Comment from DD's teacher

[speedydisteen]

ok yes i agree video games are interfeiring but there is 1 thing you are all missing.
they're 1st graders!
my mom is a first grade teacher. it is in the age. i had a motor mouth in first grade but now you have practically have to pay me to speak.

 

[poohbear919]

ok yes i agree video games are interfeiring but there is 1 thing you are all missing.
they're 1st graders!

Well yes, you're right, to some degree... They are first graders and they are going to talk/ask questions... During those years of early development talking and asking questions is a significant way for children to learn... I think the bigger problem being addressed by the OP and others is the seemingly decreased attention spans that children this age have...

I teach preschool, mixed group - ages 3, 4, and 5. The lack of attention span is present even at that age... One problem that I also see is the increased demand on teachers and districts by state and federal governments to have all children not performing at what is age-appropriate, but at what is mandated... We are pushing kids to learn more than what is developmentally appropriate for their age - it's no longer a matter about where children are inquisitive about topics, it's a push to learn society now... We expect children in early childhood and primary grades to attend to topics for longer amounts of time than what is natural... Somewhere along the way we've lost the idea of letting children learn naturally and begun expecting them to be machines of knowledge...

Is the government solely to blame - no, is the increased time that children are spending in front of tv/computers/video games solely to blame - no! We can't lay blame to one thing in particular... IMHO - It's a national epidemic of *keeping up with the nations around the world.*

 

[hmp2z]

I just wish the school budgets would actually be decent for once (I teach in the South - have taught NC & now FL). We'd LOVE to be able to purchase the technology to use to help capture our students' attention. Most teachers would give their left arm to be able to snag their students' attention for more than 5 minutes at a time

There are lots of great resources out there, and at my last school, the budget was better, so we had access to some of them. Here in FL, the budget is a joke - we have to beg on our knees for photocopies even! Parents, please, please pressure your state reps to fund the schools adequately! With the population explosion, most of the $$ goes to trying to build enough schools to keep up, or hire enough teachers so that we have under 30 kids in each class.

Cheers!
Heather W

 

[golfgal]

I am going to add a different twist to this and say it is NOT TV/video games since they have been around for many, many years and this problem seems to be new then that. I would have to say that the lack of attention span has more to do with kids being over scheduled and never having time to just play then it does with them watching too much tv.

I know many, many families that have their 4 year olds doing something every night of the week after being in daycare all day. These kids never get a chance to sit on their bed and play dolls by themselves or lay on the living room floor and push a matchbox around the carpet making neat tracks in the rug.

I have to say that the attention span issue is not something I have personally observed in our kids' class but then they grew up in a town where there were a lot of stay at home moms and for the most part the kids did just play all day without it being a formal activity. You had your pre-schooler in storytime at the library and other then that, they just played at home or with friends.

 

[Tinker-Bee]

I am going to add a different twist to this and say it is NOT TV/video games since they have been around for many, many years and this problem seems to be new then that. I would have to say that the lack of attention span has more to do with kids being over scheduled and never having time to just play then it does with them watching too much tv.

I have to agree with golfgal. The other thing we have noticed is a lack of discipline and consideration for others. We have witnessed several groups of parents that allow their kids to pretty much do what they want and get whatever they want. The child does not understand the word NO. Instead of making the child sit and behave they give them something to keep them occupied or they allow them to run around and be disruptive.

I agree that excessive or constant playing of video games and watching TV is not good for anyone. I really don't feel that TV/Video games are to blame but alot of the times it is the parenting.

 

[poohbear919]

I know many, many families that have their 4 year olds doing something every night of the week after being in daycare all day. These kids never get a chance to sit on their bed and play dolls by themselves or lay on the living room floor and push a matchbox around the carpet making neat tracks in the rug.

In the end it seems to be all of these things come together to create these problems... Some of the preschoolers in my room don't know how to play - it's sad, I know - but true... They are so overstimulated by everything going on in the rest of their lives they haven't figured out how to have that down time, where they play and entertain themselves! (They constantly want me and my coworkers to entertain...)

 

[Lanshark]

Ever try keeping the other teachers attention at a staff meeting. We're as antsy as the kids...

 

[Pinnie]

Experieced teacher with 31 years of experience in Sp Ed and Kindergarten and I have to agree with the OP. The attention spans of kids ARE getting shorter and they are more and more interested in the "whizz bangs" then sitting with a book and looking at pictures.

I recently attended a conference on Early Childhood issues and a number of peds, OTs and Speech and Language teachers spoke out on the negative effect of TVs/DVDs (They esp mentioned Baby Einstein). The issue is that watching TV puts the developing neck and eyes of the baby in an UPright position instead of focusing down where they should be looking at toys and books. When it comes time to read, the eyes have not been trained or have had practice looking down toward a book.

