Remote schooling and screentime during COVID-19: Exploring the experiences of low-income families with young children

Abstract

During the COVID-19 pandemic, families with young children were suddenly tasked with adapting to remote schooling, where lessons were largely delivered online via screen media devices. Meanwhile, concerns rose about increased amount of time young children were spending with screen media devices during periods of “lockdown”. Few studies have examined caregivers’ experiences of navigating remote schooling with the youngest learners, who are likely to be particularly dependent on caregivers. Further, no studies to our knowledge have examined how the COVID-19 pandemic and the transition to remote schooling interacted with caregivers’ perceptions and practices regarding child screen media use at home. Using thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews with 26 low-income caregivers of young children in Miami-Dade County, Florida, we examined caregivers’ experiences with remote schooling and their perceptions of and experiences with child screen media use during the COVID-19 pandemic. Results demonstrated that caregivers experienced challenges in facilitating remote schooling for their young children, and that the pandemic and remote schooling brought about notable changes in perceptions and habits around child screen media use at home. These results have implications for future planning around schooling in times of crisis and around incorporation of educational technology into the schooling process, and suggest the need for updating guidelines for caregivers of young children around screen media use to account for the increased integration of screen media devices in schooling and everyday life.

Introduction

In the U.S., the COVID-19 pandemic precipitated a sudden transition to remote learning, often occurring online via screen media devices (Fishbane and Tomer, 2020; Steed and Leech, 2021). Amid this disruption, concern rose about the increasing time young children were spending on screen media devices at home, for both school-related purposes and recreation (McClain, 2022). While the impact of screen media use on children’s development remains a complex and debated topic (for reviews see Kostyrka-Allchorne et al., 2017; Lauricella et al., 2017; Stiglic and Viner, 2019), professional and medical recommendations have long encouraged parents to avoid excessive child screen media use. The American Academy of Pediatrics, for example, recommends that children under age 5 years not be exposed to more than 1 hour per day of screen media (AAP Council on Communications and Media, 2016a), and the demands of remote learning were immediately at odds with such pre-pandemic recommendations.

There has since been a lack of in-depth examinations of family’s experiences with their child attending school remotely via screen media devices (hereinafter “remote schooling”) and with balancing child screen media use during COVID-19. Understanding the experiences of the most vulnerable children and families, including those from low-resource households with young children (i.e. under the age of 7 years) just starting out in their school careers, is important to inform future decision-making to best support the needs of young students and their families. This study examined caregiver perceptions of and experiences with remote schooling and child screen media use during the COVID-19 pandemic, in a sample of caregivers of children aged 3–6 years, with annual family incomes below the U.S. federal poverty guidelines (hereinafter “low-income”) in Miami-Dade county, located in the southeastern U.S. state of Florida.

Family Experiences of Remote Schooling During COVID-19

Examining caregiver experiences with remote schooling is essential for understanding related impacts on family functioning, as well as for understanding barriers to and facilitators of successful learning in this context. In the U.S., emerging research suggests that parent experiences of remote schooling during COVID-19 likely differed substantially across families. For example, two survey studies of primarily dual-parent, middle-upper income, White caregivers of children in grades K-12 found that caregivers reported overall satisfactory experiences with remote schooling, despite some challenges with balancing parent responsibilities (Garbe et al., 2020) and concern about remote learning causing children to fall behind academically (Carpenter and Dunn, 2020). In contrast, two studies of children in grades K-12 with disabilities in the U.S. found that caregivers perceived many challenges with remote learning for their children, including difficulties balancing caregiver responsibilities, accessing needed special education services, and maintaining consistency in students’ routines (Averett, 2021; Valicenti-McDermott et al., 2022). Other studies internationally have similarly described challenges experienced by caregivers of children with and without disabilities in samples with wide age ranges, including a lack of student interest in remote schooling, difficulties with parents taking over the educator role, increased caregiver and child negative emotion and stress, difficulties with access to technology, and concerns about the quality of teaching and learning in an online format (e.g. Bzour et al., 2022; Mifsud, 2021; Pozas et al., 2021).

