When I was growing up it was not uncommon to hear adults talk about how hard they had it when they were kids, including those long walks to school through ten feet of snow with barely any clothing or shoes! Yes, previous generations have a way of letting younger generations know about how tough life was in the past, and how soft people have become today. Generally speaking, these are exaggerated views, but to assert that today’s kids are becoming increasingly more sedentary and lethargic is hardly an exaggeration at all. The fact is kids today do spend less time playing outside, and they do spend more time sitting in front of screens. Over time, these major changes in the ways in which kids spend their time lead to a cohort effect, essentially meaning that kids today are living a fundamentally different life than their parents from just a generation ago. Whereas previous generations experienced improved mental health by means of play and physical activity, today’s kids are experiencing a spike in mental health issues related to less play and physical activity.
Free play > sedentary screen use
When kids are active and engage in play (i.e., formal sports, informal games, or simply creating things to do), they experience immediate benefits in (at least) three significant ways:
- Physical health. The most obvious benefit to physical movement is better physical health! Keeping weight in check, toning muscles, and improving cardiovascular conditioning are three examples of incredible benefits experienced through exercise, contributing to improved self-esteem and greater self-confidence.
- Mental health. When kids play outside and interact with friends they learn invaluable life skills that contribute to improved mental health, including how to manage stressful situations and monitor emotions when life is difficult. In fact, simply going outside can be extremely beneficial, especially for kids who rack up hours and hours of screen time each day.
- Social skills. Kids learn both verbal and non-verbal (body language) by interacting with others in person, not by sitting behind a keyboard. Additionally, when kids interact in person they learn things like problem-solving, decision-making, conflict resolution, how to laugh together, and how to lead others to engage in pro-social behaviors.
Sadly, I see increasingly more kids lagging behind on the variables highlighted above, and in almost every case the cause of these deficiencies is due — at least in-part — to the amount of time they devote to sedentary, isolated behaviors while staring at screens and not playing outside.
Parents need to be involved & proactive
One thing we know for sure is that technology is not going to stop, and with recent AI advancements we can reasonably expect that even more technology will be in play in the future. For kids, this means more excitement and interest toward living in the virtual world, compared to being active outside and interacting with others. Consequently, parents can’t simply sit back and hope their kids will disconnect from their phones and gaming systems, but instead must be regularly involved in shaping their kids’ lives. While this will be no easy task, there are some things parents can do to re-direct their kids thinking and behaviors:
- Become informed! Learn as much as you can about the impact extended technology has on your child’s physical and mental health! And make sure to regularly share these findings with your kids, too.
- Find other options. Rather than just telling your kids to “do something else,” work with your kids to come up with real-life, physical activities that help with both physical and mental health.
- Incentivize real-life interactions. Model, support, and show praise for when your kids autonomously do things outside and away from phones and tablets, and consider creating rewards and incentives to motivate them to do real-life things.
- Don’t let your kids rot on screens! I am regularly amazed listening to some parents who tell me that they basically allow their kids to use screens all day, with no oversight or guidance. As you might imagine, kids, when given this kind of latitude, will often waste away the better part of the day gaming and doing other screen-related things. Step up, monitor usage, and role model for your kids how to do real-life activities.
Final thoughts
While recent previous generations did not walk 10 miles to school barefoot in the snow, they did lead dramatically different lives compared to what kids live today. Previous generations, living without rampant technology, played outside a lot, interacted with friends in-person, and actually moved their bodies by means of traveling to see friends, playing pickup sports games, and being outside. Comparatively, kids today spend a lot more time inside, sedentary, and often isolated. There is a long-term cost to this kind of current lifestyle, witnessed with both physical and mental health challenges seen today. Tune in, talk often, and model the importance of unplugging from technology for healthier lives.
drstankovich.com
