The WHO says, “Early childhood is a period of rapid physical and cognitive development and a time during which a child’s habits are formed and family lifestyle habits are open to changes and adaptations.” However, in recent times, the rise in childhood overweight and obesity has been attributed to physical inactivity.
Therefore, it prominently featured how much time children should spend in front of a digital screen in their guidelines on physical activity, sedentary behavior, and sleep for children under 5 years. In fact, according to these recommendations, infants under 1 year old should not be getting any screen time at all!
Children ages 2 to 4 should have no more than one hour of sedentary screen time, such as playing video games or watching TV.
But what is a typical child’s experience at home?
Infants and children get way more screen time than any of these recommendations. More often than not parents are busy and do not need to be disrupted by children. Focused on screens, parents get things done. Therefore, children are hooked!
How schools can intervene
School principals and leaders worry that children spend too much time on devices when they are not in school. Schools are recommended to discourage electronic media use for children under 18 months, and limit screen times for children 2 to 5 to one hour a day of high-quality programs according to the WHO.
This highlights the importance of playtime sessions including other physical activities and the early years education staff’s role couldn’t be more important in this respect. The time a child spends in school should compensate for all the screen time they indulge in at home. More physical moderate to vigorous activities, much less screen time!
What is the role of the childcare staff agency?
Since it’s now more important than ever for the childcare staff in our early years to be more invested in playing with children, so has the onus been on the childcare staff agency to source the most motivated and proactive staff to fill up roles in the early years center. A childcare staff agency has a huge responsibility to select and train staff, matching them to schools with the right incentives and environment that encourage innovation concerning engaging children beyond the screen.
Quint Education, a childcare staff agency, goes all the way in this pursuit.
Our nurseries across London, Middlesex, Essex, Surrey, and Hertfordshire are friendly and supportive places to work.
We have a wide range of jobs from Early Years Practitioner, Nursery Practitioner, Nursery Agency bank staff, Nursery Manager, Nursery Teacher to Nursery Chef.
We’d love to see what you can bring, please call Quint Education today at 0207 1188 994 or email your CV stating the role you are interested in.