Following the guidelines on the use of screen time, it is hoped that parents will be more aware of their responsibilities to educate and meet the needs of their children and not just let the screen in their children’s hands become a wall in their relationship, Head of Child Development Centre (CDC) at the Ministry of Health (MoH) Dr Hajah Mawarni binti Haji Abdul Hamid said.
The worrying trend of excessive use of screen time among children that could affect child development in their young age was highlighted by her during the welcoming remark at the second ‘Ok Kah Anakku?’ roadshow at the Level 1, OneCity Shopping Centre yesterday.
Children’s development, she said, “Starts from the conception period until the first year of the child’s life. Brain cell growth occurs rapidly at that period. In the first year of their life, a child’s brain makes a million connections every second.
“This is the most important foundation in the development of children from cognitive, socio-emotional and others, and is the best period to shape the brain of every child. Relationships between brain cells or neurons is stimulated by the process of give and return between children and the surrounding people.”
In last year’s roadshow, she said, “We recommended parents to practice 3B since the birth of their child which are use more time to bring their children to play (bermain), talk (bercakap) and read books (membacakan buku)”
By practicing the habit of talking a lot, playing and reading books to their children, she said, “Parents can encourage brain development in the serve and return method to rapidly stimulate children’s brain cells. Unfortunately there are many huge challenges for many parents to carry out the practice, causing many children to have less opportunities to benefit from being spoken to, play and read books.”
The challenge, she added, “is the presence of devices or screens. Screens are now everywhere, on the wall, on the table, and also in our hands. We have acknowledged that the screen on smartphones has greatly facilitated communication. However we are also aware that screen time also brings the meaning of a wall between an individual with the surrounding people. It can also become a wall of communication and interaction among parents and their children.”
She also said, “Many parents gave reasons that their children learn many languages and academic subjects such as letters, number, colours and shapes from the programme in the screens. This reason is unjustified because what is more important than knowing ABC and 123, is children learning to understand social communication and responding to people around them. They need to learn to attend, engage and respond to their communication partners.”
The first year of a child, she said, “is the most important because 90 per cent of learning happens in the first five years in the life of a child. It should be used as best as possible and not wasted by being exposed to the screen. To understand this world, children need to be in the real world, not in the virtual world.”
Dr Hajah Mawarni shared that the number of children referred to the CDC is increasing every year. In 2010, the number of children referred to the CDC was about 400. In 2023, this number jumped to 957.
“What is worrying is that 55 per cent of the 1,000 children were referred due to speech problems or speech delay, while about 25 per cent were referred for showing signs of autism. The question that needs to be asked is why has this happened?”
She also revealed that at the beginning of 2024, the CDC conducted a research among children aged five and below who attended maternal and child health clinics on screen usage. The research, from 100 responses, found several worrying matters with as many as 44 per cent of the children watching television, 29 per cent using the phone and 25 per cent using the tablet daily.
It also found that before reaching five years, 33 per cent of the children already had their own tablet, 29 per cent had their own phone and 27 per cent had their own television.
On the duration of screen time during workday, 33 per cent of children look at screens for one to two hours a day and 21 per cent look at screens more than two hours a day. During the weekend, the screen time duration jumped with six per cent of children looking at screens for over four hours.
Apart from that, 99 per cent of children use the screen within half-an-hour after waking up and 93 per cent look at screens within half-an-hour before going to bed, at least once a week.
She said, “The findings are worrying. According to the guideline made by some countries, children under the age of two should not be given a chance to see any screen, while children between the age of three to five are only allowed a maximum of one hour screen time, with this subject to several conditions and recommendations.
“It is acknowledged that the research was not able to prove direct correlation of screen usage habits with an increasing number of children with developmental problems, especially speech delay and reading.” She added, “We are also well aware that children’s exposure to device screens is only a part from the real problems we face. The majority of the problem is also caused by some parents, who themselves are addicted to screen without realising.” – James Kon
