MP Warns That TT Rockstars May Harm Children’s Development Through Excessive Use

Concerns have been raised with the government about the amount of time primary school children are spending on a game designed to make learning times tables fun.

TT Rockstars, which allows children to compete with classmates for virtual coins and rock-themed characters and outfits, is widely used by schools for maths homework.

Labour MP Emily Darlington said the app and others like it could be harming children’s development because it rewards them for “length of time rather than quality of time spent online”.

Bruno Reddy, founder of the company behind TT Rockstars, said he shared concerns about screen time and was working with schools to introduce curfews and time limits.

He said the company discourages long sessions, adding: “Every game in TTRS is deliberately short, and our characters remind children to take regular breaks.”

“The rule of thumb we give schools is: three minutes, four or five times a week. In September, a typical child played on three days, for about six minutes each time.”

He said that from 24 November “every school will have a curfew and a daily time limit switched on, and leaderboards switched off as default”.

Darlington told BBC News that while educational technology can have a place in the classroom “when gamification is used, children spend hours online to ‘earn’ the latest outfit”.

“Parents are concerned that this causes conflict over time spent on devices and the pressure to perform against classmates,” she added, and this could deter them from taking part in real-life rather than screen-based activities.

The Milton Keynes Central MP raised concerns about TT Rockstars at the Commons Science Committee, which is investigating the impact of screen time and digital devices on children’s brain development.

The company behind TT Rockstars, Maths Circle, says that the app and a similar programme for addition and subtraction, Numbots, is used in 17,000 schools and over 100,000 households.

Reddy, a former maths teacher, said TT Rockstars had been designed to “boost learning in the classroom: recognising progress, celebrating achievement and making learning enjoyable”.

He added: “We have deliberately steered away from features designed to keep children playing, such as streaks, random rewards, chat messages, loot boxes or notifications.”

“There is no advertising and schools pay the same subscription however much their students play, so we have no commercial reason to want children on screen for longer.”

The government is in the process of drawing up guidelines for schools and parents on the amount of time five- to 16-year-olds should spend on screens.

Source link