Much of the emerging research on families’ experiences of remote schooling has focused on older children or has grouped together children across wide age ranges (K-12). This makes understanding the experiences of caregivers with young children, who are developmentally less independent compared to older children and have less prior experience with formal schooling, more difficult. Of the existing studies of parents of young children, none were identified that focused specifically on economically vulnerable families, who are likely to experience the largest impacts of disruptions. Nevertheless, internationally, studies of the experiences of parents’ of young children have identified several barriers to remote schooling including difficulties with technology access (Abuhammad, 2020; Otero-Mayer et al., 2021; Timmons et al., 2021), caregivers’ lack of time and knowledge to support online learning (Dong et al., 2020) and children’s difficulties with self-regulation (Carrell Moore, 2022; Dong et al., 2020). In other work, early education teachers reported that reliance on parents to facilitate remote learning was a major challenge (Ford et al., 2021; Steed and Leech, 2021). The first aim of this study was to examine caregiver experiences during remote schooling in a sample of low-income caregivers of young children.

Parent perceptions and practices around child screen media use

The COVID-19 pandemic rapidly increased the use of digital technology for work, school, daily transactions, socialization, and even medical care (e.g. Herath and Herath, 2020). It seems likely, therefore, that caregiver practices around child screen media have been shaped in important ways by this watershed period. Certainly, the time children spent daily with screen media devices (“screentime”) for school and recreation increased with participation in remote schooling via online platforms and disruptions to regular family routines caused by school and workplace closures (Eales et al., 2021; Lau and Lee, 2021). Indeed, in a study of mothers of infants in Australia, two thirds reported that screen media use in the household increased due to COVID-19, with some mothers additionally reporting that this increase interfered with family interactions (Hood et al., 2021). For young children especially, parents play a key role in managing child access to screen media, and parents’ beliefs about the purposes of screen media for children and its relative benefits and harms, shape parents’ choices about mediating children’s screen media access and use (Lauricella et al., 2015).

Pre-pandemic work has described conflict experienced by caregivers in balancing the integration of digital media into their children’s everyday lives. Studies note that caregivers want to capitalize on perceived educational and job preparation benefits of mobile and digital technology, but are also concerned about negative impacts on child and family life, including “addiction” to screen media and loss of social interaction (Ochoa and Reich, 2020; Radesky et al., 2016). These tensions may be further exacerbated by the increased adoption of digital technology in the schooling process, as occurred during COVID-19 (Mallawaarachchi, 2022). In a study of U.S. parents of young children, Findley et al. (2022) found that parents attributed increased screen use during COVID-19 to increased demands of parenting during this time, as well as the fact that education and entertainment resources for their children were often only available online. However, parents also reported feeling guilty about this increase (Findley et al., 2022).

Indeed, Nagata et al. (2020) and Vanderloo et al. (2020) noted that existing guidelines for caregivers encouraging screentime limits for young children were increasingly impractical due to school and work disruptions, even as popular concern about excessive exposure to screen media was growing (McClain, 2022). Additionally, structural barriers (e.g. long work hours) which decrease the time and financial resources available to caregivers, have been associated with less restrictive management of child screen media use (Evans, 2011). Such barriers are likely to have increased during the pandemic. Indeed, population surveys show that social, financial, and psychological stressors increased for many U.S. families (Robillard et al., 2020). Examining how child media use perceptions and practices were shaped by the pandemic and remote schooling is particularly important in low-income families where even pre-pandemic, structural barriers to adhering to screentime recommendations were high, to ensure that our understanding of such challenges reflects the most vulnerable families. The second aim of this study was to examine caregiver experiences around managing screen media use during COVID-19 and remote schooling in a sample of low-income caregivers.

The present study

This study examined caregiver perceptions of and experiences with remote schooling and child screen media use during the pandemic, in a sample of low-income and racially/ethnically minoritized caregivers of children ages 3–6 years in Miami-Dade County, Florida. COVID-19-related school closures in the Miami-Dade County School district began March 16th, 2020, with all students, including those in the youngest grades, transitioning to remote modes of instruction for the remainder of the school year. The following year (2020–2021), families with children in kindergarten and higher grades selected their preferred mode of attendance (fully in-person, fully online, or hybrid [2–3 days a week of in person instruction and the remainder online]). The school district fully returned to in-person instruction in August 2021.

The primary research questions were:

• RQ1: What were the experiences of remote schooling during COVID-19 for families with young children living in Miami-Dade County?

• RQ2: For families in the sample, how did experiences with COVID-19 and remote schooling intersect with caregiver perceptions and practices around child screen media use?

