It's Engagement Season (year-round)

Let’s talk engagement. No, not between you and me, but between children and everything surrounding them.

Engage: it seems like a simple verb, yet one that is becoming less frequently used when discussing what children of all ages are experiencing. Are they engaging with peers their age? They will likely argue that they are engaging online with friends, but is that truly engagement? That could spark a lengthy debate. Engaging with parents? There are significant issues with that question. Unfortunately, parents, even if a child is fortunate enough to have both, are overwhelmed with making ends meet and don’t seem to realize that engaging with their child is the most important thing they can do. Believing that schools are engaging with their child is a misconception. Teachers are doing everything they can to keep kids focused and learning. Not to repeat myself, but unfortunately, more and more kids are absent, and the results are the recently published dismal reading and math scores. 

Boy, who knew engagement was so hard?

Let’s start with Webster’s definition of engage: to occupy, attract, or involve (someone’s interest or attention); to participate in or become involved in.

Ok, it seems simple enough. However, we are missing participation from parents, children, friends, products, and so on. Have we thrown a wrench into the gears of engagement, slowing children’s inherent curiosity by neglecting to provide the necessary involvement? Even at the earliest ages, the opportunity for engagement is lacking. PBS recently reported that fewer than 50% of young children have access to pre-K learning, leaving them reliant on their caregivers for essential mental and physical development.

So, what can we do?

Let’s start with the most obvious: the parents. Even with all the stress they are under, they must spend more time talking to their children, asking questions, participating in projects, reading stories, and playing games. This is just the beginning. It doesn’t take much—just engage. Children love attention and enjoy talking early, which often pays off down the road because they will model conversation after you, and their vocabulary will begin to grow. 

Then there are the product providers. They play a significant role in gaining engagement if they put their hearts into it, rather than just churning for profits. I know it’s much easier for parents to occupy their child with a stare-and-swipe device, but they also need something physical to get them engaged—engaged so deeply that they begin to ask questions and try on new ideas as they play. They might start talking about all sorts of things, provided the parent asks! Consumer products, whether toys or others, must be engaging. Slapping a licensed character on a product doesn’t do much unless there’s a reason that character is part of the product and integral to the play. Give kids the opportunity to explore and try things because a well-designed and thought-out product allows them to do that.

Recently, an article in The Guardian reported on a study conducted by Nielsen and publisher HarperCollins, which noted that, despite parents feeling their children need to be read to, less than half of the parents found it fun to read aloud to their children. Only 41% of children aged 0 to 4 are being read to frequently. Wow, that certainly is not an engagement metric to feel encouraged about. What’s more alarming is that the report states Gen Z and millennial parents say reading is “more a subject to learn than a fun thing to do,” and because they grew up with technology, many think “fun comes from more digital entertainment than from books.” Wow, this highlights the disconnection from the physical world and living in the digital world. Reading with a child is more than just learning words. The closeness of reading, or getting down on your knees together, helps reinforce the images and ideas in a way that encourages new and open idea formation. Reading aloud, playing along, and asking questions are some of the ultimate engagement mechanisms available to us. So, let’s use them. It’s free, and you would be surprised at how it changes your child’s desire to learn more.

Of course, these companies providing play products must get it right. They need to ensure their products are diverse enough to allow for questions, stories, and the whys from both child and parent. It seems simple as well, but a lot needs to be done here. Most, albeit a few, really give the opportunity for engagement.

Let’s make sure all parties look towards each other and provide that special word – engagement.