Variability in Attention Span of Kids | Ezyschooling

Attention span refers to an individual's ability to attend to a stimulus or object over a period of time. This ability is also known as sustained attention or vigilance. In the present fast-paced world, where people are running all the time, one needs to understand the importance of being stagnancy. Attention span increases with age, and is related to, and plays a role in other aspects of functioning including learning, memory, academic performance, and the understanding and processing of large quantities of information. To know more about the Variability in Attention Span of Kids, we have with us, Ms Srishti Asthana.

Srishti is a dynamic professional currently engaged as a Learning and development expert with SharpKANOL. She has a background in clinical psychology and a knack for organizational behaviour. She conducts behavioural intervention with an organization such as NTPC, TATA power & Netambit among others.
She has experience in workforce analysis and productivity enhancement. She has been facilitating training and workshop, and one-on-one Intervention session through her career. Srishti has also written articles for esteemed platforms like The Hindu, Gobarefoot.com.
She has been a panellist on mock interviews of UPSC  aspirants for future groups. She also has worked extensively towards the psychological development of underprivileged children.

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(02:02-03:45) What is an attention span?
(04:14-09:45) How common is the problem of "attention span reduction" in today's kids?
(09:59-14:50) Is there any type of standard survey/questionnaire for determining the level of focus or attention?
(15:22-18:41) What is the recommended maximum length of listening tasks for children? What are the steps that they can take to increase their attention span?
(19:23-22:16) How do you think can parents play a vital role in increasing the attention span of their kids?
(22:36-25:06) Can meditation play a significant in the process of increasing attention span? If yes, how?
(26:54-29:49) Is there any research that uses mindfulness or contemplative methods for addressing students' distracted with social media/tech?
(30:39-37:54) Any advice you would like to give to the parents who are working on the issue of attention span in their kids?

Attention problems are common among preschool children. By the age of 4 years, as many as 40% of children have sufficient problems with attention to be of concern to parents and preschool teachers . Symptoms of inattention, even those falling short of formal diagnosis of Attention-deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) are observed to be as high as 3 to 15% in community samples and 50% or higher among clinical referrals . For example, the number of preschoolers described as “always on the go/driven by a motor” is as high as 72.7% . Inattention among preschoolers is not always indicative of ADHD, and may represent a variety of alternative or co-existing conditions, including language disorders, hearing loss, low intellectual functioning, or other forms of psychopathology. Most often, though, inattention is a normal variation observed in typical preschool child development, making identification of “disordered” attention more problematic , especially given the tremendous variability in caregiver ratings of attention and endorsed symptoms of ADHD in this age group . In the past two decades, there has been an increased interest in the assessment and treatment of preschool children presenting with attention problems, especially those associated with symptoms of ADHD, i.e., distractibility and hyperactivity. It has been asserted that earlier identification and treatment of attention problems may minimize the harmful impact of childhood disorders, and facilitate appropriate diagnosis, or just as importantly, non-diagnosis.