Method

Participants

Participants were 26 primary caregivers (100% female; 23 mothers, 2 grandmothers, 1 aunt; M = 36.64 years) of children aged 3–6 years (57.7% female; M = 5.04 years), recruited from Head Start programs in Miami-Dade County, as well as a summer camp located in a low-income, primarily African-American community in Miami-Dade County. Directors of these programs, which were chosen due to proximity to low-income areas in Miami-Dade, were contacted and asked to give information about the study to eligible participants, who then contacted researchers if they were interested. Participants who met inclusion criteria had a child 3–6 years, and met income eligibility for participation in Head Start programs (i.e. annual family income below the U.S. federal poverty level, which in 2022 was USD $27,750 for a family of 4). Primary caregivers had a median annual income range of less than USD $11,721. Approximately half (53.8%) self-identified as Black/African American, 23.1% as White and Hispanic, 11.5% multiracial, and 3.8% White non-Hispanic. Approximately one third (30.77%) of primary caregivers had completed an Associate’s degree or higher.

Procedure

Study procedures were approved by the Institutional Review Board of the authors’ institution. Verbal informed consent was obtained by phone, and caregivers were emailed a copy of the consent document. Caregivers participated in a semi-structured interview by phone, lasting approximately 45 minutes (range = 23–60 minutes), about their experiences with remote schooling during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as their perceptions and practices around child media use (see Table 1 for interview prompts). Interviews were conducted in English between October 2020 and July 2021. Participants were compensated with a $50 gift card.

Table 1.

Interview prompts.

General prompts	Relevant research question (s)
Tell me about your family’s use of screen media this past week.	RQ1, RQ2
Tell me about you and your child’s experience with remote schooling.	RQ1
I’d like to learn more about how your child’s screen time routines were impacted by the COVID-19 crisis and the switch to virtual schooling and/or working from home.	RQ2
(Describe guidelines suggested by AAP—1 hours day max for children 2–5 years; educational content; co-use when possible) What are your thoughts about these guidelines?	RQ2

Data Analysis

Interviews were transcribed, and then analyzed for common themes using a thematic analysis approach (Braun and Clarke, 2006). First, the coding team read all transcripts to familiarize themselves with the material. Then, transcripts were coded and themes were generated using the following iterative process. First the authors coded one-third of the transcripts using open coding to each generate initial codes by creating a short word or phrase to summarize or capture meaning in a portion of text. Initial code generation was theoretically guided, so that each author coded portions of text that they saw as relevant to the research questions. Portions of the interview in which participants discussed topics unrelated to the research questions (e.g. describing the child’s favorite television programs) were therefore not coded. Then the authors met to discuss commonalities among codes that were generated, make lists of codes that were similar in meaning, and discuss any unique codes to come to a consensus about whether the code captured something relevant. The authors returned to independently code a second subset of transcripts using the same method above and met again to discuss new codes that had been generated, and to discuss initial organization of codes into themes and subthemes, which was also guided by the research questions. Then the authors coded the remaining third of the transcripts and met for a final time to refine the final organization of themes and subthemes. No new codes were identified after two-thirds of the transcripts had been coded.

In order to provide information about prevalence of themes across participants, and to identify illustrative excerpts for each theme, all transcripts were then recoded by the first author for the presence of the final themes (Table 2). To check reliability of the frequency counts 10 transcripts were also coded using the final set of themes by two other coders. Randolph’s kappas for multi-rater reliability across the three coders fell between 0.73 and 0.86 for the eight themes. Excerpts that were seen to exemplify each theme were selected by the first author and included in the results section to further convey the experiences of families. The remaining authors reviewed the selected excerpts, and suggested changes where necessary.

Table 2.

Frequency of themes and subthemes.

Theme/subtheme	Frequency (%)
Child attention and behavior as barriers to remote learning	18 (69.23)
Caregiver and child negative emotion	7 (26.93)
Dependence on caregivers as teachers	13 (50)
Technology as a tool or a barrier to learning	19 (73.08)
Technology as a barrier to learning	10 (38.46)
Preference for in-person format.	13 (50.00)
Technology as a tool to support learning	6 (23.07)
Changing screentime routines	14 (53.84)
Screentime for leisure versu. schoolwork	3 (15.38)
Relevance of screen use guidelines	12 (46.15)

Results

Four primary themes were identified from caregivers’ descriptions of their experiences with remote schooling: (1) child attention and behavior as barriers to remote learning, (2) caregiver and child negative emotion, (3) dependency on caregivers to facilitate remote learning, and (4) technology as a tool or a barrier to learning. Additionally, three primary themes were identified regarding the ways that screentime, COVID-19, and remote learning intersected in families’ lives: (5) changing screentime routines, (6) screentime for leisure versus schoolwork, and (7) the relevance of screentime guidelines.

