ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Sara DeWitt - Children’s media expert
Inspired by Mister Rogers, Sara DeWitt strives to make every child feel special by charting the forefront of new digital mediums where kids spend their time.

Why you should listen

Sara DeWitt's work in the children's digital space was first inspired by Mister Rogers's approach to television. Just as he strove to make every child feel special through that new medium, her vision is to make each interaction with a game, stream and view an opportunity for children, parents, and teachers to learn and delight in new discoveries.

Over the last 18 years, DeWitt has worked at the forefront of new platforms, in an effort to be everywhere kids are: from websites and mobiles apps to streaming video, augmented reality, 3D-rendered experiences, and wearable technologies. She oversees the Kidscreen- and Webby-award winning pbskids.org website, PBS KIDS streaming video services and the PBS KIDS portfolio of educational apps for children. In 2014, she was named one of the top 42 Women Leading in Education by the USC Rossier School of Education and one of the Top Women in Digital by Cynopsis Media in 2016. 

Before her career in public media, DeWitt worked as a preschool teacher, a management researcher and studied media habits of children in rural areas of the United States. She is a military spouse who has moved with her husband and two young sons four times in the last five years. They currently live in Alexandria, Virginia.

More profile about the speaker
Sara DeWitt | Speaker | TED.com
TED2017

Sara DeWitt: 3 fears about screen time for kids -- and why they're not true

Filmed:
1,657,690 views

We check our phones upwards of 50 times per day -- but when our kids play around with them, we get nervous. Are screens ruining childhood? Not according to children's media expert Sara DeWitt. In a talk that may make you feel a bit less guilty about handing a tablet to a child while you make dinner, DeWitt envisions a future where we're excited to see kids interacting with screens and shows us exciting ways new technologies can actually help them grow, connect and learn.
- Children’s media expert
Inspired by Mister Rogers, Sara DeWitt strives to make every child feel special by charting the forefront of new digital mediums where kids spend their time. Full bio

Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.

