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Why Tablets Aren’t the Answer to Your Child’s Tantrum
By Movieguide® Contributor
Child development experts warn that parents need to allow their kids to experience tantrums in order for them to learn how to regulate their emotions, rather than silence them with technology.
While it is no secret that screen time has many negative effects on young children, parents also need to consider when they are giving screens to their children. Because screens tend to pacify kids, it’s all too easy to turn to them when a child throws a temper tantrum, but this shouldn’t be parents’ first response.
READ MORE: INFANT SCREEN TIME DELAYS BRAIN DEVELOPMENT, STUDY FINDS
“When children rely on digital devices to manage distress, they miss opportunities to practice internal emotion regulation. Instead of learning coping mechanisms, they become dependent on external distractions. This dependency undermines the development of critical skills, such as self-soothing,” Veronika Konnk, a lecturer at the ELTE Faculty of Science in Budapest, told HuffPost.
Unfortunately, children with behavioral issues can often illicit the use of technology to pacify them, leading to a detrimental cycle that hinders their emotional development.
“Children with behavioral issues or challenging temperaments are more likely to elicit the use of digital pacifiers, as parents may struggle to manage their frequent tantrums,” Konok said, noting, “occasional use in unavoidable situations is understandable, but consistent reliance can hinder long-term emotional development.”
Two ways screens as pacifiers harm? “It takes away an opportunity to teach the child about how to respond to difficult emotions, and it can reinforce that big displays of their difficult emotions are effective ways to get what they want,” Dr. Jenny Radesky, a developmental behavioral pediatrician, said.
Instead of turning to technology to quiet tantrums, experts encourage parents to learn the skills necessary to help their kids, while also keeping in mind that tantrums are an unavoidable and necessary part of the development process.
Your Therapy Source suggests tools like delaying introducing kids to tablets, limiting using screen time as a pacifier and creating a screen-free routine can help “children develop healthier emotional regulation skills without relying on screens.”
“It takes a long time to fully learn to manage emotions, and even when a child is better at it, when they are tired, overwhelmed, stressed, [or] worried they will need more help,” Tovah Klein, a psychologist and the director of the Toddler Center at Barnard College told HuffPost.
READ MORE: INSIDE OUT 2 MOVIE TEACHES ‘WE NEED ALL THE EMOTIONS,’ PSYCHOLOGIST SAYS
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