Put down a screen and pick up a pencil?
Issue #116
As parents, we're constantly thinking about who and what shapes our children's lives. And outside of family, the adults who spend the most time influencing our kids are their teachers. Every day, teachers not only guide our children through reading, writing, math and science, but they're also helping them develop essential soft skills like listening, sharing and collaborating with peers. Yet increasingly, teachers around the world are sounding an alarm: kids are arriving on their first day of school lacking fundamental skills. Basic things like holding a pencil and even maintaining proper posture are becoming surprisingly rare competencies among new students.
Teachers aren't imagining this. The issue has roots beyond the obvious disruption of the COVID-19 pandemic. And according to the faculty, excessive screen time is emerging as a significant culprit. Now, to be clear, screens alone aren't inherently harmful. The real issue is when screens replace other critical developmental activities: outdoor play, face-to-face socializing, reading physical books and building crucial motor skills. When our kids spend too much time on screens, they're losing out on opportunities to engage in experiences essential to their growth.
Why is this happening? I think a big factor is the platforms they’re spending their time on. For the most part, they’re no designed for kids and don't prioritize their well-being. Instead, they intentionally monopolize attention with endless scrolling and notifications, hooking children into prolonged use. Algorithms keep kids glued to devices, often exposing them to inappropriate content, all in the pursuit of higher profits from increased screen time.
When kids miss out on foundational experiences—like climbing trees, playing tag, reading books or simply having uninterrupted conversations with family—they’re losing more than just leisure time. They're missing crucial opportunities to develop fine motor skills, attention spans and social abilities that shape how they engage with the world around them. And as these deficits add up, it becomes harder for them to adapt to structured environments like classrooms, where expectations for basic competencies and interpersonal skills are already established.
I deeply empathize with teachers who witness firsthand the consequences of this pattern. Their classrooms are filled with students who struggle with the most basic tasks, and their job becomes exponentially harder. Calls from experts, like Jonathan Haidt, advocating smartphone bans in schools, resonate with me. Removing smartphones during school hours could meaningfully improve focus and learning outcomes. But, that’s not going to completely fix this problem. It’s not just about banning phones for certain hours of the day during lessons. It’s about an overhaul of kids’ relationship with technology to make it healthier, more functional—and ideally—beneficial to their development.
Keeping kids off of technology altogether isn't a realistic solution. Technology isn't going anywhere, and our kids will inevitably engage with it. The phone-free childhood sounds nice and nostalgic, but it’s not likely a workable solution. Screens are a part of our families’ lives, and the answer lies in seeking out healthier, child-focused options—platforms designed with their developmental and emotional needs front and center. Apps that encourage healthy digital habits, with built-in reminders to step away from screens, represent a positive path forward.
We need to be proactive: choosing digital environments thoughtfully, limiting platforms designed solely to maximize engagement and creating intentional boundaries around screen use. If we do that, we can help give teachers a fighting chance by fostering healthier digital habits at home.
A deeper dive
Here are a few helpful resources in case you want to really dig into today's topic:
The push for phone-free schools is picking up steam around the world. In the UK, Conservative MPs are advancing a bill to ban cell phones in schools. Currently, the UK government has set out guidelines, but they leave it up to head teachers to set the policy for phone use in school. The bill’s author says that approach hasn’t worked, and states: “Teachers, parents and pupils across the country are asking for this ban.” There’s no guarantee that this will pass, but it’ll be an interesting one to keep an eye on.
Earlier this year, a nationwide report indicated that US kids’ reading levels had fallen to the lowest level in 32 years. And, these learning deficits are cropping up around the globe. In the UK, teachers are complaining that children are arriving for their first days of school unable to hold a pencil, and generally with poor basic motor skills and underdeveloped muscles. While COVID shutdowns impacted children’s education, teachers are beginning to think that excessive screen time is more to blame than the 2020 closures. I suspect it’s a bit of a knock-on effect: closures from COVID accelerated trends already underway, causing a faster shift toward increased tech use.
TL;DR
Too long; didn't read. It shouldn't be a full-time job to keep up on industry news, so here is a mercifully quick summary of some other notable developments:
Not too long ago, Meta walked back many of its content moderation policies. At the time, I wrote about how those changes, coupled with advances in AI technology, would likely lead to more troubling content in your feeds. As it turns out, lots of people are noticing strange and even disturbing content in their recommendations. Well, according to the Washington Post, “Instagram users around the world, including minors on teen accounts with parental settings turned on, saw a surge in violent, sexual and extreme content in their Reels feeds over the course of a day.” Of course, that’s exactly what experts predicted might happen.
And, there’s a name for the weird, AI-generated posts that are flooding your feed: AI slop. And according to a new study from Cornell University, AI slop is taking over the internet. “An analysis of more than 300 million documents, including consumer complaints, corporate press releases, job postings and messages for the media published by the United Nations suggests that the web is being swamped with AI-generated slop.” Who could have predicted that?
And lastly
Here are a few more pieces of original writing from me and my team—just in case you're keen for more:
Not all screen time is created equal. While some apps are detrimental to kids’ wellbeing, others can be beneficial for them. Here are some suggestions from my team for the best learning and creativity apps for kids.
According to the latest Common Sense Census, 4% of children age 5 to 8 have their own smartwatch. If you’re considering getting one for your kid, here’s a handy guide from my team.