Skype, FaceTime and United Through Reading

December 8, 2015

“We are doing well. Our son loves to talk to [his dad] on video. Our daughter always says she does, but won’t do it. It’s hard for Dad to handle. She talks about him all the time and says she misses him.” – Michelle, Military Spouse

At United Through Reading, we hear many stories, like Michelle’s, about a child’s lack of engagement with a deployed parent on a live video chat such as Skype or FaceTime. It’s true that a lot of small children are not comfortable with video chatting because the image of the parent often looks distorted and disruptions in the connectivity can be disconcerting. Often when using video chat technology like Skype or FaceTime — due to poor internet connection, insufficient bandwidth or an inability to sync family schedules with a service member’s schedule —  families and their service members are left feeling disappointed and frustrated by attempts to stay connected.  

A study by IDEA Group also indicates that connected reading, like United Through Reading, is significantly more successful than ordinary video chat for long-distance families to connect with young children.  Additionally,  the study states that a young child’s average attention span on video chat maxes out at 2-3 minutes.

With United Through Reading, families are guaranteed special and uninterrupted time with their service member that can be viewed over and over again. That’s why we recommend a UTR video in addition to efforts to video chat. A UTR video is reliable, repeatable, and always accessible to a child.

Through United Through Reading, the child is able to connect to the away parent through the read-aloud experience, allowing them to form a bond around the book. Story time with a loved one is comforting and familiar — while video chat can be unknown to a child. 

United Through Reading invites any service member who is deployed or separated by distance from a child in their life to connect with any of UTR’s locations, or to learn more by visiting www.unitedthroughreading.org or contacting military@utr.org.