Dear Friend,
I spend way too much time looking at my phone. I realized that while playing with my son at CMEE the other day. In the active play gallery, I noticed three parents or caregivers sitting around the perimeter of the room, glued to their screens. They didn’t even look up when Bennett ran toward them. “Wow,” I thought, “if I hadn’t left my phone upstairs that could easily be me.” I’m constantly glancing at mine to see if I received any emails or texts, look things up on the web or even to check the time.
I’m so glad I didn’t have my phone to distract me because playing with Bennett was the most fun I have had all summer. Having turned seventeen months and finally walking, he loves riding the CMEE rollercoasters, moving around the vegetables in the farm stand, and trying to imitate what the bigger kids are doing. Looking at my phone would have precluded me from seeing the joy, scrutiny, and wonder on his face. Children achieve so many developmental milestones at CMEE from saying their first sentences to climbing the monkey bars. I don’t want to miss one of Bennett’s because I was on my phone.
Doug Borge, CMEE’s Visitor Experience Coordinator, always encourages caregivers to unplug and engage with their children at the Museum because he witnesses first-hand the benefits that adults, as well as children reap from play. As the psychologist Erik Erikson pointed out, “the playing adult steps sideward into another reality; the playing child advances forward to new stages of mastery.” And since the best predictor of academic success is family life, it’s imperative for CMEE to foster opportunities for families to learn together.
If having a blast with kids wasn’t reason enough, numerous studies demonstrate that parents who spend too much time on their phone can damage their children emotionally. For example, in her book, The Big Disconnect: Protecting Childhood and Family Relationships in the Digital Age, clinical psychologist, Catherine Steiner-Adair, found that children felt lonely and sad, and were more likely to act out when parents fixated on their screens. Not surprising, children are also more likely to injure themselves when their parents are distracted on their phones.
During a recent family art class that CMEE presented with the Retreat, a parent remarked that painting with her children was “one of the best stress-relieving activities I’ve ever done.” I second that sentiment and hope to see you playing at CMEE soon!
Sincerely,
Steve Long
President