Screen Time

 

I just finished this book -- What Happened to You? Conversations on Trauma, Resilience, and Healing -- by Dr. Bruce Perry, a child psychologist and neuroscientist, and Oprah Winfrey. It took me several months simply because I was working so much, but also because it was a lot of information. 

Not densely written; it's easy to read. It's fascinating, actually. The brain is remarkable, and does so much more than we realize, if we aren't reading books by neuroscientists. A lot of the information impacts me as a teacher; this knowledge about trauma and how what happens to children manifests itself in behaviour -- and how we treat those symptoms rather than look deeper at what happened to them -- that will make me a better teacher. Especially as we try to get students "back on track" in school when we finally exit the pandemic. 

There is far too much information to share here, but if you are interested in how the brain works and how it governs us (there is so much we don't realize goes on all the time!), I recommend it. It's $40 hardcover so you may want to wait for the softcover or request it from the library. 

In the spirit of this blog -- about rural life -- I want to highlight something that Dr. Perry wrote near the end of the book: 

"At home, at work, at school, we spend hours and hours in front of a screen -- on average, over 11 hours a day." 

His data is American but I think we can assume Canadians do the same: On average, we spend almost half a day in front of a screen -- a phone, a laptop, a computer, a television. 

Dr. Perry goes on to say: "The art of storytelling and the capacity to listen are on the decline. The result is a more self-absorbed, more anxious, more depressed -- and less resilient -- population." 

Absolutely. And the pandemic, with its lockdowns and isolation, has more this worse, has deepened our obsession with and immersion in our screens. 

I wondered, though, how it was possible to spend more than 11 hours a day in front of a screen -- until I overheard a woman say that as soon as her alarm goes off in the morning, she lies in bed and scrolls through her phone. 

Whereas, I get up and boil water and do yoga or walk the dog. I'll go two hours in the morning before I turn on my phone. When I go for my weekend walks with the dog, I don't even turn my phone on, until I decide I need to take a photo for Instagram! 

I think an important part of resilience -- of surviving and thriving in a world that is slowly unravelling -- is being outside in nature as often as possible. Looking up at the sky, gazing out over the sea (or lake or river), walking a trail through the woods, digging in the dirt, cleaning out the chicken coop, riding a horse around a field. Moving the body, filling the brain with sights and sounds and textures and tastes. Using all the senses to interact with the world around me. 

My favourite moment during my teaching term this fall? The one day we had rain and therefore an indoor recess at lunch? Not one student got out a laptop to play computer games. They played with the dinosaurs and the kitchen toys and the blocks and the race cars. Why is this significant? Because looking at a screen uses one sense predominantly: sight. Our senses, especially touch and smell, can't be involved. So we create a deficit in ourselves, in our children, when we neglect to engage all our senses in what we are doing. My student playing with dinosaurs and fake food and little cars? They were using all their senses, as well as their language, their imagination AND their social skills. 

Using technology in classrooms is expected now. I have no problem with that. I love an interactive whiteboard. I use the projector and the document camera. I play videos of books. But to see 11 five, six and seven year olds engage in unstructured play for 40 minutes -- what a wonderful antidote to the data about 11 hours of screen time a day.