At Age 2, 58% of Toddlers Use the Internet and Show No Interest in Insects or Outdoor Play
Nonfiction writer Kouta Ishii takes a close look at the society and incidents that are looming! Shocking Reportage
At a certain nursery, during nap time after lunch, smartphones are used to help the children fall asleep with apps. These are called ‘sleeping apps,’ which feature characters singing lullabies or counting sheep. The nursery staff use these apps to help the children fall asleep by showing them to the children as they lie down.
The director of this nursery says the following.
“Recently, there are parents who use apps to help their children fall asleep at home. Personally, I believe the best method is for parents or nursery staff to lie down with the child and gently pat their back to help them sleep. However, some children have become accustomed to apps and dislike being put to sleep in other ways. When staff sing lullabies, the children say, ‘Teacher, you’re bad at singing,’ and ask for the smartphone. As a result, we reluctantly use apps for naptime.”
According to the nursery staff, there are quite a few children who are already unable to part with their smartphones by around the age of one. Such children will ask, ‘Where is my smartphone?’ when told by staff at the nursery, ‘Feel free to do what you like.’
What is the current relationship between children and smartphones? To explore the issues faced by children today, we will consider the situation of preschoolers with smartphones based on the recent book “Report: How Smartphone Parenting is Destroying Children” (Shinchosha), which interviews over 200 educators from nurseries to high schools and highlights the difficulties children face.
“Smartphones Are the Only Plaything”
Currently, it has become common to see children watching smartphones while riding in the back of a bicycle during nursery drop-offs, or families eating at restaurants while all looking at their smartphones. It’s not uncommon to find smartphone holders attached to strollers or car baby seats.
At nurseries as well, it’s not unusual for children to want smartphones. A nursery director in Tokyo says,
“Children who only use smartphones at home are unable to play outside. Even when taken to the playground or a nearby park and told ‘You can play,’ they do not try to play like other children. They stand still as if they do not know what to do. They probably cannot think of any options other than operating a smartphone. Some even pull on the teacher’s sleeve and ask ‘Can I borrow your smartphone?’ Smartphones have become their only form of play.”
In the interviews conducted, nursery staff all said that it is not just that children play outside less but that there is an increase in children who show no interest in play at all.
The reasons children do not play outside are various. Activities in parks are prohibited, opportunities for interaction have decreased due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it has become difficult to stay outside due to high summer temperatures, and busy parents cannot take them out.
With these factors compounding, children are spending more time viewing smartphones or tablets at home rather than playing outside. It is only natural that children will become disinterested in play itself under these circumstances. It is not only parents and smartphones but also numerous social factors that contribute to this situation.
