I'm Fine with Audio Exposure from Age 0, but I Don't Want to Introduce a Tablet Too Early
“I’m comfortable with audio exposure because it is audio only. But I am a little concerned about using a tablet or smartphone for online lessons. If children spend time looking at screens too early, could it negatively affect their development?”
What matters most is not whether there is a screen, but how it is used
Many parents share this concern.
Certainly, caution is needed when very young children spend long periods watching videos. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends managing screen-based sedentary time in age-appropriate ways, noting that healthy development in infancy and early childhood depends on a good balance of physical activity, sleep, and time spent sitting.
The American Academy of Pediatrics also emphasizes that the question is no longer simply “how many hours.” In addition to screen time, it highlights what children are using, how much they are using it, how they are using it, and whether it is balanced with parental involvement, sleep, and play.
but how that screen is being used.
The core of Palkids Home English is audio exposure
Palkids online lessons are not designed to keep children in front of a screen for long periods. They are short review activities that connect the words and everyday expressions children hear through audio exposure with pictures and situations, helping them attach meaning.
If use is limited to less than 5 minutes a day, it is hard to think that this alone would cause any major negative effect on a child’s development. Christakis (2014) likewise notes that for infants and toddlers, what matters is not simply the presence of a screen, but the content, the way it is used, and how caregivers are involved.
Rather, these short online lessons play an important role as a bridge that connects audio input to meaning and print.
What deserves caution is using videos as a digital babysitter
On the other hand, what we do need to watch out for is using YouTube or videos as a kind of babysitter.
In the past, television sometimes played that role. Today, smartphones and tablets make it easy for children to keep watching one preferred video after another. Short clips, flashy sound effects, vivid colors, and rapidly changing scenes strongly capture children’s attention.
When long exposure to this kind of stimulation becomes a habit, it can be hard to say, “That’s enough for today,” and that can create significant stress for both parent and child.
Simply keeping digital devices completely away is not the answer
To avoid that kind of overuse, however, the solution is not simply to keep smartphones and tablets completely out of reach.
Smartphones, tablets, and computers are essential tools for the way children will learn and live in the years ahead.
UNICEF Innocenti points out that what children need is not just the ability to operate devices, but digital literacy: the ability to use digital technology safely, independently, and purposefully.
OECD (2025) likewise stresses that rather than keeping children uniformly away from digital devices, we need to protect them from risks while also helping them develop the ability to use digital media in positive ways.
What matters is making sure a device does not become an unlimited gateway to entertainment.
By building these experiences from an early age, children learn how to develop a healthy relationship with digital devices.
A few minutes of review is very different from long hours of video viewing
Palkids online lessons are very short review activities designed to connect the auditory representations built through audio exposure with meaning and print.
They are completely different in purpose, length, and nature from babysitting videos, highly addictive games, or spending long periods watching YouTube.
It is long, purposeless use.
Conclusion: Make audio exposure the foundation, and use screens only when needed
If your family wants to provide audio input from age 0 but still feels uneasy about screens, begin by making audio exposure the foundation. In that context, there is no need to worry excessively about a few minutes of online lessons.
Rather than using screens as a babysitter, use them only when needed, and only as much as needed. Modeling that approach at home is the first step toward the media literacy, digital literacy, and digital well-being children need for the future.
REFERENCES
- American Academy of Pediatrics. (2025). Screen Time Guidelines. American Academy of Pediatrics
- Christakis, D. A. (2014). Interactive media use at younger than the age of 2 years: Time to rethink the American Academy of Pediatrics guideline? JAMA Pediatrics, 168(5), 399–400. DOI
- OECD. (2025). How’s Life for Children in the Digital Age? OECD Publishing. OECD
- UNICEF Innocenti. (n.d.). Digital literacy for children: 10 things you need to know. UNICEF Innocenti
- World Health Organization. (2019). Guidelines on physical activity, sedentary behaviour and sleep for children under 5 years of age. World Health Organization. World Health Organization