The rise of the Tiktok toddler
As the three Ss replace the three Rs, should we worry about tech-savvy tots?
Before they even enter a classroom, a child's three Rs — reading, 'riting and 'rithmetic — are being overtaken by the three Ss: swiping, scrolling and screenshotting.
Research revealed by U.K. media regulator Ofcom, found that 16 per cent of three- to four-yearolds have watched videos on the social media platform Tiktok. Eighty-four per cent of this age group use Youtube, while 17 per cent have their own phone.
The findings were described by Ofcom strategy and research director Yih-choung Teh as “really striking.”
But child psychologist Michele Mcdowell, who specializes in gaming and screen-time addiction, isn't amazed.
“I'm only surprised the statistics aren't higher,” says Mcdowell. “My clients have said their children are more competent than their parents are at navigating screens.”
So what is so compelling about a smartphone to this new generation of “Tiktots” — as Ofcom has labelled them? And should we be worried?
As with everyone, preschoolers are susceptible to the surge in dopamine — the feel-good chemical produced in the brain — that smartphone apps produce. “The body seeks to re-create more of these good feelings, and this is one reason why a child will want increasing amounts of screen time,” says Mcdowell.
She stresses, however, the main reason very young children want to play with iphones is to copy their parents' behaviour: “In previous times they might have wanted to play tea parties — now it's Tiktok.”
And, of course, the simple layout of smartphone apps makes this easy, as Hugo, 4, discovered. An avid geography enthusiast, he decided to find out more about Saudi Arabia — where his family is relocating next year — by typing the first three letters of the country into the search engine Safari. “It didn't matter that he didn't know how to spell it,” says his mother, Jenny Guertin. “The predictive spelling guessed what words he wanted.”
She stresses Hugo — who loves swimming and dancing — isn't addicted to screen time. “We let him use it in 10- to 15-minute bursts and he always gives the phone back willingly. If he got upset, I'd be worried. I know technology can be addictive, but Hugo's use feels educational.”
Research has shown that areas of the brain involved in attention can be more efficient in children who play computer games, as well as helping to develop visuospatial skills.
Mcdowell, however, stresses that up to the age of four is a critical stage for brain development, in which skills such as attention, concentration and social interaction are better honed in real life. “Studies suggest that excessive time spent on screens for children between the ages of 24 and 36 months is associated with poorer behavioural, cognitive and social development.”
The World Health Organization recommends children aged between two and five spend no more than an hour a day on screens, yet toddlers' use of them has become so prevalent that in 2018, delegates at the National Union of Teachers annual conference in the U.K., were told children were swiping on books in an attempt to turn pages, confusing them with smartphones and ipads.
Still, smartphones are undeniably teaching children skills for 21st-century survival — even if they are rarely allowed to use them.
Sian Broad, 37, a public relations executive, recalls her son Harrison, 3, wanting to go on a ride outside a shopping centre.
“I said I didn't have any cash so he couldn't, and he pointed to the three little lines at the payment point and said: `But look, Mum, it takes contactless!'”
She gave Harrison a tablet at age three to help prepare him for using one at school, which he uses to watch Youtube videos with his friends and play number block games.
“We don't let him play on it much, so I'm often surprised how much he learns just by watching me on my devices,” says Broad.
Louise Bamford, 39, managing director of a language service provider, says her three-yearold daughter, Mary, “swipes” her phone to take pictures.
“She's pretty much the selfie queen — she seems to know how to turn the screen around,” says Bamford. She can only assume her daughter has picked up her skills from herself and her older siblings: “It's just the way the world is.”
Indeed, some parents are capitalizing on their toddlers' interest in social media by creating accounts for them to star in. Among the most popular is The Yeeet Baby, in which American toddler Marleigh plays in her car, eats cantaloupe melon and dances around the kitchen with her uncle Chris to entertain their 5.1 million followers.
Children are forbidden from having their own social media accounts, and a spokesman for Tiktok said: “Nothing is more important to us than the safety of our community, especially young people. Tiktok is strictly a 13-plus platform and we have processes in place to enforce our minimum age requirements, both at the point of sign up and through the continuous proactive removal of suspected underage accounts from the platform.”
Regardless, we are raising a new generation reliant on smartphones for every aspect of their lives.
“We can't escape screens — and nor should we try,” says Mcdowell, who suggests interacting with a child when they use your smartphone and never leaving them unsupervised: “The younger the child is, the more closely they need to be monitored, so they'll grow up a responsible digital citizen.”