Parents: put down the tablets and take your kids to the playground or for a hike in the woods.
More technology and less play are among the factors stunting the healthy development of young kids on the North Shore, according to a study.
Increasing Vulnerability in the Early Years: A Closer Look at Five North Shore Neighbourhoods studied children growing up in the British Properties, Deep Cove/Dollarton, Grand Boulevard/Moodyville, Upper Capilano/Edgemont and Bowen Island.
The study, conducted by Dr. Denise Buote for North Shore Community Resources Society, found that all five neighbourhoods had “child vulnerability” rates of 30 per cent or higher – meaning three out of 10 kids starting kindergarten don’t meet certain developmental benchmarks.
And that could put them at risk of struggling in the classroom, the report says.
The study stated that vulnerability rates are measured using Early Development Instrument (EDI) which consists of 104 questions that kindergarten teachers fill out for each of their students. Those results are used to track school readiness levels.
The latest EDI data from the five North Shore neighbourhoods showed the rate of vulnerability had jumped from 20 per cent to 30 per cent.
The study identified several factors that appeared to be contributing to the vulnerability in early childhood, including fewer opportunities for kids to just play, increased technology use in families and parents who are doing too much for their kids.
“Increases in technologies, decreases in physical activity, increases in vulnerability in social emotional confidence – those trends we are seeing across the province and across Canada,” said Buote of Arbor Educational & Clinical Consulting.
Some of the study’s recommendations include: more programs for parents and young children being offered at night and weekends, so working parents can attend with their kids; more opportunities for families to participate in free-play activities; developing a public awareness and educational campaigns about the impacts of technology use in the early years; and creating a screening and monitoring system to address vulnerability prior to school entry.
A trip to the low-tech playground is more important than ever these days for kids, especially with the pervasiveness of technology.
“Play brings in so many areas of skill development,” she said. “Social, emotional, physical, cognitive – so really doing a lot of play, less technology use, which tends to be more solitary less interactive and less opportunities to really learn those skills in the context of relationships.”
Family play time is also important, she said.
The community partners that initiated the study, Connect for Kids Early Years Planning Table, which is hosted by the North Shore Community Resources Society, has hired an implementation co-ordinator to implement the key recommendations of the study, with financial support from the United Way of the Lower Mainland.
“Basically the purpose of the report was how can communities work together to support children and families.”
