Tablets and technology in the classroom:
How much is too much screen time? By Taryn Rittberg
T
hese days, a classroom without some form a screen is basically unheard of. It is even becoming common to have some form of tablet to be listed on students’
necessary school supplies list, or have your school
Doctor Piush Mandhane, who is an associate professor of paediatrics for the University of Alberta’s Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, lead this study, and commented that he “dound that screen time had a significant impact at five years of age.”
send a tablet home with students for educational purposes. Either way, the amount of time students
Continuing, he stated that “Current Canadian
are spending using screens, in one form or another,
guidelines call for no more than two hours of screen
is drastically increasing. If this is the new normal,
time a day at that age. But our research suggests that
then we must consider how much screen time is
less screen time is even better.”
too much? Does it affect students’ vision or their sleep patterns? Should we be considering the affect screen time has on the cognitive development of children and young adults?
First author Doctor Sukhpreet Tamana summed up the study saying “The two big takeaways from this study are that children exposed to more screen time, at either age three or five years, showed significantly
A 2019 Canadian study, conducted in Alberta, which
greater behavioural and attention problems at five
included 2,400 families compared the behaviour
years, and that the association between screen
of children who were allowed two hours or more
time and behavioural problems was greater than
a day of screen time to those who were allowed
any other risk factor we assessed, including sleep,
30 minutes or less of screen time. The study found
parenting stress, and socioeconomic factors.”n
that the children who were allowed two hours or more a day of screen time were five times more
Work cited:
likely to exhibit problematic behaviours including
Tamana, S. K., Ezeugwu, V., Chikuma, Mandhane,
hyperactivity, inattentiveness, and oppositional
P. J. et al (2019). Screen-time is associated with
behaviours, and were seven times more likely to
inattention problems in preschoolers: Results from
exhibit behaviours that met the current criteria of
the CHILD birth cohort study. Plos One, 14(4). doi:
ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder).
10.1371/journal.pone.0213995
4 Alberta School Counsellor / Fall 2019
