Jj is for Jottings 92. Managing Children’s Screen Time.
The easiest way to manage children’s screen time is to avoid screens altogether as much as possible, by providing alternative activities. Rory, the foal, is looking over Amy’s shoulder, trying to read “Aa is for Alpacas” with Amy, Zack and Zara.
This article on managing children’s screen time follows on from the effects of screen time on children and parents’ screen time.
SUGGESTIONS FOR MANAGING CHILDREN’S SCREEN TIME.
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Limit Parents’ Screen Time.
This has already been covered in the previous article.
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Discuss Why Limits Are Needed and Set Them Together.
This is really important, so children can see the purpose. Setting limits together gives children more ownership – it’s not something that has just been imposed on them. But they need to be strictly adhered to, as is the case with any other parental rules.
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Limit Screen Time Through Location, Rather Than Counting Minutes.
It’s easier to say “no smartphones at the table”, than watching the clock. Family meal times are really important for conversation and parent-child bonding.
However, an overall time limit for daily screen time is also important.
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Overall Daily Screen Time Limit.
There are two ways of going about this:
(1) You could say that children have a maximum of 2 hours/day, which is the recommended limit for ages 5-17 years. (You need to take into account time spent on devices at school and other activities.) This is not very easy to monitor.
(2) You could say that children are allowed their quota of screen time during a particular time, say between 5 and 6.30pm – whatever fits in best with family life. This way is much easier to police, but it does mean that there are times when you need to renegotiate the time span, depending on family activities. Or – horror of horrors – forgo some of it altogether on certain occasions!
No televisions in children’s bedrooms ties in nicely with this. That’s automatically cutting down on a great deal of potential screen time.
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Research Educational Games.
If you are going to give children screen time, then it is important to research educational games, and avoid violent games, games with content which is not appropriate for age, or games which involve gambling.
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Ban Screen Time When Rules Are Broken.
If the children have gone over their screen time, a week’s ban will usually have the desired effect.
I read of a British TV presenter who admitted to smashing her children’s iPads after they broke the rules and were playing outside their allotted time. Many rules had been made and broken and so she announced that that was it – she would physically have to break them. And she did. I can understand her frustration, but the thought of the wasted materials in an increasingly polluted world is a big issue for me. It would be better to give the iPads away to other families.
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Avoid Using Screen Time to Reward or Punish.
Parents using screen time as a means of rewarding or punishing their children could lead to children putting a high value on using their devices.
RESEARCHERS AND MEDICAL ASSOCIATIONS ARE SAYING TO MANAGE CHILDREN’S SCREEN TIME.
Remember that there is a growing body of evidence that all lead to the same conclusion – too much screen time is undesirable. The effects aren’t just physical – children who spend most of their time on electronic devices tend to be more insular and lacking in communication skills. Screen time crowds out other activities which are healthier and more desirable choices for a child’s development.
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