example. Yeah, all right,
today's title might have people very, very excited. Today's title
is behavior training devices. And you're at home right now
thinking one of two things.
Speaker 2 (02:11):
You're thinking.
Speaker 1 (02:12):
They're thinking, is there a device that could help me
with children's behavior? Or what on earth are you doing
to the children with a device?
Speaker 2 (02:18):
Yeah, I was thinking, they're thinking, yay, I want one.
Speaker 1 (02:22):
Well, yeah, so there are a lot of there's a
lot of research right now about the impact of devices
and technology on young children. And one of the things
that's being talked about, and I suspect will be talked
about even more widely as time goes on, is not
(02:42):
just the impact of using technology, but particularly in particular
the impact of touch screens. So people are now seeing,
they're going, oh, this isn't going to a good place,
is it.
Speaker 2 (02:55):
It's not going where you expect it to go.
Speaker 1 (02:57):
Yes, there is one author I don't I wish I
knew his name right now, but there is one author
who says that, and he writes about how anxious society
is right now, and he writes about touch screens being
(03:17):
a behavioral training device, which when you think about it,
is like daunting. And we're gonna we're gonna talk more
about that. Alison's looking up his I know, we like
to give him credit. The name of the book, so
we like to give credit where credit is due. It
comes right up, John Jonathan Jonathan h Ai d T.
(03:41):
Thank you for this information. I saw you on an interview, yes,
and you were talking about uh. And by the way,
his book is called let's give him the Anxious Generation,
The Anxious Generation, Go get it. It's popular.
Speaker 2 (03:55):
Came up right Google New York Times bestseller.
Speaker 1 (03:57):
There you go, the anxious generation. And one of the
things that's making children expect immediate gratification plus causing anxiety
is the use of your touch screen. So those touch
screens exist on tablets, phones, and by the way, the
smartboard in the classroom. This is not good. I want
(04:20):
you to think about the use of a touch screen.
Speaker 2 (04:22):
Right.
Speaker 1 (04:22):
So, I'm doing something and it always the screen, whether
I'm playing a game or doing what is allegedly an
educational software or app, there's always an immediate response from
the screen. Yes, right, I touch the screen. I do
something and it gives me stars for doing it well,
or it makes a noise, it makes a noise, or
(04:45):
the character moves or and we're making that happen through.
Speaker 2 (04:50):
Through your movements. Right right, You're touching.
Speaker 1 (04:54):
And it's happening immediately, which teaches children that when you
do something something immediate, it should happen right right, So
when they don't immediately get the gratification that they're seeking
and that they learned to seek through the use of
touch screens from the time they were two years old
on an airplane, yes, then that's that causes them frustration
(05:17):
and anxiety. Because this is what they've seen their whole lives.
This is what they've come to. If we are in
a restaurant with children, and I've seen it over and over, folks,
I'm in a restaurant where there are young children and
people hand them a device, even if they're sitting there
watching a video, which again you should be talking to
children in a restaurant, But even if they're sitting there
(05:39):
watching a video, it is a touch screen. You would
be amazed how quickly children learn that when I touch
this screen, the video will pause or unpause, pause, or
or it'll look different.
Speaker 2 (05:52):
It looks different.
Speaker 1 (05:53):
Yeah, something happens when I touched the screen. I was
in a classroom and they have had a smartboard in
there that they put on during free play so that
the children could go over and do an activity. It
was a literacy activity. The children could choose it right,
(06:13):
but even within the screen time limits, which they ensured
they were within the screen time limits for their age
and for their licensing requirements. They're going over to this thing.
They're moving things around the screen. They're touching something and
moving it. It's immediate gratification when they put it in
the right place. There was like confetti that came out
(06:35):
of the software. Not out of the software, but on
the software. There was confetti on the screen and the
children were like, yeah, I did it. Immediate gratification.
Speaker 2 (06:44):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (06:45):
And that's why today I get college students where if
I don't respond to them immediately, if I don't grade
their thing immediate, I have a certain amount of time
to grade your work, and if I'm teaching a large class,
it takes me that amount of time get through everybody's
work right, because it's not a long period of time
when I am required as the instructor of this college
(07:06):
course to get your grade to you right, right, right.
And this is why I get consistent emails like uh,
did you look at it yet? Okay, I have five
days to do this.
Speaker 2 (07:17):
Right right, Like there's no patience anymore because I think
our generation like we waited right, Like if you wanted
to find out information, I had to wait for my
mother to drive me to the library to look it
up in an encyclopedia. Now it's like, if I want
to know that, look, I just I just did it.
I wanted to know the author's name. I looked it up.
(07:38):
I found it out like that. But we didn't grow
up with that, right, so we can still kind of
delay things. Children now they just grow up with instant information.
If they want it, they can find it. They don't
need to wait, and they expect everybody else to be
on the same timeline wavelength as they are, and we're not,
(07:59):
nor should we have to do everything immediately.
Speaker 1 (08:03):
I have a particular email address for some work that
I do teaching credential students. It's its own email address.