Theme 1: Child attention and behavior as barriers to remote learning

Many caregivers expressed that their child struggled to remain seated and focused during remote learning sessions. Indeed, no caregivers in the sample expressed that their children’s behavior or level of focus was facilitative of remote schooling. Difficulties with behavior were attributed to insufficient attention spans, boredom, and lack of motivation, particularly during synchronous class sessions via teleconferencing, during which children “didn’t wanna focus” [P23, mother of a 5-year-old boy] and “didn’t wanna sit still” [P25, grandmother of a 5-year-old girl], and grew “bored” [P6, aunt of a 6-year-old boy] quickly. Some caregivers also indicated that experiences of remote schooling evoked disruptive behavior from their child, including noncompliance, aggression, and tantrums, which disrupted the learning process. Others noted that the expectation for how long young children should remain engaged with an online activity was high. One mother described that the amount of time required on screen media devices for remote schooling worsened her child’s pre-existing behavioral difficulties:

As soon as school started with the laptops, my little boy went off the track . . .It [impacted] him as far as his concentration, his mood, his focusing, attention. . .The unhappiness, and closing the laptop, and being mad, and hitting his desk, and either kicking something. It was getting out of control. [P3, mother of a 6-year-old boy]

Theme 2: Caregiver and child negative emotion

Caregivers also described experiencing negative emotions with the sudden transition to remote schooling, including feeling overwhelmed, frustrated, sad and stressed. Having to balance this transition with other responsibilities in life including work and caring for younger children not in school was described as especially stressful: “It was very frustratin’ because at a time when we first had COVID, remember, I had just gave birth, so I’m dealin’ with a newborn baby also.” [P4, mother of a 3-year-old boy]. Caregivers also described that their children experienced feelings of sadness, disappointment, confusion, and frustration with remote schooling, particularly at the transition: “[It] was a mess. They were getting very stressed. They would kind of cry. They wouldn’t want to be on it” [P12, mother of a 5-year-old girl]. Additionally, the negative emotion of each within the dyad was described to also affect the other, such that the experience of negative emotion was mutual and amplifying: “It was difficult for me so it became difficult for him because he didn't have somebody that could really help them like that. It was just too much.” [P15, mother of a 4-year-old girl]. Just two caregivers in the sample reported that they and their children “kind of had it together” [P10, mother of a 4-year-old boy] and managed remote schooling without emotional upheaval.

Theme 3: Dependence on caregivers as teachers

Many caregivers described that the success of remote schooling was dependent on their ability to directly facilitate their child’s learning, and none described remote schooling as something their child could engage with independently. Some caregivers described that in order for children to engage and pay attention to online lessons, they had sit next to their child to “constantly redirect” [P14, mother of a 6-year-old boy] and prompt their children to pay attention, as well as to facilitate practical tasks like opening and printing attachments, and muting and unmuting in synchronous lessons. Caregivers generally described this as a stressful experience, involving balancing other work and home duties or the needs of multiple children. For example, one mother described a typical day with remote schooling while she was working from home:

“Mommy, the teacher needs you.” I have to get up. I have to stop doin’ what I’m doin’ on my work. It’s back and forth, so I got to the point I had to basically bring my computer, my cell phone, my paperwork and just sit at the table with him. It was like I had to back and forth – do my work and help him with his work. [P4, mother of a 5-year-old boy].

Some caregivers expressed feeling like they did not have the skills or preparation to adequately help their child academically in the ways that were being requested of them, given that they “never went to school to be a teacher” [P15, mother of a 4-year-old girl].

There’s only so much [the teacher] can do. It wasn't like school school. It was more like the teacher telling you what you had to do with him. You had to be on there also. A lot of times too, you’re not a teacher so. . . I wasn't sure whether to help him or not or sound out the words or let him sound it out and just different little nuances. [P14, mother of a 6-year-old boy].

