How to limit screen time for kids
Knowing what to do around devices and screen time is one of the main headaches parents are dealing with these days.
With devices gaining popularity only in the last decade, parents nowadays are finding themselves bringing up ‘digital kids’ and not knowing how to tackle the issue of excessive screen time.
Most parents want to prevent their kids from being on devices for extended periods, but many things like busy life or challenging situations like working from home can stand in the way.
One way to help this is to establish your child’s passion or interest and create an environment where they can enjoy that activity without a device. The idea is to provide something for them to “get lost in”.
How Much Should Children Be Allowed Screen Time?
If your child has unlimited access to devices or TV, they will choose those over other things most of the time. Unfortunately, addiction to screen time, damaging blue light and other things like lack of movement (exercise) that comes with being on a device are known to cause health problems in kids.
According to a US study published in Preventive Medicine Reports, it was found that children aged 2 to 17 should not have more than one hour a day of screen time, or it can cause lower psychological well-being. In addition, the decline in physical activity is a huge factor, as kids who spend hours attached to screens move less and have more chances of being diagnosed with anxiety or depression.
It is suggested that children younger than two years old should avoid digital media altogether unless it’s an occasional video call.
Children aged 2 to 5 should only watch TV for up to one hour a day.
While learning apps and fun electronic games are being promoted as educational for younger children, they also set them up to expect non-stop entertainment and instant gratification.
Lots of parents also try to ‘entertain’ their kids when they are bored. But, if you leave your child to come up with things to do on their own, you’d be surprised to see how great their imagination is and what they end up doing.
Kids have more fun making forts out of paper boxes or running an imaginary shop than doing a game on a device.
How to Limit Screen Time for Kids:
Set expectations from the beginning.
Be honest with your kids about how much time they can spend on their devices or TV. Explain what health complications come with excessive use of digital media.
Create an earning system
Let your children ‘earn’ their screen time instead of having unlimited access to it whenever they want. For example, one of the things you can do is create cards with chores and then have the amount of screen time each chore delivers after being completed.
Be a good role model
As much as we don’t like our kids spending time on their devices, unfortunately, we, as parents, do it as well. So be a good role model and decrease your screen time to show your children that other things can be done besides being on your phone or watching TV.
Enjoy regular device-free days
Start a new tradition, set up a device-free day each week, and then possibly go up to more than once a week. Of course, many (including yourself) will struggle to start with, but you will be reaping the rewards quickly!
Just remember that we, parents, want our kids to enjoy their childhood and look back and remember the quality time with friends and family and not endless days on their devices or watching TV. Our responsibility is to help children create fantastic childhood memories and have a healthier start in life.