Children fish in the fishing pond at Butler Area Public Library during its summer reading kickoff in Butler on Wednesday. Justin Guido/Butler Eagle

In Thursday’s edition of the Butler Eagle, we learned about the Butler Area Public Library’s annual weekly summer programming, which is aimed at trying to get children and young adults of all ages to take a break from TV and video games and explore the world around them.

“Camp Kindness,” which is this year’s summer theme, kicked off Wednesday, June 14, and will run through Thursday, Aug. 3. Each week, there will be different activities related to learning about kindness, empathy and belonging, while exploring nature.

“It’s a summer of free activities for our kids, with no requirements,” Tiffany Harkleroad, youth services librarian at the Butler library, said. “The library is welcoming to everyone. These programs are open to everyone. We really just want to see kids engaged in fun and learning through play.”

As staff reported that the average child has nearly 7 hours of screen time per day since the pandemic, we’re extremely glad to see the program get underway for the summer.

Even those of us in the newsroom born in the late '90s didn’t grow up with screens around every corner. Our main source of entertainment was still the outdoors, and we remember our parents’ first cell phones.

While devices are an inevitable part of childhood as the world’s technology advances, it’s important to limit device time and make sure children still have the chance to experience the world around them. Too much screen time, at any age, is never good for your health.

According to Health Matters, young children, especially those under the age of 3, develop rapidly. They learn by exploring their environment and watching the adults in their lives and then imitating them.

Excessive screen time may inhibit a child’s ability to observe and experience the typical everyday activities they need to engage with in order to learn about the world, leading to a kind of “tunnel vision,” which can be detrimental to overall development.

That means programs like this are imperative, and we encourage everyone to take advantage.

— CM