Put down the Phone and Talk with Your Children

With the ability, to email, chat, check the weather, trade stocks and order pizza from a cell phone, people spend a lot more time on their handheld devices than they used to. Technology is wonderful and life changing; however, in some ways it is limiting old-fashioned communication.

Many parents and live in child care providers, including nannies and Au Pairs, are paying more attention to their cell phones and less attention to their children. However, young children need their parents to communicate with them even before they can speak.
 
In an interview with a journalist from the New York Times, Randi Jacoby, a speech and language specialist in New York, said: “Parents have stopped having good communications with their young children, causing them to lose out on the eye contact, facial expression and overall feedback that is essential for early communication development.”

“Young children require time and one-on-one feedback as they struggle to formulate utterances in order to build their language and cognitive skills. The most basic skills are not being taught by example, and society is falling prey to the quick response that our computer generation has become accustomed to."

Parents and caregivers need to remember the importance of talking to and interacting with their young children. Communication should start early with young children to help develop motor skills.

Parents can easily turn off their handheld devices and talk with their young children while doing something as simple as walking in the park. They should also take time to identify plants, cars, colors and animals with your small child. Live in child care providers, including nannies and Au Pairs, should encourage young children to say the names of shapes and colors while playing with toys. In every situation there is always something to talk about with your young child.

Ms. Jacoby’s final advice to parents was this: “Reward your little one’s communicative attempts with your heightened attention to his/her conversation. Be prepared to put down your cell phone and look them squarely in the eye as they share their thoughts with you.”