Theme 4: Technology as a tool or a barrier

Technology as a barrier to learning

Caregivers identified reliable access to technology as a barrier to remote schooling. This included unstable internet connections and unreliable school-issued laptops that made accessing school sessions difficult. For example, a parent described that technology malfunctions were a trigger for behavioral difficulties: “If it’s the internet’s not working, he doesn’t comprehend that, and it just goes mayhem from there” [P3, mother of a 6-year-old boy]. Lack of technology skills was also identified as a barrier. Children had to be taught, and then assisted or reminded to mute and unmute themselves during synchronous zoom sessions. Caregivers acknowledged that teachers also had to learn new skills in managing a classroom through Zoom, while they were also unfamiliar with the technology.

Preference for in-person schooling

Further, some caregivers expressed explicit preference for in-person schooling for their child, compared with remote schooling, given the affordances of in-person schooling that they expressed could not be matched in the remote format. Some stated that their child was not able to learn or engage as well in the online format compared to in the classroom: “She’s hands-on learner. She can watch videos, but she needs to be engaged, like completing something, touching something.” [P26, mother of a 6-year-old girl]. The social benefits of interaction with peers in a classroom were also noted to be important, and lacking in remote schooling: “I was very happy to see him go back to school because it—that’s what he needed, just to be with other children and interact live, and that’s really important.” [P14, mother of a 6-year-old boy]. In contrast, one caregiver in the sample reported that remote schooling was “a lot easier” for her because it allowed multiple similar-aged children in the household to learn together [P17, mother of a 5-year-old girl].

Technology as a tool to support learning

Despite the overall negative reported experiences with remote schooling, a few caregivers spoke positively about various interactive apps and programs that were used or recommended by the school to supplement remote instruction, including ABC Mouse and iReady. It was notable that most instances where caregivers expressed a positive opinion of educational technology were in relation to an interactive app or learning platform like ABC Mouse, rather than synchronous lessons in an online format (e.g. on Zoom). One parent noted that her child using ABC mouse “helped [fill] that gap that her not bein’ in school left.” [P26, mother of a 6-year-old girl]. For other caregivers, the adaptability and engaging features offered by the iReady app were seen as a benefit for children’s learning:

[If] she keeps getting better with the academics, [then] it keeps challenging her. If she started doing bad, then it will kinda slow down to go at her speed. . . It’s targeting the areas of weaknesses and strength. But it goes at her speed. [P17, mother of a 5-year-old girl]

Theme 5: Changing screentime routines

Most caregivers reported that the switch to remote schooling coincided with an increase in child recreational screen time, as children had more unscheduled time and as opportunities for alternative play activities outside of the home were restricted.

[Before COVID] in the afternoon, we would have a party to go to, or they would be playing with their friends, or run around a little bit or we’d go to the park. . .[Now] we spend days indoors. I definitely think that there has been an increase [in screentime; P11, mother of a 5-year-old boy].

Others expressed that the increase in time spent on screens for schoolwork resulted in caregivers increasing recreational screentime restrictions, because of concern about too much screentime overall. “They have to be from 8:30 on the computer [for school]. . .I’m like “Okay. You’ve been on the computer the whole day. We have to stop watching that much TV. It’s too much.” [P2, mother of a 5-year-old girl]. No caregivers reported that screentime routines remained the same.

Theme 6: Screentime for leisure versus schoolwork

Caregivers discussed that remote schooling had introduced a need to differentiate between using screen devices for recreational and schooling purposes. The expanded role of screen media devices in children’s lives sometimes necessitated renegotiation of children’s typical relationships with screen media devices, as described by this participant:

I wondered if they understand the difference [between using screens for school and for play]. . .what we had to do is separate the types of devices they use for different reasons. . . I’ve had to use [a device] just for school and I won’t let them play on that device because I want them to use it as a visual reminder this is school only. . .. that their mind can flip that this is not playtime. [P5, grandmother of a 5-year-old girl]

Other caregivers noted that children responded differently to the opportunity to use screen media for schoolwork compared with play, and whereas pre-pandemic anything on a screen media device may have been exciting for a child, the preference for an activity was now based on the activity itself.

[iReady] is like homework. That’s the same thing to him as giving him paper-and-pencil homework. . .even though one is online, it’s the same chore. He can’t stand it. He’d rather be playing. You would think [mimicking excited voice] “Oh look, your tablet!”. No, no, no. [P14, mother of a 6-year-old boy].

