Once, while nannying the children, I went to their backyard to escape the AC and warm up in the sun. Through the glass patio doors, I could still keep an eye on the kids. The eight-year-old had her head down, engrossed in her iPad, and her four-year-old sister lay on her side, staring at the TV. They had 20 minutes of screentime left and could not be bothered to spare one minute of it. I had learned to avoid engaging with them during this time and that the 30 minutes following screen time would be full of agitation. The girls will be restless and sensitive. I will have to tread lightly, and they will likely need to play separately. Watching them from the backyard, I considered this afterschool routine of theirs and then thought of what mine was like as a child.
Even if I was given the option, I was never inside after school. I looked for snails in the mud underneath the wooden deck and picked the weeds that looked like tiny strawberries in our grass. Lining the dilapidated fence on the far end of our backyard was a row of trees with thorns so sharp I never went there except on a dare. Before dinner, I would come home smelling like recess and would be happy to rest. If anything, I needed a break; I was too tired from everything I had done. I thought of my backyard and all the engagement it provided me. The mud and tree bark lay beneath the uneven grass—plants of varying species growing in confluence. Cicadas and frogs and June bugs and dung beetles accompanying me.
Thinking of this while watching the unmoving kids on the couch, I turned to look for a reason to get them out here with me—to explore. The fresh wooden fence lining their backyard is too new for algae to grow. The small patch of turf has no bugs or weeds crawling on top. Cement makes up more than half of the backyard, and the only intrigue it provides is the prints from the bottom of shoes. Like the screens in the kid's hands, their environment has become sterile.
With the digital world at our children's fingertips, have screens replaced tactile exploration? Backyards have become turfed, plastic shines where rotting wood used to be and the kids are inside, watching a world but not engaging with it.
A commentary made in the Journal of Pediatrics states that the decline in play could be one reason children have reported increased levels of anxiety, depression and sadness in recent years.
In the journal titled, “Decline of Outdoor Activities Among Children: Why Should it Concern Us?” author Santharam defines the term “Videophilia” as doing things in front of a computer screen or other electronic gadgets and cites this as the primary reason for the decline in outdoor exploration. Moreover, the author contends that the decreased exposure to nature for young children leads to an inability to connect with their surroundings. The lack of outdoor engagement leads to a greater risk of developing attention deficit disorders while also impacting kids physically. Denis Campbell in The Guardian stated that children who spend more time on computers are proving weaker and unable to perform basic physical tasks such as firmly gripping objects. The comorbidity of these symptoms can manifest to cause more sinister effects such as loneliness, depression and a lack of social skills.
With technology ever-growing, children need a space to explore and connect independently with the natural world. That space should be easy to find, and this engagement should be right at their fingertips.
Jacqueline Davis is a New York-based Editorial Intern at Connecting Mothers Initiative. She has a B.A. in English with a concentration in Creative Writing from Tulane University. Jacqueline, a short story writer, is also a full-time Nanny.
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