Nature Valley created a powerful ad a few years ago about the horrifying effects of screen time on children. It stated, “Nature has always been a part of childhood. Let’s make sure it doesn’t stop with us.”
The negative effects of excessive screen time on children has been well documented in recent years. Techealthiest has taken an active role in analyzing the positive and negative consequences of screen overuse. However, our collective adjustment to the Covid-19 pandemic hints at a drastic change in our society’s relationship with screens that couldn’t have been predicted — something that will have a ripple effect for many years.
The Silver Lining Is..
Ladies and Gentlemen, here’s one shining Bright Side for you. The battle to reposition Nature toward the center of childhood will not stop with us as adults!
Our children will be the generation that breaks out of screen/personal technology dependency. They will discover the world outside of screens in profound ways.
The current social isolation necessitated by the quarantine has transformed screens into our saviors. Screens satisfy our longing to connect with the outside world. They save us from ourselves, neutralize loneliness, entertain us and keep our children occupied most of the day. Screens allow our kids to maintain a connection to teachers, friends and family.
Parents appreciate like never before the four minutes of freedom that a funny video creates. Live daily Cincinnati Zoo videos, Doodle with Mo Willems and other incredibly generous artists, educators and companies have saved families at home from imploding.
Thank God for Facebook Live, Zoom, Governor Andrew Cuomo’s reassuring speeches and anything and anyone serving as screen comfort. Thank God for Netflix and good ole escapist TV. We are blessed to have screens. Imagine a pandemic without them. You can’t.
The World A.C. (After Coronavirus)
When we crawl out of the quarantine and reemerge into the real world after many weeks of the most extreme screen dependency anyone has ever experienced, rest assured your children will all share a renewed wonder that would have never happened if it weren’t for this long period of virtual existence.
Our children will gain a new perspective that we wouldn’t have been able to teach otherwise. They will rediscover the magic of nature. Their world will be bigger than ever.
Technology will not mute the need to relate to people IRL…In Real Life. Think of this relatively new term coined by the omnipotent social media- IRL. A new meaning will be joyfully added to this term. All they want will be IRL. Their insatiable affinity for the screen as we know it will be replaced by a brand-new appreciation for real connection. Anything virtual is going to become a back-burner, second option, de-prioritized form of connection. Kids will relish in the real.
They will cherish fresh air, running and playing outside with friends. It will take less effort to achieve human connection. Social media as a way to stay in touch will feel profoundly unsatisfying.
Who Will They Become?
Let’s take it one step further. What kind of adults will our children become? Smarter and maybe even happier than us. They will know the power of screen dependency thanks to the priceless perspective born from this wild overdose of screens as a means of surviving the quarantine. They will represent the refreshing new generation of brilliant, curious thinkers and discoverers. They will change the world in ways that would not have been accessible to them had they not experienced the current screen overuse.
Life will never be the same. That’s the Bright Side.
By Liat Ron and Dr. Greg Kushnick
