Toddlers and technology: Impact of screens on language development

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. (KFVS) - 98 percent of Americans own a smartphone, according to the Pew Research Center.

With technology’s high prevalence in everyday life, it’s nearly impossible to prevent young children from being exposed to it.

That’s bad news for parents hoping to follow the CDC’s recommendation of no screens for children under two years old.

Those with the National Institute of Health say screen time does have an impact on little ones' language development, and at the most critical time for those skills to form.

Emily Obergoenner with SEMO’s Center for Speech and Hearing said the exact impact is tough to describe since different circumstances yield different outcomes.

“When we think about screen time, we think about is it an app, is it YouTube, is it a TV show, is it FaceTiming with grandparents?,” Obergoenner said.

Obergoenner cited studies that reveal time spent around screens may be less of an issue compared to what’s being featured on those screens.

“It’s the content that they’re engaging with. For a lot of kids, they’re missing out on those opportunities for face-to-face interaction, and that’s ultimately where we learn language, the back and forth between you and another speaker,” Obergoenner said.

Obergoenner said showing young children content with lots of flashing lights and rapidly changing colors and scenes leads to a shortened attention span.

“If we have kids with shorter attention spans because of being on a device, that kind of reduces our opportunity to learn words and learn language,” Obergoenner said.

Obergoenner said providing commentary about what’s on the screen can help, like noticing similarities between a car on TV and one owned by a parent.

“Try to engage in that shared dialogue with your child,” Obergoenner said.

Sometimes, parents may find it necessary to briefly distract young children with a smart device in exchange for a productive moment. Obergoenner said she has experienced that with her children.

“Ultimately, if we can get away from the screens though, kids benefit so much from hands-on play because now we’re not only stimulating their auditory system and their visual system but hands-on tactile system. That’s gonna help for overall development,” Obergoenner said.

A way to grow a child’s vocabulary is to ask fewer questions and instead comment on what they’re already able to say.

“If your kids are using one to two words, kind of repeat that back to them, but then add a word to it. So if the kid says car, you might say, ‘A red car, that car goes fast!’ Just expand on what they are doing,” Obergoenner said.

Parents can also help by narrating their daily routine for young children to hear, helping them pick up new words.