00:13
I want us to start
by thinking about this device,
0
1000
3086
00:16
the phone that's very likely
in your pockets right now.
1
4110
3054
00:19
Over 40 percent of Americans
check their phones
2
7743
3117
00:22
within five minutes
of waking up every morning.
3
10884
3230
00:26
And then they look at it
another 50 times during the day.
4
14138
3725
00:29
Grownups consider this device
to be a necessity.
5
17887
3837
00:34
But now I want you to imagine it
in the hands of a three-year-old,
6
22890
3998
00:39
and as a society, we get anxious.
7
27840
2726
00:43
Parents are very worried
8
31114
1229
00:44
that this device is going to stunt
their children's social growth;
9
32366
3480
00:47
that it's going to keep them
from getting up and moving;
10
35870
2665
00:50
that somehow,
11
38559
1372
00:51
this is going to disrupt childhood.
12
39955
2891
00:56
So, I want to challenge this attitude.
13
44282
3337
01:00
I can envision a future
14
48404
2071
01:02
where we would be excited to see
a preschooler interacting with a screen.
15
50499
4901
01:08
These screens can get kids
up and moving even more.
16
56527
4475
01:14
They have the power to tell us more
about what a child is learning
17
62089
3155
01:17
than a standardized test can.
18
65268
1847
01:19
And here's the really crazy thought:
19
67139
1956
01:21
I believe that these screens
have the power
20
69119
2809
01:23
to prompt more real-life conversations
21
71952
2709
01:26
between kids and their parents.
22
74685
2258
01:30
Now, I was perhaps
an unlikely champion for this cause.
23
78482
3286
01:33
I studied children's literature
24
81792
1961
01:35
because I was going to work
with kids and books.
25
83777
2534
01:38
But about 20 years ago,
26
86834
2101
01:40
I had an experience that shifted my focus.
27
88959
3168
01:44
I was helping lead a research study
about preschoolers and websites.
28
92968
3770
01:49
And I walked in and was assigned
a three-year-old named Maria.
29
97190
3331
01:52
Maria had actually never seen
a computer before.
30
100973
3895
01:56
So the first thing I had to do
was teach her how to use the mouse,
31
104892
3146
02:00
and when I opened up the screen,
she moved it across the screen,
32
108062
5430
02:05
and she stopped on a character
named X the Owl.
33
113516
3235
02:09
And when she did that,
34
117283
1246
02:10
the owl lifted his wing and waved at her.
35
118553
3792
02:14
Maria dropped the mouse,
pushed back from the table, leaped up
36
122369
3373
02:17
and started waving
frantically back at him.
37
125766
2784
02:21
Her connection to that character
38
129994
2252
02:24
was visceral.
39
132270
1270
02:25
This wasn't a passive screen experience.
40
133564
2779
02:29
This was a human experience.
41
137128
2805
02:32
And it was exactly appropriate
for a three-year-old.
42
140356
2930
02:37
I've now worked at PBS Kids
for more than 15 years,
43
145000
3975
02:40
and my work there is focused on
harnessing the power of technology
44
148999
4621
02:45
as a positive in children's lives.
45
153644
2662
02:48
I believe that as a society,
we're missing a big opportunity.
46
156330
3462
02:51
We're letting our fear and our skepticism
47
159816
2243
02:54
about these devices
48
162083
1433
02:55
hold us back from realizing
their potential
49
163540
2512
02:58
in our children's lives.
50
166076
1425
03:00
Fear about kids and technology
is nothing new;
51
168670
3216
03:03
we've been here before.
52
171910
1634
03:05
Over 50 years ago, the debate was raging
about the newly dominant media:
53
173568
4717
03:10
the television.
54
178309
1675
03:12
That box in the living room?
55
180008
2000
03:14
It might be separating kids
from one another.
56
182032
2646
03:16
It might keep them away
from the outside world.
57
184702
2647
03:20
But this is the moment when Fred Rogers,
58
188524
3042
03:23
the long-running host
of "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood,"
59
191590
3083
03:26
challenged society
to look at television as a tool,
60
194697
4730
03:31
a tool that could promote
emotional growth.
61
199451
2719
03:34
Here's what he did:
62
202194
1183
03:35
he looked out from the screen,
and he held a conversation,
63
203401
3698
03:39
as if he were speaking
to each child individually
64
207797
4246
03:44
about feelings.
65
212067
1742
03:45
And then he would pause
66
213833
1295
03:48
and let them think about them.
67
216063
1692
03:51
You can see his influence
across the media landscape today,
68
219271
3668
03:54
but at the time, this was revolutionary.
69
222963
2987
03:58
He shifted the way we looked at television
in the eyes of children.
70
226521
4789
04:05
Today it's not just one box.
71
233103
2647
04:07
Kids are surrounded by devices.
72
235774
2519
04:10
And I'm also a parent -- I understand
this feeling of anxiety.
73
238317
4569
04:15
But I want us to look
at three common fears
74
243949
3136
04:19
that parents have,
75
247109
1513
04:20
and see if we can shift our focus
76
248646
2844
04:23
to the opportunity that's in each of them.
77
251514
2631
04:26
So.
78
254871
1153
04:28
Fear number one:
79
256048
1351
04:29
"Screens are passive.
80
257950
1658
04:31
This is going to keep our kids
from getting up and moving."
81
259632
3035
04:35
Chris Kratt and Martin Kratt
are zoologist brothers
82
263905
3503
04:39
who host a show about animals
called "Wild Kratts."
83
267432
2932
04:42
And they approached the PBS team to say,
84
270887
2363
04:45
"Can we do something with those cameras
85
273274
2163
04:47
that are built into every device now?
86
275461
2301
04:49
Could those cameras capture
a very natural kid play pattern --
87
277786
4685
04:54
pretending to be animals?"
88
282495
2000
04:57
So we started with bats.
89
285264
2000
05:00
And when kids came in to play this game,
90
288541
2142
05:02
they loved seeing themselves
on-screen with wings.
91
290707
2961
05:06
But my favorite part of this,
92
294246
1643
05:07
when the game was over
and we turned off the screens?
93
295913
3292
05:11
The kids kept being bats.
94
299229
1913
05:13
They kept flying around the room,
95
301166
1937
05:15
they kept veering left and right
to catch mosquitoes.
96
303127
3065
05:18
And they remembered things.
97
306736
1737
05:21
They remembered that bats fly at night.
98
309171
2852
05:24
And they remembered that when bats sleep,
99
312601
2328
05:26
they hang upside down
and fold their wings in.
100
314953
2485
05:30
This game definitely got kids
up and moving.
101
318621
2618
05:33
But also, now when kids go outside,
102
321849
3190
05:37
do they look at a bird and think,
103
325063
2197
05:39
"How does a bird fly
differently than I flew
104
327284
2740
05:42
when I was a bat?"
105
330048
1207
05:44
The digital technology prompted
embodied learning
106
332627
3303
05:47
that kids can now take out into the world.
107
335954
2631
05:52
Fear number two:
108
340361
2392
05:55
"Playing games on these screens
is just a waste of time.
109
343927
3072
05:59
It's going to distract children
from their education."
110
347023
2802
06:04
Game developers know
111
352007
1401
06:05
