The moon-like faces of my two little boys glow eerily in the blue light of their tablets one foggy Dubai morning, as we commence yet another week of distance learning.
This is what school has looked like for kids all over the world for the best part of a year in 2020 and 2021: Solitary, silent and screen-led.
Rather than darting about in the playground with his friends, my youngest son, 4, is bobbing his head in and out of visibility on his class registration Zoom call - flicking the camera on and off and generally being bit of a pain for his teacher.
Less screen time and more green time have been linked with better psychological and intellectual outcomes among children and adolescents, according to a new Australian study.
Conducted by researchers at the University of Adelaide, the systematic review of almost 200 studies found that screen time can have a negative impact not only on children’s emotional wellbeing, but also on their academic achievement. It also found that green time (time spent in nature outdoors) could potentially ‘cure’ or act as a buffer against this negative impact of screen time.
With a large proportion of schooling in the UAE happening online at the moment, and many children spending more time on screens than ever before, it’s never been more important to understand the impact on our kids and what can be done about.