Children aged five and above are being taught about traffic signals and how to cross the road.
However, they are not being taught about the harmful effects of excessive mobile phone use, said Swati Popat Vats, head of an association focused on early childhood issues.
Vats, during a session with principals and teachers of pre-primary schools in Calcutta on Saturday, pointed out pertinent things children should be taught in classrooms.
“Which child is going to cross the road on their own at this age, but we still teach them about traffic signals through songs. Why are we not teaching them about screen rules?” asked Vats, president, Early Childhood Association.
Vats based out of Mumbai, was in the city during the weekend to attend the workshop.
Screen lessons
Children through songs can be taught about the use of the screen, said Vats.
“They need to learn about safety with screens. They have to know that they are not supposed to use them for a long time, screens should be kept at a distance and that they are not supposed to watch it while they are eating,” said Vats.
Over the years mobile phone has become the most common babysitter that is often used by parents or adults at home to feed the child while they are watching the screen.
Vats shared a song that is written by her and can be used in a classroom:
If you’re playing screen games, don’t play all day/ If you’re playing screen games, don’t play all day/Go play with toys in a happy way/ If you’re playing screen games, don’t play all day.
Often children replicate behaviours that they see around them, and picking up smart phones is one such habit.
“Teaching children the use of screen forms part of digital literacy to a generation who are digital natives,” said Vats.
In most cases, teachers and parents get worked up about education but they are least bothered about “digital literacy” which has become integral to a child’s growing-up, she said.
“We are blaming them for getting addicted to a screen, but if we teach them that it’s a tool and there are dos and don’ts, they will grow up with a fair idea of the safety practices. As they grow they will understand that it is a tool that would give them knowledge and they can control how they use it,” said Vats.
Teaching-parenting gap
Parenting and teaching aspects in early childhood should be like “railway tracks” aligned with one another, said Vats.
But what has happened is that parents have not caught up with early childhood methods that teachers are trying to implement.
“Teachers are attending workshops and want to implement those practices...parents are clinging to old methods because they feel secure in them, and that is where the disparity has started,” Vats said.
During the workshop, teachers pointed out some of the things that parents expect them to do — like teach five-year-old kids multiplication or give them 10 pages of “homework” every day.