While I LOVE my job, it is becoming increasingly difficult to manange all the negative behavior and innattention. We are actually getting less done this year then we were 3 years ago according to our Benchmarks tests.

pinnie

 

[GraysMom]

I work in a grade school as a tech aide. We just got into our brand new school this past October. I already have teachers asking me if we can get different chairs for the KCA's coming up soon. All the chairs in the labs are on wheels, they spin, and the seats can adjust up and down with a lever. The teachers are constantly trying to get the kids to stop spinning. I have to ask them to stop banging into the counters. I have had to get onto a few of them that like to push off from the counter and have almost ran over me as I was walking behind them. I HATE those chairs.
It is a long day when we have testing. I feel so tired when they are done each day. To try to help the teachers keep them focused is hard, especially in the lower grades. Necklaces, belts, hair, rings, etc are so much more fun than a test. When the lower grades come for regular lab times many times we have to have more than one thing planned to keep them interested.
I feel for the teachers. I only see these kids for maybe 30 minutes at a time outside of testing. The teachers are the ones who get more of the restlessness. Lab time is usually fun so they stay focused a little better.

Wow, you actually have tech aides who help out? I taught first grade in a snooty well-to-do district before DS was born, and we only had a single technology paraprofessional, and she was never, ever in the lab (unless there wasn't a class scheduled ), so I had 24 first graders whom I was trying to get into programs and using them (I have my master's in educational technology, so at least I could fix a lot of the computer problems we'd encounter) by myself. Our stools didn't have wheels, but the kids like to sit with one cheek hanging off so they could bounce and move around. My rule was, if I catch you without both cheeks on the stool, you stand for the rest of class (30 min class). It worked pretty well. After a few weeks of standing, the kids who had the most trouble with it were able to sit correctly for the whole class time (I am very strict and they know it).

 

[GraysMom]

On a strictly personal note, DS has never watched a single TV program & I read to him constantly. That being said, he will sit and listen to as many as 4 or more stories at a time! Many of the kids I've had in class are incapable of getting through one

I know what you're saying! DS 2 will sit and read books until you tell him it's time to do something else (he'd gladly sit and read for an hour+). Very few of my first graders could sit for more than 25 min at a time, which is really sad, especially when you consider it to a 2 yo! He'll also sit and play with his toys/playdoh/books by himself for 30-40 min at a time (no, not while I'm Dising , when I'm making dinner/cookies, if I'm on the phone, etc). He likes to play with us and his friends as well, but he's just as happy occupying himself. He also never watched TV until a couple of months ago, and then it's limited to a half hour a day (usually Handy Manny, the Doodlebops, or Planet's Funniest Animals) because he turns into a complete zombie in front of the TV. He does love to sing and dance and listen to music, which I feel is much less stimulating than TV/video games. I could tell pretty easily which of my first graders watched a lot of TV/video games at home and which interacted with family/friends/pets and played with non electronic toys. This is sadly an epidemic that is just going to get worse I'm afraid .

 

[poohs_hunny]

Third grade teacher here, and I agree. My class wants to constantly be entertained and thinks all subjects should be "fun." I am as creative as I can be with my lesson plans, but not every lesson can compete with the excitement of video games. All I can say, is TGIF! I love my job, and I love my class, but today was a tough one.

ITA. I also teach 3rd grade. After I say we're going to do a certain activity, sometimes a child will ask, "Is it fun?" Sometimes I'll respond, "I think so!", but other times I'll be brutally honest and say, "Not everything we do can be a lot of fun."

 

[RayaniFoxmur]

I haven't read all of the posts, but I've gotta ask...

If TV and Video Games are detierorating our children's attention spans... isn't this the responsibility of the parents to take care of? Limiting TV and Video Games to so long every day or as my mother did 12 years ago, no *insert favorite electronic media here* until after the homework is done.

I don't think TV and video games are all bad... but when you overdo it, just like you overdo anything, it becomes bad. Just my

 

[AuburnJen92]

I taught elementary school for 10 years and transferred to high school to continue with my coaching. I agree that traditional methods are no longer the norm for keeping their attention. Even in high school, their attention spans are extremely short. Most of what they tune into is constant motion, so it seems hard for them to slow down. We also have been transformed into an instant gratification society and they want results now! When I transferred this year to a different county, it was a brand new school that had all of the latest and greatest technology money could buy. The kids are adjusting well, but the teachers are having trouble keeping up with the kids. Since I train the teachers on the technology, I have seen resentment and reluctantance to learn the very things that the kids take for granted. There are great teachers that use the technology at our school everyday, I just wish they would all get on board. The kids surely have.