that you can learn a lot
about a player's skill
112
353432
2410
06:07
by looking at the back-end data:
113
355866
2078
06:09
Where did a player pause?
114
357968
2314
06:12
Where did they make a few mistakes
before they found the right answer?
115
360306
3646
06:15
My team wanted to take that tool set
and apply it to academic learning.
116
363976
4359
06:21
Our producer in Boston, WGBH,
117
369414
3001
06:24
created a series of Curious George games
118
372439
2723
06:27
focused on math.
119
375186
1549
06:29
And researchers came in and had
80 preschoolers play these games.
120
377608
5783
06:35
They then gave all 80
of those preschoolers
121
383415
2564
06:38
a standardized math test.
122
386003
1943
06:40
We could see early on
123
388613
1171
06:41
that these games
were actually helping kids
124
389808
2128
06:43
understand some key skills.
125
391960
2000
06:46
But our partners at UCLA
wanted us to dig deeper.
126
394388
3425
06:50
They focus on data analysis
and student assessment.
127
398344
3487
06:54
And they wanted to take
that back-end game-play data
128
402399
3448
06:57
and see if they could use it
to predict a child's math scores.
129
405871
4173
07:02
So they made a neural net --
they essentially trained the computer
130
410068
3650
07:05
to use this data,
131
413742
1522
07:07
and here are the results.
132
415288
1500
07:08
This is a subset of the children's
standardized math scores.
133
416812
3930
07:13
And this
134
421424
1170
07:15
is the computer's prediction
of each child's score,
135
423459
3657
07:19
based on playing
some Curious George games.
136
427140
3018
07:23
The prediction is astonishingly accurate,
137
431688
2410
07:26
especially considering the fact
that these games weren't built
138
434122
3012
07:29
for assessment.
139
437158
1205
07:30
The team that did this study
believes that games like these
140
438901
2968
07:33
can teach us more
about a child's cognitive learning
141
441893
3685
07:37
than a standardized test can.
142
445602
2000
07:40
What if games could reduce
testing time in the classroom?
143
448800
4175
07:44
What if they could reduce testing anxiety?
144
452999
2673
07:48
How could they give teachers
snapshots of insight
145
456600
3425
07:52
to help them better focus
their individualized learning?
146
460049
3106
07:58
So the third fear I want to address
147
466147
2905
08:01
is the one that I think
is often the biggest.
148
469076
2984
08:04
And that's this:
149
472084
1182
08:06
"These screens are isolating me
from my child."
150
474091
3658
08:11
Let's play out a scenario.
151
479011
2111
08:13
Let's say that you are a parent,
152
481146
2713
08:15
and you need 25 minutes
of uninterrupted time
153
483883
2998
08:18
to get dinner ready.
154
486905
1558
08:20
And in order to do that,
you hand a tablet to your three-year-old.
155
488487
3659
08:24
Now, this is a moment
where you probably feel very guilty
156
492170
2977
08:27
about what you just did.
157
495171
1399
08:29
But now imagine this:
158
497745
2000
08:31
Twenty minutes later,
you receive a text message.
159
499769
3050
08:34
on that cell phone
that's always within arm's reach.
160
502843
2974
08:37
And it says: "Alex just matched
five rhyming words.
161
505841
4538
08:42
Ask him to play this game with you.
162
510403
1843
08:44
Can you think of a word
that rhymes with 'cat'?
163
512270
2824
08:47
Or how about 'ball'?"
164
515943
1591
08:50
In our studies, when parents receive
simple tips like these,
165
518797
3727
08:54
they felt empowered.
166
522548
1645
08:56
They were so excited
167
524217
1610
08:57
to play these games
at the dinner table with their kids.
168
525851
2624
09:00
And the kids loved it, too.
169
528499
1602
09:02
Not only did it feel like magic
that their parents knew
170
530125
2915
09:05
what they had been playing,
171
533064
1563
09:06
kids love to play games
with their parents.
172
534651
3295
09:11
Just the act of talking to kids
about their media
173
539176
3931
09:15
can be incredibly powerful.
174
543131
2000
09:17
Last summer, Texas Tech University
published a study
175
545829
3325
09:21
that the show "Daniel Tiger's
Neighborhood" could promote
176
549178
3362
09:24
the development of empathy among children.
177
552564
3392
09:27
But there was a really important
catch to this study:
178
555980
2799
09:30
the greatest benefit was only
when parents talked to kids
179
558803
4457
09:35
about what they watched.
180
563284
1886
09:37
Neither just watching
181
565194
2000
09:39
nor just talking about it was enough;
182
567218
2000
09:41
it was the combination that was key.
183
569242
2258
09:45
So when I read this study,
184
573214
1453
09:46
I started thinking about
185
574691
1404
09:48
how rarely parents of preschoolers
actually talk to kids about the content
186
576119
5253
09:53
of what they're playing
and what they're watching.
187
581396
2386
09:55
And so I decided to try it
with my four-year-old.
188
583806
2463
09:58
I said,
189
586293
1158
10:00
"Were you playing a car game
earlier today?"
190
588077
2829
10:03
And Benjamin perked up and said,
191
591352
1982
10:05
"Yes! And did you see
that I made my car out of a pickle?
192
593358
3845
10:09
It was really hard to open the trunk."
193
597227
2087
10:11
(Laughter)
194
599338
1658
10:13
This hilarious conversation
about what was fun in the game
195
601020
4085
10:17
and what could have been better
196
605129
1511
10:18
continued all the way
to school that morning.
197
606664
2780
10:24
I'm not here to suggest to you
that all digital media is great for kids.
198
612340
5575
10:29
There are legitimate reasons
for us to be concerned
199
617939
2686
10:32
about the current state
of children's content
200
620649
2459
10:35
on these screens.
201
623132
1244
10:37
And it's right for us
to be thinking about balance:
202
625062
2775
10:39
Where do screens fit
against all the other things
203
627861
3660
10:43
that a child needs to do
to learn and to grow?
204
631545
3094
10:48
But when we fixate on our fears about it,
205
636258
2807
10:51
we forget a really major point,
206
639089
2784
10:53
and that is, that kids are living
in the same world that we live in,
207
641897
4198
10:58
the world where the grownups
check their phones
208
646119
2685
11:00
more than 50 times a day.
209
648828
1891
11:03
Screens are a part of children's lives.
210
651886
2806
11:08
And if we pretend that they aren't,
211
656048
3000
11:11
or if we get overwhelmed by our fear,
212
659072
2995
11:14
kids are never going to learn
how and why to use them.
213
662091
4409
11:19
What if we start raising our expectations
214
667905
3265
11:23
for this media?
215
671194
1352
11:25
What if we start talking to kids regularly
216
673125
2273
11:27
about the content on these screens?
217
675422
2121
11:30
What if we start looking
for the positive impacts
218
678091
2964
11:33
that this technology can have
in our children's lives?
219
681674
3199
11:38
That's when the potential of these tools
can become a reality.
220
686222
4345
11:43
Thank you.
221
691344
1195
11:44
(Applause)
222
692563
3500

