Kathy Hirsh-Pasek, Stanley and Debra Lefkowitz Faculty Fellow in the Department of Psychology, and Sherri Hope Culver, professor of media studies and director of the Center for Media and Information Literacy, discuss an increase in landline use over smartphone use for children.
Photo by Betsy Manning
As society gains more awareness of the ways in which constant smartphone and social media use can impact our well-being, families are seeking alternative ways to connect. Studies show that excessive screen time increases the likelihood of adverse health outcomes including anxiety, depression, aggression and hyperactivity in children, leading parents and caregivers to explore other options for fostering social development.
One solution is the return of the once-standard landline telephone , which allows kids to maintain social connections with their friends and family members without incessant distraction or access to inappropriate content.
Temple Now spoke with Kathy Hirsh-Pasek, Stanley and Debra Lefkowitz Faculty Fellow in the Department of Psychology, and Sherri Hope Culver, professor of instruction in the Department of Media Studies and Production and director of the Center for Media and Information Literacy, about the benefits of more widespread use of landlines, the risks of excessive smartphone use among children, and what parents can do to create the conditions for healthy social and cognitive development in their kids.
Temple Now: How can using landline phone instead of a cell phone benefit children?
Sherri Hope Culver: One aspect about kids using landlines that’s super interesting to me is that it’s a creative way parents can help their child have the enjoyment of connecting to their friends when they’re not physically together while protecting them from the inappropriate content on a smartphone. And while I think landlines are an interesting, creative way of dealing with some of the issues with smartphones, we still must talk to kids about the choices they make online. Another aspect of landlines is that the landline has no value unless your friend has a landline, too. If you’re a person who’s exploring the possibility of getting a landline for your child, you are probably also reaching out to your child’s friends and their parents and having a conversation with them about media, technology and phone use. This conversation is so important. It builds community. It builds connections between parents, so they know more about who their kids' friends are. It is added bonus that for kids use of a landline to be successful, it needs community buy-in. Then, the rewards could be strong. I think it could be a really positive option for parents and kids.
Kathy Hirsh-Pasek: Giving kids landlines in their homes does allow them to still call and chit-chat with their friends and make plans, but they’re not inundated with constant notifications and advertisements and all this constant stimulation, movement and lights flashing on a cell phone. There’s a lot to be gained in the way of social connections, attention and better mental health.
TN: What are some of the risks of too much cell phone use for children?
Culver: The danger is gaining access to inappropriate content in some way. If a child is in a home with easy access to unrestricted technology or devices lying around and no one is really watching what the child is doing, then they will have access to all kinds of content. As children get a little older, even early elementary school age, parents can talk with their kids to help them develop media literacy skills, teaching them to ask questions about the media they use and helping them learn to make some media choices themselves, because no matter how attentive an adult or how loving a parent is, their child is eventually going to spend a lot of time around technology with the parent not present. And so, parents need ways to help their children gain media literacy skills so children can develop some agency. Kids can learn to ask questions about the media they have access to and what they see—or shouldn’t see, and what to be on the lookout for.
Depending on their age, kids can learn to ask questions such as, “What is my phone making it possible for me to do? What is it making it more difficult for me to do? What do I like about it? What don’t I like about it?” And then change their behavior. But having the cognitive ability to make those choices is really different depending on the age of the child and their maturity. I think that is partially why kids are drawn to the idea of landlines. It gives them access to the thing they want most—time with friends.
Hirsh-Pasek: There are a lot of claims that the smartphone is causing anxiety and mental health issues. I think we’re creating a crisis for ourselves of loneliness, and a crisis of anxiety and mental health. We’re always trying to cram too much in too little time by multitasking. We live in an attention economy. Everybody’s vying for our attention. We’re distracted. Studies have shown that even if a device is next to you and turned upside down, it still distracts you.
The recommended amount of screen time for children under 3 is one hour per day. Many kids are on their phones and tablets for two to two-and-a-half hours a day.
By 8 years of age, kids spend the equivalent of a part time job on their phone. It is our job to help them balance their use, to make sure they can sift good information from bad and that they use phones to connect with others. We have been chipping away at human-to-human interaction for a long time now—first the phone, then mobile phone, then so-called social media and now AI. Each advance in tech brings advantages but also risks. As parents, we have to mitigate the risks in a world filled with tech. The landline phones at least preserve voice quality and allow for longer conversations without some of the bells and whistles. So, many parents are choosing to have their kids go back to the future so to speak. We really do have a social brain and by that I mean really social, like human to human. So, it might seem basic but getting together with friends and then putting the phones down is the best alternative.
TN: What else can parents do to foster healthy social and cognitive development in kids?
Culver: The number one action parents can take is being mindful of their own smartphone use, because kids are watching. Before kids even learn to talk, they’re watching the adults around them. And adults have phones in their hands a lot. Whether or not a child understands what that device does at the time is less important than the fact that they’re seeing the most important people in their lives with these devices in their hands. And adults look expressive and animated with their phones—they might be super happy, or they might look angry, but they are very emotional with these items in their hands. So, a child’s attraction to this device is modeled on what they see from the adults in their lives, way before they see it with their friends. It’s important for adults to reflect on their own use; when and where are they using their phone, for how long, and how distracted are they from what is happening in “real life”? Kids are watching.
Hirsh-Pasek: If we as adults have our phones out all the time with our kids, we aren’t paying attention to them any more than they’re paying attention to us. And it sets a bad example. I think the key is that we have to get it together and look in the eyes of our kids and show them that they’re more important than the devices. And I think when we do, we’re going to become healthier ourselves.
