Reader’s opinion|In my work, I have seen that children’s interaction skills have weakened. Many children can no longer converse and their vocabulary has shrunk.
Helsingin Sanomat told (26.8., 27.8.) about a worrying phenomenon: children who have major challenges in interaction and whose strongest language is “Youtube English” come to the special reception for children in the city of Helsinki.
Children’s excessive screen time in early childhood and the interaction challenges it causes are clearly visible in kindergarten. In my work as an early childhood education teacher, I have seen children’s interaction skills deteriorate. The problem does not only affect some children, but in recent years there have been many children in each group with various interaction challenges.
For many children, it is difficult to listen to others, so there is no discussion with friends or adults. It’s hard to play and make friends if you don’t know how to talk.
When the vocabulary is limited, children do not understand children’s literature intended for their age, and books intended for younger children seem boring. Creating a positive attitude towards books and reading is very difficult and requires a lot of imagination and effort from the educator.
When a child has no words for feelings and events, and no opportunity to express himself, it causes frustration and various behavioral challenges.
To support the development of a child’s interaction skills, strong cooperation between families, counseling and early childhood education is now needed. Too much screen time in early childhood seems to be the cause of the problems, but now that the problems are known, we should urgently start developing a solution. Children have the right to learn language and interaction, and society needs people who can talk, read and recognize their feelings.
Annukka Mikonranta
early childhood education teacher, Vantaa
The reader’s opinions are speeches written by HS readers, which are selected and delivered by the HS editors. You can leave an opinion piece or familiarize yourself with the principles of the pieces at www.hs.fi/kiryotamielipidekeisuis/.
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