Speech Pathologist

How Does Screen Time Take Away from Language Development Time?

Screen time is any time your child spends with moving pictures in front of their face (television, smart phones, tablets, etc.) Children learn to communicate through interactions with other people, so every minute that your child spends in front of a screen is one fewer that they could spend learning from your interactions or practicing their interactions with you.

Ok, so screens won’t help them, but what’s the harm?

There are studies that show that:

• Watching TV early and often increases your child’s chances of having a language delay (e.g. late talking and/or problems with language in school)
• Increased screen time has been linked to attention problems, short-term memory problems, and reading problems - all of which can play into your child’s ability to learn language.

Screen time may not harm your child at all, but are you willing to take the risk?

You may want to set up screen time rules, e.g. limit the times they are allowed to use a screen or set what types of screens or shows they are allowed to watch. Start off by limiting your child’s screen time slightly, then, gradually increase limits until you have reached the desired amount. You should never go above 2 hours.

What can I do with my child instead?

• Talk with your child.
• Read a book; go to the library and look for books on a topic that interests your child.
• Colour a picture or make a craft project
• Play in the yard, go for a walk or take your child to a park
• Play a board game or play with your child’s favourite toy
• Teach your child a new skill; teach or practise a sport in the back yard, cook something in the kitchen together, plant seeds or plants in a garden
• Call up some friends and have a play date
• Do a family service project together, like helping an elderly neighbour with house work.

Your child may resist the change at first, but keep in mind that you are doing them a huge favour by creating wonderful new experiences that will open minds, improve language development, and maybe even expose them to new interests that they never would have found.

Thanks to speechandlanguagekids.com for the information.