Theme 7: Relevance of screen use guidelines

For some caregivers, the AAP guidelines around limiting daily screentime for children 5 years and under were viewed as not relevant to the current times, given how much digital technology is now a required part of everyday life. For example, some caregivers explained that they felt the screentime guidelines were not feasible given the disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and the level of digital saturation in society, or that limiting screen media use was no longer desirable because of the need for children to be able to use technology to function in a digital world.

I think that if you’re going to—if we’re going to develop the best and brightest children that we can in our country, that we have to embrace the use of technology based on the child’s ability to consume it. . . If they’re usin’ that technology to facilitate their learning and to facilitate their growin’ and development, then we should open the floodgates and let them swallow as much as they could. Why would we limit that experience to [an hour] per day? [P5, grandmother of a 5-year-old girl]

Another caregiver noted that she felt the guidelines conflicted with the adoption of remote schooling, saying “With this pandemic they’re in, most of them are getting eight hours of screen time. If they’re sayin’ that that’s not healthy, why is it that [remote schooling] is something that is still being approved?” [P9, mother of a 5-year-old girl].

Other caregivers expressed that they felt it was still useful to have guidelines as aspirational goals, though they acknowledged that there were real barriers to achieving them, including not being able to take children outside, the need to keep children occupied while caregivers accomplish tasks, and the lack of other activities available for children to do during the COVID-19 lockdown periods.

I agree with the guidelines. I get what’s the purpose of it. Limit as much as possible ‘cause they’re gonna use it more than supposed to. . .When you’re dealing with a large mass of people that are different, you need to make the guidelines as, I guess, strict as possible. . .because you know everybody’s definitely gonna use more than that. [P26, mother of a 6-year-old girl].

Discussion

We examined caregiver experiences with remote schooling during COVID-19 and explored how remote schooling and COVID-19 impacted caregiver perceptions of and practices around child screen media use, in a sample of caregivers of young children from an under resourced community. Results demonstrated that caregivers experienced many challenges during the implementation of remote schooling. Additionally, results illustrated that experiences with COVID-19 and remote schooling instigated and shaped changes in the ways that caregivers and children understand and use screen media in the home.

Consistent with previous work (Carrell Moore, 2022; Dong et al., 2020), families perceived significant barriers to the success of remote schooling. The most frequently cited was challenges with children’s behavior and attentional capacity. Indeed, two-thirds of caregivers interviewed spontaneously indicated concern that children’s attention or behavior impeded their child’s learning in the online format. Studies including older children have also indicated challenges with motivation and attention (e.g. Garbe et al., 2020). However, developmental limitations of young children’s attention and self-regulation skills may suggest a particular need to consider length, engagement, and ease of use when designing and preparing online learning opportunities for young children. Additionally, as described by some caregivers in this study, young children with disruptive behavior problems may also be more at risk for difficulties with learning in a remote schooling context, and frustration experienced by children in the remote context may exacerbate existing behavioral difficulties. Support for caregivers in managing child behavior in a remote context must also be considered.

Caregivers perceived that the success of remote schooling was heavily dependent on them, in many cases requiring them to attend lessons with their child. Limitations in time available and knowledge to adequately support remote schooling were experienced as significant barriers and contributed to caregivers’ feelings of frustration and stress. Studies of caregivers of older children have noted this reliance on parents (Garbe et al., 2020; Valicenti-McDermott et al., 2022). However, this may be especially a concern for young children who are likely even more dependent on caregivers for both attentional and technological support. Dependence on caregivers to actively facilitate remote learning for its duration each day may also widen gaps in success based on parent education and digital literacy, as caregivers’ abilities and confidence in helping children learn at home in an online format are impacted on their own educational background and experiences (e.g. Magnuson et al., 2009; Mistry et al., 2008).

Indeed, reliance on technology was noted by some caregivers as a barrier to children’s learning, including when caregiver and child skill with using technology was lacking, and when malfunctions and difficulties with access interfered with the learning process. Synchronous Zoom sessions were described as generally unsuccessful with young children in this sample, and most caregivers felt that their child would learn better in an in-person format. However, some families did perceive the various interactive learning platforms and apps often used to supplement remote learning as helpful for their child. It is notable that caregiver attitudes were most positive toward interactive learning platforms which due to design may have been an aspect of the remote learning curriculum that children were able to engage with more independently (Korat and Segal-Drori, 2016).