I have an automatic response to every email that goes
out that says, please allow three business days for me
to respond, because I have a lot of other work
I do. I cannot tell you how many people go
(08:23):
in there multiple times in one day going to Hi,
I sent you something I didn't hear back. I didn't
hear back. I didn't hear back.
Speaker 2 (08:29):
And every time they're getting the wait three days.
Speaker 1 (08:33):
Like that's anxiety.
Speaker 2 (08:36):
Yes, Like I'm just gonna say, like, what is happening?
Why do you meet anxiety that we are causing such
anxiety when somebody doesn't call you back right away?
Speaker 1 (08:47):
You know, like touch screen, it is those smartboards, it
is the tablets, it is the phones, anything else you
have that is a touchscreen. There are their devices for
children that have a touchscreen. And by the way, I'm
not saying eliminate all technology. We can't do that either.
Speaker 2 (09:06):
I think that's the right thing either.
Speaker 1 (09:08):
Over the age of two years old, children do need
to be exposed to the use of technology, but good
uses of it. And we've recorded that in the past
and we've talked about it, and you can go back
and find that. I'm not saying get rid of the technology.
I'm saying we have to think about how often children
are using immediate response softwarrees or apps that teach them
(09:36):
and teaches their brain to expect immediate response, because don't
forget in brain development, the first five years is when
the brain, the architecture of the brain is developed and sculpted.
And so what they're learning in those first five years
about something like delayed gratification, having to wait for a response,
(09:57):
or that my every action will cause positive response is
being imprinted on their brains and then there's no going back.
There is no going back. It's being imprinted. I can't
emphasize that enough. Under the age of two, they shouldn't
be using any of those things. There really should be
no screen time other than with you as a family
(10:21):
or a teacher right to sit for a couple of minutes,
and the American Academy of Pediatrics says that that screen
time with children under the age of two should only
be to be to like sit with you on a
zoom with Grandma who lives far away. That's it. There
shouldn't be I'm going to hand you this in the
doctor's office to keep you quiet.
Speaker 2 (10:41):
That's what's happened, young lad. I see children who are
using strollers, which means to me they are probably under
two walking around with a phone. You know, they probably
know how to use the phone better than I do,
And that's sad. At that age they shouldn't. But then
it's like they're always down here.
Speaker 1 (11:01):
Right, Yeah, that's true. It's good for their neck, even.
Speaker 2 (11:04):
It's not good for their fine motor skills because there's
been an upcrease in like fine motor skill issues because
they're so used to doing this or this that they
now can't hold pencils properly.
Speaker 1 (11:17):
For those of you just sorry, I forget that.
Speaker 2 (11:19):
We're not for those of you just using me tapping,
like the tapping that you would do on an eye
phone or the thumb that you would maybe use to
text or text right, is making their muscles grow in
a way that then now they can't grip a pencil properly,
right because they're in this like hook I don't know.
(11:40):
I think it's shaped like a hook their fingers, I
don't know. And there's been like more fine motor struggles
I think with children, because they're so used to just
tapping everything.
Speaker 1 (11:52):
Yeah. I'm continually disturbed by the number of very young
children who pick up a book and try to swipe
it rather than turn the page. Disturbed by that, and
then they get very frustrated when the picture doesn't change. Yes,
we so, in addition to thinking about screen time limits
and how are we managing screen time in a way
(12:13):
that's good for them, we also have to add another
layer onto that. I think. I think we have to
add the layer of touch screens. They are imprinting on
their brain. This immediate gratification that's not going to be
good when they get older and the boss says, I
can't see you today, I can't work on this right now.
Speaker 2 (12:30):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (12:31):
Right. When someone says you need to wait for the
results of this test.
Speaker 2 (12:37):
Wait listen. Waiting is not easy for anybody it's not
easy for us adults who had to wait to go
to the library to look it up in encyclopedia.
Speaker 1 (12:45):
But imagine now you're dating us.
Speaker 2 (12:47):
Well yeah, but like it's not I'm just saying for us.
So you want to wait for a test result for
like say medical that that I'm having anxiety for three
days because I want to know. Am I okay?
Speaker 1 (12:59):
Absolutely?
Speaker 2 (13:01):
But imagine growing up in an anxiety where with the
anxiety of like I get it immediately and now I
have to wait three days.
Speaker 1 (13:07):
That's right, Like you're you're.
Speaker 2 (13:08):
Setting yourself into a tizzy.
Speaker 1 (13:10):
I think it's messed up. I'm just gonna go with
it's messed up.
Speaker 2 (13:14):
It's messed up. And then what you're contacting the professor
or the doctor or whoever every five seconds. It's not
going to make it happen faster. But you're so used
to snapping your fingers and being like, oh if I
if I just do it again, it'll happen again because
you used to pushing that button on the touch screen
and something happens, it doesn't work.
