Unit 5 boss: Children spend too much time in front of screen

Posted on February 27, 2017

Unit 5 superintendent Mark Daniel says parents need to monitor their children’s use of technology. (WJBC file photo)

By Eric Stock

NORMAL – Unit 5 went to the big screen to encourage parents to keep their children away from the small screen.

The district sponsored a documentary at the Normal Theater on Sunday called ‘Screenagers.’ Superintendent Mark Daniel told WJBC’s Scott Laughlin and Patti Penn the documentary shows kids spend on average 6.5 hours per day in front of a screen, not including homework or classroom time.

PODCAST: Listen to Scott and Patti’s interview with Daniel on WJBC.

“Think about the time that our youth are spending looking at and examining a screen,” Daniel said.

The film included a study which shows baby mice exposed to screen time developed fewer brain cells.

Daniel added the overuse of technology causes many to multi-task and mistakenly think they are getting ahead.

“They are saying actually, we believe we are doing multiple things and do them well, when actually we are doing them poor,” Daniel said.

Daniel said he hopes to bring the documentary to the classroom.

Eric Stock can be reached at [email protected].

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