The organization 'Family and Media' warns about the harmful effects of screens from an early age and suggests radio as an alternative that doesn't demand full attention while fostering imagination.
Exposing children to screens from an early age leaves serious consequences on their later development, warn the organization 'Family and Media'. As an alternative to tablets and smartphones, they propose a return to a completely 'old' medium, radio.
According to data from a study by the 'Einstein' Medical Center in Philadelphia, as many as one in seven children in America up to 12 months old use tablets or smartphones for at least one hour a day. This statistic worries experts who point out that early contact with screens can limit the development of key senses.
'Children need to explore the world using all five senses. When they are young, they need to learn how to handle objects, experiment with different materials, and pay attention to various sounds and smells. When a screen is placed in front of a child, completely absorbing them, they become helpless. This limits the development of all other senses,' say representatives from 'Family and Media'.
Many parents reach for a cartoon on a phone or tablet when a child gets upset and needs to be quickly calmed down. However, 'Family and Media' notes that screens should be replaced with radio in such situations.
Radio, which became a discreet but steadfast 'friend' in many daily lives as early as the beginning of the 20th century, has not disappeared despite predictions. Its endurance, as 'Family and Media' points out, proves its purpose.
'Today, radio is often taken for granted. We turn it on when doing household chores, when working, shopping, or driving somewhere. It's typical to hear background music in gathering places or when we're on the go,' they state.
The key advantage of radio over modern media lies in the fact that it doesn't require the listener's full attention. 'It doesn't demand complete attention from our minds,' 'Family and Media' reminds us. That's precisely why radio is the medium that allows a person to rest and calm down best.
Besides being inexpensive and not absorbing a child the way screens do, radio has another important trait, it stimulates imagination. While screens serve ready-made images, sounds and stories from the radio compel a child to create visual representations in their own mind.
'Family and Media' therefore notes that radio can yield positive results in children's development on multiple levels, bringing them back to the multisensory exploration of the world that is crucial for healthy growth in the earliest years.