Overall, the study’s findings suggest that future planning around learning during school closures should involve thoughtfulness about the best ways to engage caregivers. This may include consideration of approaches that target caregivers in a way and on a schedule that better matches their needs, and/or leveraging interactive programming that children may be able to use more independently to reinforce learning during the day. More studies examining the extent to which interactive learning platforms and products can support children’s learning are needed. Additionally, results of this study suggest that efforts to support digital skill development in children and caregivers, as well as to attend to social and economic inequities in access to technology in the design of remote learning opportunities, will be important for eliminating technical barriers to success during remote schooling (Park et al., 2021). Finally, attention should be paid to the emotional experience of caregivers and children when weighing relative costs and benefits of a transition to remote schooling during a crisis. Positive emotional associations with early schooling experiences have been shown to be important for young children, as early school engagement and interest predicts later engagement and achievement (e.g. Fisher et al., 2012).

The COVID-19 pandemic and remote schooling brought about changes in the way families in this study used screen media at home. Unsurprisingly, and consistent with previous research, the amount of time that screen media was used at home increased for most families (e.g. Lau and Lee, 2021). Caregivers in this study described this increase as intersecting closely with the increase in use of screen media devices for schooling purposes. For a few families, this increase in schooling-related screen time prompted additional efforts to limit recreational screen time, while for others the increase in screentime in all areas of life was described as unavoidable. Overall, the experiences of families in this study appears to reflect an expansion of the pre-pandemic role of screentime in the home, which brought about new conflicts to navigate for caregivers and children. For example, caregivers described having to navigate the differentiation of screentime for schooling versus for play, including needing to set cues to help children understand what behavior was expected of them in each context, like designating a separate device for each purpose.

This change in experiences of screentime as described by families in this study may have important implications for recommendations and guidelines for caregivers around child screen media use. For example, some caregivers in the study expressed that existing recommended screentime limits did not seem relevant, given the ubiquity of screen media. Based on these findings, and consistent with previous commentary, guidelines for caregivers focused on the learning value, developmental appropriateness, and quality of screen media content and activities that children engage with may be especially useful for caregivers of young children, especially in times of disruption to typical family routines (Vanderloo et al., 2020). Screen media use guidelines from the American Academy of Pediatrics, for example, have already followed this pattern for older children, with a focus on the content and context of screen media use rather than the amount (AAP Council on Communications and Media, 2016b).

On the other hand, concern about overexposure to screen media was expressed by some families, who felt that remote schooling itself required their child to spend an unhealthy amount of time on screen media devices. The literature on the impact of screen media use on children is complex, with several studies linking various aspects of screen media use to negative developmental outcomes, and others finding no links (for reviews, see Stiglic and Viner, 2019; Kostyrka-Allchorne et al., 2017). Adding to this complexity, studies have often measured only overall screen media use, without evaluating the content or context of media use, factors which have been shown to change potential impacts (see Lauricella et al., 2017). Research that examines impacts of specific characteristics or factors of screen media use on children’s development perhaps is even more important and needed now, to inform guidelines for parents that are relevant and practical (Vanderloo et al., 2020) given the increasing integration of digital technology into children’s lives.

Limitations and future research directions

This study had limitations that should inform interpretation of the results. First, interviews with caregivers were conducted over 9 months, which given the quick evolution of circumstances surrounding COVID-19 meant that the length of time since the child had been in remote schooling varied among families. Second, interviews were conducted by phone, which could have limited interviewer-interviewee rapport, though this method allowed the inclusion of families who might not have otherwise elected to participate due to COVID-19 considerations, and time and transportation barriers. Finally, this study involved only 26 families, and while specific examination of the experiences of families within vulnerable communities is essential for informing steps to support these communities, the results of the present study may not generalize to other communities and populations. Continued research on the ways that families experience various types of school closures and disruptions, and the ways ongoing and increasing integration of digital media into children’s everyday lives impacts child media use, are necessary to continue to build and diversify the existing knowledge base.

The results of this study add to emerging research on families’ experiences with managing remote schooling and screentime during COVID-19, by examining the experiences of low-income caregivers with young children. An understanding of the developmental and resource barriers faced by families during remote schooling, when the use of digital tools for schooling was rapidly increased, can help inform best practices and necessary supports for caregivers and children around the use of educational technology tools to support children’s learning. Caregivers’ experiences of managing children’s recreational and educational screen media use during this period can also inform the development of screen media use guidelines for caregivers that better account for the diversifying roles of screen media in children’s lives.