HOUSTON – Reyonna and Demetrius Orr keep a close eye on the screen time of their three children.
But when their sons, Ahmad and Amir, are using their tablets, getting the boys' attention is tough.
"I could literally come in the door from work if they're downstairs and (say) 'Hi guys,' (but they'd respond with) nothing -- not a word," Demetrius Orr said.
Added Reyonna Orr, "I literally find myself saying, 'They didn't hear you.'"
Interactions like this are of interest to researcher Dr. Sarah Domoff, co-author of a study that measures the level of interaction between children ages 3 to 5 and their mothers during screen time. More than 40 families wore recording devices at home.
"We could listen to the recording when children were watching different types of media and we really hear what they are exposed to, and importantly, what their mothers are talking to them about," Domoff said.
The results are eye-opening.
"Mothers of children in these homes were not speaking to children about the media content they were watching," Domoff said.
In 54 percent of the recordings, there was no mother-child interaction when media was being used.
"We did have 33 percent where there were brief comments back and forth about what the children were watching, but the majority of the time, children were not communicating with their mothers," Domoff said.
Some recordings highlighted a missed opportunity for parents, such as "when the child tried to get the parent's attention or tried to talk about the content, but there was no response," Domoff said.
Only 13 percent of the recordings captured what researchers call "active mediation."
"Active mediation -- an example would be a parent explaining the purpose of the commercial to the child," Domoff said. "So, it is really kind of processing the content and helping the child think about what is happening and even highlighting values that are important to the family."
Active mediation has been found to help reduce the impact of advertising and other influences on children.
But, Domoff admitted, that's difficult for parents using technology as an electronic babysitter of sorts.
"It is really challenging to be present while your child is watching television or using different types of media when you have other things going on and trying to take care of household tasks," Domoff said.
The study also found differences based on the mother's level of education. Children of moms with graduate degrees tended to watch more educational programming and had less screen time overall, and had more parent interaction when they did use devices.
Domoff urged all parents to think about the quality of screen time, not just the quantity.
The Orr family agreed.
"I think the interaction is important but that’s how I was raised," Reyonna Orr said. "I spent a ton of time with my parents and we spend a ton of time with them. I do want them to have the ability to work the technology to understand the technology, but you don’t have to live on it all day to do that."
Domoff said the next step in the study is to record the interactions of fathers, siblings and other caregivers and ultimately use this information to make better recommendations to families about how children use all this technology.