Screen time for kids is the worst. It’s frying their brains. It’s wrecking their lives. Except: That might not be true at all. In fact, screen time may not even be that bad for kids. It might actually be good for them. While screens and devices may be an easy scapegoat, they aren’t to blame for everything we blame them for, according to Jordan Shapiro, PhD, an assistant professor at Temple University and a leader in child development and technology. In fact, technology time limits and digital detoxes may be a parenting misstep. Instead, Shapiro says, the focus should be on cultivating healthy behaviors within digital spaces. Whether you like it or not, screens aren’t going anywhere.
The real injustice is this: “We have all these parenting experts and doctors and psychologists, and they’re leaders in their fields, but most of them didn’t grow up in a connected world,” says Shapiro. “They didn’t raise kids in a connected world, and they’re just trying to use the same guidance and advice they always have without considering the new context.” The dominant conversation around kids and tech oversimplifies the role of technology in kids’ lives, reducing it to a distraction and a menace or, at best, a tool to be used sparingly and with caution. This is a parenting ethos for a previous generation. And most of us, without a known, actionable alternative, buy in.
But there is another option. Shapiro, in his latest book, The New Childhood: Raising Kids to Thrive in a Connected World, makes his case for a parenting philosophy update that puts technology center stage. In 2019, kids need to cultivate social skills, media literacy, curiosity, and empathy—not only in their physical lives but also in their lives online. What Shapiro says adults need: an attitude adjustment and a digital parenting tool kit. His book—grounded in anthropology, philosophy, and psychology, as well in his being a father of two—dives into both.