In recent days, both Ane Dahl Torp and Tore Renberg have written statements in the debate around children, reading skills and screen use. One is worried, the other thinks we need to relax more. Both have good points, but before we can talk about poor reading skills and that “everything was better before”, we have to look at how young school children in particular are deprived of the opportunity for good psychological development. They start earlier with “everything”, screens, school and, not least, stress and the pressure of expectations. The fact is that young people report significant stress. In an individualized and achievement-oriented society, the children’s generation will reach for unrealistic goals and thus feel little mastery and increased stress. Perceived stress can result in physical and mental illness. School and screen use contribute to the stress. We are seeing a worrying increase in referrals to BUP. With an increased number of referrals, an increasingly large proportion of children and young people will receive a psychiatric diagnosis. Something has to be done. We must let children be children for as long as possible, in line with their individual development. Children mature at very different rates, physically and mentally. The statutory start of school at the age of 5-6 does not take this into account. Children’s brains develop from the bottom up. This means that they need to develop their sensory apparatus, gross motor skills and emotion regulation, before they are able to develop more advanced skills such as planning, organisation, concentration and logical thinking. With earlier school starts and the introduction of tablets already from the age of 5-6, society is putting pressure on children in a period of their lives where their development should have been based on joy, free play and physical expression. This would have supported the development of basic brain functions, thereby increasing receptivity to learning later in life. There is no rush to develop reading skills and digital competence. Free play provides an absolutely necessary social and emotional learning arena, and lays the foundation for a good life. Among other things, cooperation skills, empathy, resilience and stress management are developed here. I think we can all agree that these skills are more important to have in life than knowing algebra and poetry analysis, even more important than being able to read and to function digitally. ALSO READ:
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The school’s most important task – Speech
