As a guilty dad, I often wonder if my kids are getting too much screen time. As a cyber psychologist, I've started to wonder are they getting enough?
My wife and I were recently discussing a news story we heard about a 4-year-old whose call to triple zero saved her mum's life. Our 5-year-old daughter overheard and piped up: "I'd like to save you mum – when can I do that?" After laughing off the fact that she was looking forward to her mum being in a life-threatening situation, we thought – would she even be able to unlock a smartphone, let alone make a call?
As parents who work on digital devices all day and struggle to control our own techno-habits, we have been quite conservative with our kids' use of smartphones and tablets. That's not to say we haven't whipped out the occasional digital pacifier at a cafe so we can have an uninterrupted conversation, but we have always been racked with guilt as if our parenting scorecard is deducted points every time we do so.
But have we thrown the baby out with the bath water and neglected to teach our kids the digital skills they will need to navigate the world as supposed digital natives?
Research in the area of cyber psychology (the study of the interaction between digital technology and human behaviour) has started to identify a potential developmental "app gap" between the school-readiness of children who don't use educational apps on touch-screen devices, and those who do. Our daughter has just started kindergarten, so in addition to the anxiety about whether she'll settle in, make friends, or eat her lunch – I now have this to worry about.
Have I been doing my child a disservice by digitally amputating her from the world of apps that other new kindergarteners have apparently been using to get ahead in this cutthroat world?
This potentially flips the concept of screen time on its head, a concept that is already obsolete in this digitally saturated age. As parents, we are being encouraged to consider our children's screen time not in terms of minutes or hours, but in how they are using those minutes according to the three C's: consumption, creation and communication.
Passive consumption of videos, as with traditional TV, should obviously be kept to a minimum. Going cold turkey with our kids is unlikely to work in practice, so seek out some of the highly educational videos available (the ABC Kids app is a treasure trove for this). Benefits are shown to be greatest when sitting alongside our young children while they watch, helping them make the connection between what they are seeing on screen and the real world, as the pre-schooler brain learns not through demonstration, but through conversation. That said, the odd episode of Peppa Pig so you can get things done around the house is not going to hinder your kinder kid's development.
Creation can involve anything from writing and drawing apps, to taking photos or videos – though I'm not convinced adding bunny-ears to selfies constitutes creativity. Design games like Minecraft can be great for developing problem-solving and basic computer-programming skills, and is even being used in the classroom to teach chemistry and other more traditionally "boring" subjects to older kids.
Communication is any use of a device to connect with other people (or emergency services, as is our daughter's current preoccupation). Our kids have grandparents who live interstate, so what better way to show them the positive power of technology than by video-chatting with faraway family and improving their conversation and language skills at the same time. SMS can also be a fun way to support literacy (once you turn off emojis and the temptation to follow every word with a heart or a poo). An even better way is to download the Reading Eggs apps, which make reading and spelling a game (and unlike many others are presented in an Australian accent).
While research into an "app gap" is in its infancy and far from conclusive, evidence of the benefits of well-chosen touch-screen apps can take the pressure off parents and reduce the techno-guilt we feel when we hand our kids a device in a time of need (or the judgment we might feel when we see other parents do so). Armed with a bit of knowledge, screen time can support and facilitate our kids' development, rather than stifle it. While educational apps may provide some benefits in terms of school-readiness, my wife and I are not going to start telling our kids to put down their books and crayons and pick up an iPad instead.
We are going to teach our little girl how to make a phone call though – it might come in handy one day.
Brad Ridout is deputy chair of the Cyberpsychology Research Group at the University of Sydney.