▲Back to top

ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Sara DeWitt - Children’s media expert
Inspired by Mister Rogers, Sara DeWitt strives to make every child feel special by charting the forefront of new digital mediums where kids spend their time.

Why you should listen

Sara DeWitt's work in the children's digital space was first inspired by Mister Rogers's approach to television. Just as he strove to make every child feel special through that new medium, her vision is to make each interaction with a game, stream and view an opportunity for children, parents, and teachers to learn and delight in new discoveries.

Over the last 18 years, DeWitt has worked at the forefront of new platforms, in an effort to be everywhere kids are: from websites and mobiles apps to streaming video, augmented reality, 3D-rendered experiences, and wearable technologies. She oversees the Kidscreen- and Webby-award winning pbskids.org website, PBS KIDS streaming video services and the PBS KIDS portfolio of educational apps for children. In 2014, she was named one of the top 42 Women Leading in Education by the USC Rossier School of Education and one of the Top Women in Digital by Cynopsis Media in 2016. 

Before her career in public media, DeWitt worked as a preschool teacher, a management researcher and studied media habits of children in rural areas of the United States. She is a military spouse who has moved with her husband and two young sons four times in the last five years. They currently live in Alexandria, Virginia.

More profile about the speaker
Sara DeWitt | Speaker | TED.com