Kids and families are busy: what are the effects?

We live in busy times and in a wired world. There are fewer opportunities for children to just play, increased technology use in families, and busy parents — how is this affecting children? It’s a challenge that is explored in a report that investigates rising child vulnerability in five nieghbourhoods on the North Shore. According to the latest early childhood development data, more kids in these neighbourhoods are starting school “developmentally vulnerable,” meaning they’re at greater risk of struggling in the classroom—and later in life. The research project was initiated by Connect for Kids Early Years Planning Table, which is hosted by North Shore Community Resources Society, as a proactive response to a rapid rise in early years vulnerability in several areas of the North Shore. United Way British Columbia provided critical funding for the research. The report makes a number of recommendations to tackle issues contributing to child vulnerability and to help families. In response, the partners are collaborating to ensure key recommendations, including immediate implementation of vital programs and services, are rolled out in these neighbourhoods. United Way is providing additional funding to support this implementation phase. “Analyzing data from five North Shore neighbourhoods to better understand factors that appear to be contributing to child vulnerability ultimately helps communities continue to take targeted action to ensure more kids start school ready to succeed,” said Dr. Denise Buote, researcher and author of the report. “This kind of in-depth work is essential to helping the most vulnerable in our communities. United Way is committed to understanding root causes of problems and delivering solutions to solve issues facing people living here in the Lower Mainland,” said Michael McKnight, President & CEO, United Way British Columbia. Dr. Kim Schonert-Reichl, Interim Director, Human Early Learning Partnership at UBC adds, “We’ve seen a trend across the province of increasing vulnerabilities in early childhood, especially in the areas of social competence and emotional maturity. This trend runs across socieoeconomic lines.” The partnership has hired a coordinator to implement recommendations from the report.