Speaker 1 (13:33):
I think it's impacting all of us. I think, even
if we are adults, this immediate gratification thing is impacting
all of us in some way. Yeah, we've become a
lot less patient, a lot less willing to wait for
things like test results, if like medical test results, a
lot less willing to wait for someone to call you
about something, a lot just because things are happened, because
(13:56):
information moves very quickly. It does. But what we're talking
about the structure and architecture of a child's brain, I
think it has more gravity, It has more importance, you know.
I So I was recently facilitating a parent group, which
I do sometimes, and we were talking about screen time
(14:16):
limits and they have very young children and they're like, well,
how do I start to set these limits. I've never
had limits at home, And I'm like, you have to
start to set it. And in that group there was
one person who said I never let my children use
the technology. And I was like, wow, Wow, good for
you bucking society in that way.
Speaker 2 (14:34):
Yeah, but I feel like it's you should like.
Speaker 1 (14:38):
But honestly, if I am as a parent of young
children now, I think I would use it. Honestly, I know,
if I'm gonna be totally honest, I can't sit here
and say I wouldn't use it.
Speaker 2 (14:49):
But here's the hard part is like they need to
know how to use it. Like they're gonna grow up
always having technology, and if they don't.
Speaker 1 (14:57):
Know how to use it, yeah.
Speaker 2 (14:59):
I at a certain age. Now they're at a deficit. They
have to know how to use it. Yeah right, And
the technology is changing every single day, so if you're
not up with it, you're already obsolete what you learn
two minutes ago. But I don't think we should just
be handing them things and like just out of boredom
(15:19):
or to pass the time. Like like remember, like when
we were in the car, Like now kids are just
tapped into like when they're in a car, And when
we were in the car, we would play games and
talk to each other and like maybe we're bored and
that was okay.
Speaker 1 (15:31):
Or I'd be bored at my house.
Speaker 2 (15:32):
You find something to do, and like now it's like
nobody's bored anymore because I just play with this game.
Speaker 1 (15:37):
There are certain things that we were taught were bad
to feel, and they really aren't bad to feel. Who
says that boredom is a bad thing.
Speaker 2 (15:44):
No, they actually say the most creative ideas come out
of boredom.
Speaker 1 (15:47):
They do, don't.
Speaker 2 (15:48):
Now, children aren't bored.
Speaker 1 (15:50):
Yeah, so they're not having as many creative ideas, is
what they're saying.
Speaker 2 (15:53):
So, like all of these companies that are super big
now that you know about came from some guide being
bored in his garage or woman bored one day. All
your artists, those artistic types, they were bored one day.
Speaker 1 (16:09):
This is why I say things like the best ideas
come to me when I am like just doing nothing
in particular, or.
Speaker 2 (16:16):
Sometimes you know how like you and I have a conversation,
I'm like, I don't know, I have to think about that.
And then I'll get home and I'm in the middle
of like watching TV, and I think it's because my
brain is maybe at peace, yeah, or like concentrating on
the show that I'm like, oh, I get it, and
I text you in the middle of the show. Yeah
you know, Oh I thought about what you said. But
it's because my brain released or something like. And that's
(16:39):
but if I never have time to just or sometimes
i'm driving home, like you know, like your brain is
like on autopilot. That's when sometimes it pops into my
head like oh I get it now, yeah, because my
brain was like, oh I processed it. But if you're
never allowing your brain to be at rest or at
boredom or just clear. When do you have time to
(17:01):
think and process things.
Speaker 1 (17:02):
We were taught the following things are bad boredom hunger.
Speaker 2 (17:08):
Yeah, yes, because this is why we all have weight
issues at our generation.
Speaker 1 (17:14):
You're supposed to wait for the hunger to eat, not
try to avoid the hunger.
Speaker 2 (17:19):
But you know what a lot of it is, you're
just bored so you're gonna eat. Yes, Okay, we.
Speaker 1 (17:24):
We're taught boredom, hunger, even being tired with no good right,
that's it's not true.
Speaker 2 (17:32):
No, it's not true.
Speaker 1 (17:33):
It's not true.
Speaker 2 (17:33):
It's not true.
Speaker 1 (17:34):
It's we people, but we digress somehow.
Speaker 2 (17:36):
Oh we did. Yeah, yeah, because we we got passionate
about something else we do.
Speaker 1 (17:41):
That's why. That's why the podcast is the one of
the top podcasts.
Speaker 2 (17:44):
Because we're just well I think it's one of the Yes,
I think it's one of the top.
Speaker 1 (17:51):
Because we're just real people.
Speaker 2 (17:53):
We're very real people. So yeah, in our real lives,
we go on tangents all the time and then twenty
minutes lateter like, oh remember when we talk about that.
Speaker 1 (18:00):
Yeah, okay, yeah, that's true. That's what real that's true.
Speaker 2 (18:02):
That's what real, real interacting with human beings is like,
you know, and I think we're just real and people
relate to that.
Speaker 1 (18:10):
And I hope people relate to really think about that
touch screen. It's not good for your child's brain. It's
not good for your student's brain. It's not good for
the brain. Yes, all right, folks, we're gonna go. We
will take this side conversation offline right now, Yes, and
we will catch you next time on the podcast pe
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