Play, Imagination, and Creativity in the 2020s: Part 1

We need to talk about technology in kids’ lives

It has often been said that children no longer play in this day and age. While that is a bit of a dramatic statement, I can sympathise with where it is coming from. It might sound like a bit of a broken record to constantly be discussing the dangers of technology. This isn't to say that there aren't some genuine, wonderful benefits to it, but the impact of technology on children's brains and their overall development is crucial with long-lasting, far-reaching consequences.

Technology is a broad term, so what I am speaking about here is things like smartphones, computers, laptops, tablets, gaming consoles, social media and the like. In essence, screentime and anything that gives children access to the online world.

While I often prefer to discuss younger children, much of what I discuss here generally applies to older children. Nonetheless, we see the ages of reliance on technology and building a social world getting younger and younger, and the consequences are likely worse when it starts from infancy.

A disclaimer - what we know, what we don't

Now, I won't blame only the parents because the world we live in has become increasingly connected and it's very difficult to live without being connected to some device of some sort. That has actually become a luxury. This, however, means that we have to be even more vigilant and aware of how constant exposure to technology is affecting children.

Because this is such a new phenomenon, there is not much research with definitive results just yet, meaning this generation is acting something like guinea pigs in an experiment and once we know the consequences for sure, it may be too late. Therefore, I think it is best for now to rely on what we understand about child and brain development already, and what we are seeing happening around us.

The nature of the screen

Screens are designed to grab people’s attention, and apps and websites are designed to hold that attention for as long as possible. The bright colours and constant activity are captivating and make it difficult to look away. A child engrossed in watching something may not be staring that intently because they are extremely interested or learning a lot, it may be that it has triggered something in their brains which means they literally cannot make themselves look away. Yes, the child is not crying or bothering their caregiver for a while, but they are also not really benefitting from unregulated use.

In addition, many devices and the apps they include are designed to provide an easy dopamine hit for children (essentially it triggers feelings of happiness and enjoyment that the child learns to associate with that device or app). This is why a child who's played a game on your phone will always want to play with it afterwards - because of the feeling it provides.

There are some activities where technology is a wonderful resource, however, there are many where it isn't nearly as beneficial as we like to think it is. Screens and technology often trick you into thinking that you’re putting in effort and benefitting even when you’re not benefitting at nearly the same level as if you were learning in real life. The same brain areas may be triggered, but it may not be as frequently or as effectively as in real life.

Because of these shortcomings, screentime can never be an adequate substitute for real-world interaction, no matter how sophisticated or interactive it gets. While there are a number of benefits to technology, substitutes simply aren’t the same as the real thing. Learning and interacting with others, even playing in the real world are often not as beneficial on a screen as they are in real life no matter what marketing teams say.

They may seem like a cost-effective option that keeps children’s attention and gives parents a break. However, they hold children’s attention, often without prompting them to do any real problem-solving or thinking, and sitting still and staring for as long as children often do when engaged with these devices is not healthy for their physical development.

Taking a look around us - an undeniable overreliance

When we look at the influence of technology and AI, we see that the younger generations have become a lot more isolated, self-centred and less able to socialise, play and imagine. This is because, without proper regulation, children have come to depend heavily on technology to meet their daily needs, even so far as using it to think for them. Due to this overexposure, the ages being affected are becoming younger and younger.

Children’s overreliance on technology has in many ways stunted their willingness and ability to think and work creatively, especially in the education space. They are less willing to interact with each other in the real world and run more to the world of social media or online gaming for comfort and relief. This creates children who do not know how to communicate well, think and problem solve, resolve conflict, build relationships, or work hard and who are isolated.

In Issue 6 I discuss just how bad this can be for emotional development and regulation, but there is value in touching on it now. Think about how addictive these things are for us as adults, now for children who are still developing, the consequences can be much worse.

Where the problem became a problem

We won't pretend that uncontrollable problems with, and addiction to, technology is a new issue created by the pandemic. It is an issue that has existed for decades since technology became more widely accessible through computers and video games. It has only become more widespread and noticed since the pandemic.

This is due to the combination of more availability of technology, social media use uptick, and many children (lower and upper middle class) being required to use technology to interact with schools and each other because they physically could not be together.

Unfortunately for modern children, they experienced an uptick in the availability of social media together with a pandemic which completely shut down their avenues for socialisation and social development for an extended time, some of them during a crucial period. Devices became the only real way for them to connect with the outside world.

The combination of existing in a social world where they were the main star (parents putting cameras in their faces all the time) together with no real opportunities to socialise with anyone outside of their immediate families really affected children’s social and emotional development opportunities (though the research on this is still being conducted).

It’s not all doom and gloom

Now before you think that this is all a doom and gloom message, there really are many benefits to the modern era’s accessibility for children. There are many apps designed with certain developmental stages in mind, which are meant to stimulate children’s imagination and creativity, some video games have been shown to improve focus, strategy and problem solving.

However, all these things need to be introduced at the right stage, monitored heavily, and used as an assistive tool, not a replacement for the real world. Unfortunately, this is not often the case.

Don’t get me wrong, the introduction of these tools (keyword tools) has been wonderful in exposing children to new ideas and ways of thinking, but in many ways, because they have not been responsibly regulated by the adults who introduce them to the children, they are having an overall negative effect on children. Again, these things are not inherently bad, but their use without guidance and regulation can make them terrible.

While there are many benefits to the use of screens in play and learning, the negative effects stop this from being a worthwhile trade-off. This is why so many schools are switching back from screens to tactile things.

The good thing, however, is that despite all the is children are hardwired to seek out connection and engagement and most of them love to play. This has been a safeguarding element. However, the consequences of this isolation are still being studied

So what is the real problem here?

The benefits of technology are often overexaggerated. While useful, it is not nearly as essential as it's often marketed to be. The problem comes when it is used as the primary form of entertainment, education, socialisation and interaction for children and they use it without regulation. Regulation is the key word here. Screens are addictive enough for adults, but more so for children who already have weaker attention spans which need to be developed and who naturally have less self-control. They need to be guided in everything they do and what they are exposed to.

The Takeaway

While this piece may seem to be bashing the use of technology in children's lives, that is not the intention. The issue of play, imagination, and creativity in the 2020s is a complex one and really requires our attention.

We do not fully know or understand the consequences of a lot of these things being introduced to children. What we do see is that there are overall negative consequences for their development because the functioning of many of these things go against their biological development needs.

I would even go so far as to say that the children who don’t have these technologies are in a better place than those who do because the beauty of their childhood is more likely to be preserved.

Part 2 of this topic discusses a bit more in detail what play, imagination and creativity are looking like and some developmental consequences - both good and bad.

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