 

[leighe]

I teach high school and I deal with gnat to flea length attention spans everyday. We have a block schedule so my class lasts 90 minutes. I do try to keep things like lectures with notes to 20 minutes or less but sometimes we just have material to cover and it's just not necessarily fun ( my class is world history). Using technology does help. However, what always makes me laugh whenever we go to the library for a project or research or whatever the kids all head straight to the computers. Heaven forbid they use a book! Then when they find all this information on the internet (which may or may not be reliable) they are like "Now what do I do? I found the stuff I need."

Ummmm - you still have to READ it, brainiac, even if you do find it on the internet. They just look at me like, "You're kidding, right? You have to read the internet?"

How do they think they communicate with people on myspace? I love my job.

 

[lorimc]

I haven't read all of the posts, but I've gotta ask...

If TV and Video Games are detierorating our children's attention spans... isn't this the responsibility of the parents to take care of? Limiting TV and Video Games to so long every day or as my mother did 12 years ago, no *insert favorite electronic media here* until after the homework is done.

I don't think TV and video games are all bad... but when you overdo it, just like you overdo anything, it becomes bad. Just my

I think that is the point the OP might be getting at. The restrictions and limitations at home are the parents' responsiblity. However, if no restrictions/limitations are enforced or exist, the resultant decreased attention spans become problematic for teachers.

 

[Daxx]

Basically, my Kdg. class is v. well behaved and have a pretty good attention span. However, I have noticed that there are a few who lose attention. Not that they're disruptive or talk ... but they just "space out".

I completely agree that the increase of television viewing time and video game playing has contributed to this. Every year, I notice that the length of attention span is decreasing. I often feel like I have to be Dora, Joe, The Backyardigans, etc. to keep their focus on me and what I have to say.

Take a look at many shows ... there are frequent commercial breaks and these kids are used to having to pay attention to small segments at a time. I have also noticed that my students cannot sit through a complete movie. For example, if we have some "fun time", I will pop in a Disney video. I'm lucky if they're not antsy after 15 minutes. They're not used to sitting for so long watching one thing. They "multi-task" when the television is on at home, tv shows are quick-changing, so they don't know how to sit for an extended period of time. It's rather troubling knowing that this is on a continual increase.

 

[MELSMICE]

it is becoming increasingly difficult to manange all the negative behavior and innattention. We are actually getting less done this year then we were 3 years ago according to our Benchmarks tests.

I couldn't agree more. While it is not formal eduction (school) in my dance classes I am finding that each year I seem to accomplish less & less with the same age groups. I realize that each group of children is different, but I have noticed a definite decrease in the number of things I can teach each year.

 

[tjlovespooh]

In the end it seems to be all of these things come together to create these problems... Some of the preschoolers in my room don't know how to play - it's sad, I know - but true... They are so overstimulated by everything going on in the rest of their lives they haven't figured out how to have that down time, where they play and entertain themselves! (They constantly want me and my coworkers to entertain...)

Well said
I still believe that a lot of this has to do with the overstimulation from the toys kids play with. EVERYTHING is press a button and watch what happens. I've seen so many kids completely neglect the blocks section of my classroom because they look at the blocks and say "what does this do?" These kids have NO imagination! Sure they can imitate cartoons they've watched on tv or video games but they seem unable to produce ORIGINAL imaginative play! It's so sad.

 

[AuburnJen92]

Using technology does help. However, what always makes me laugh whenever we go to the library for a project or research or whatever the kids all head straight to the computers. Heaven forbid they use a book! Then when they find all this information on the internet (which may or may not be reliable) they are like "Now what do I do? I found the stuff I need."

I laughed out loud when I read your post! Since my office is in the library, it seemed like you were a teacher in my school! They all check out computers to do research (we have mobile laptop labs) and find it and instantly raise their hand! "I found it, am I finished now? Can I go on MySpace from here?"

 

[Lizzy2]

My DD is 5 and her teacher has had what she has called a "busy group" this year and attention span is part of that. She also thinks its the level of work these babies are required to do at an age when we were just learning the ABC's and 123's. It is truly astounding. DD not only can read, she can tell time and count money. I am not kidding. We practice with an analog clock and coins everyday. These are things that you and I were not doing until 2nd or 3rd grade much less kindergarten or 1st grade. And as for video games and TV use, these are regularly incorporated into their lessons and they have computer class twice a week.
But I will also say this, the answer is not less technology and to believe any differently is to live with your head in the sand. The world is only going to get more technological if anything. Of course a child must learn to read but to discourage computer use is just not smart.