In today’s environment, smart devices have become a natural
part of our daily lives – they accompany us at work, at home, and even at
activities involving our children. However, at an early age, every
environmental stimulus has a far greater significance than it may seem at first
glance. Especially when it comes to educational activities for children, where
it is not only the action itself that is important, but also its quality.
This is where the need to look deeper comes in – not only at the behaviour we see at
, but also at the processes that take place in the child’s brain.
This topic is analysed on the basis of the insights of neuro-educator Joana
Cironkaitė on children’s attentional and behavioural responses to external
stimuli during activities.
Why is it so easy to distract children?
Young children’s ability to sustain attention is still developing. The part of the brain responsible for
this – the prefrontal cortex – develops gradually, making
children extremely sensitive to environmental stimuli. According to neuro-educator Joana
Cironkaitė, children’s brains have a natural tendency to react first to
a new, bright or unexpected stimulus.
A phone screen, movement or filming activates the
orientation reflex – an automatic response that is not under the child’s conscious
control. This means that even when engaged in an activity, attention can be “intercepted”
instantly. In such cases, the brain prioritises
the new stimulus over the task. This leads to a loss of continuity and makes it more
difficult for the child to maintain attention, to follow the task and to remember information.
Natural behaviour or “performance”?
Children learn through spontaneous experience, exploration and connection.
However, it is noticeable that when they are being filmed or watched, they often start to behave differently –
to pose, to look for attention or, on the contrary, to retreat. From a neuro-educational
perspective, this is due to the fact that the processes of social
evaluation and self-monitoring are activated in the child’s brain, and attention is diverted from the activity.
In such situations, the activity of so-called “self-monitoring”
increases, where the child starts to adjust his/her behaviour based on being observed
or filmed. This leads to a decrease in natural, spontaneous participation in the activity, and
behaviour becomes more ‘controlled’, with posturing, displaying reactions
or, on the contrary, avoidance of the activity.
At the same time, it affects the child’s social engagement: eye
contact, emotional response to the adult and the intensity of natural communication
are reduced, as part of the focus shifts to the self as the object of observation, rather than
to the activity itself.
Group dynamics and emotional environment
It’s not just the individual child’s experience that counts, but also the whole group dynamic. It has been observed that children’s attention and behaviour are closely linked to the environment in which they are placed, so that one child’s reactions often affect others. If one child’s attention is diverted to the phone, filming or watching, this can become a stimulus for the rest of the group and overall engagement is reduced.
In such situations, the emotional environment also changes – some children become less active, others begin to follow the actions of others, and the overall focus on the task wanes. As a result, the flow of the activity becomes less coherent and the rhythm of the activity more fragmented, with more frequent diversions from the task itself.
Bambino SPA position
When assessing the development and quality of early childhood education, we aim to provide an environment where the child’s attention is focused on activity, connection and experience, rather than on external distractions. It is particularly important to maintain a natural engagement during the sessions, which is formed through a direct relationship with the professional and the environment.
Due to the harm caused by the use of mobile phones and computers during the sessions, we are now only allowing the use of smart devices in the waiting areas of the Bambino Spa.
