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According to a recent survey, it was found that for every 5 toddlers, 4 are watching TV, movies, videos online, and 85% parents allow their preschooler to play with their phone. Half of kids get their own tablet by age 5. Also, 1 child out for every 10 children aged between 5 and 8 years are allowed unlimited use of the Internet with no parental monimonitoring.
So what is counted as screen time?
Screen time is the time when you spend watching TV, videos on computers, playing video or handheld computer games, or using tablets or smartphones. The time a child spends looking at an electronic screen is considered as screen time. This includes watching videos and television shows, playing video games, and using a computer, phone, or tablet.
And it adds up fast: You might not think twice about letting your child fiddle with your phone or look at a book on your tablet, and it’s tempting to share silly YouTube videos or cute photos on Instagram. This could happen even at school or play dates when your kids could be using devices or playing games they don’t have access to at home.
You can exclude the time spent on video chat when you as a family talk to your relatives via Skype of Facetime, since these are brief periods, they do not necessarily count as screen time. In fact, engaging in conversation with family even if it is over a screen, allows children to practice their social skills.
Screen time can be any of the following:
- Playing video games, using online tools to draw pictures/working with images
- Sitting still and watching movies, TV programs or YouTube videos
- Doing school homework online, on educational apps on smartphone/tablet
- Playing games on apps or watching videos for entertainment
Screen time guidelines
Experts recommend limiting your child’s daily screen time. This is because real-life interactions with family and society as such is much better for a child’s wellbeing, learning and development. These are the latest guidelines from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP):
“The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) says some screen time is okay for children as young as 18 months, but it also recommends limiting this to an hour or less a day of high-quality digital media and urges parents to stay involved to a larger extext when their kids are using screens.”
With so much digital media directed towards everyone today and especially kids, right from streaming videos to games to educational tools, this is a worrysome scenario for parents as to how much is too much. Experts also now emphasize that the manner in whcih kids use screens is equally important as to the amount of time they use them.
AAP has been strictly recommending that parents totally shut off their kids under the age of 2, completely from any type of screentime. But in 2016 they revised their guidelines to enable parents make informed choices.
Why is too much screen time a problem?
There have been lots of videos circulating in social media comparing chidlren with differing screen times and checking their mental abilities. Some studies compare smartphones to cocaine, especially for children. That digital screens affect the brain just as cocaine would, is shocking to hear, we are not sure if this is true. While there is no strong proof it is always better to be on the safer side since there is a strong case to be made that too much screen time can be harmful to kids.
- Social, emotional, and behavioral development: A parent’s main concern is about how screen time can possibly hurt development in a child and sadly there is good reason to be concerned. It is said that increased exposure to gadgets has been associated with ADHD, hyperactivity, shorter attention spans, and aggressive behavior. One recent study of preteens found that spending just five days away from phones, tablets, and computers greatly improved their ability to read emotional cues. Small things that we may not take note of such as having the TV on in the background could also be distracting and it could interfere with parent-child interaction – this is very critical to a child’s social development.
- Weight issues: Heard of couch potatoes? Too much screen time indicates that your child is not moving! This could contribute to obesity and influence weight gain in adulthood.
- Sleep issues: The more time children spend watching screens – especially in the evening – the less sleep they get. The AAP warns against keeping screens in kids’ bedrooms, because it is said that even small screens like phones and tablets have been linked to poor sleep quality. The light emitted by screens may delay melatonin release and make it harder to fall asleep.
- Unhealthy habits:Too much screen time can be a tough habit to break but it is not impossible.Children need to be engaged in some activity or the other, so if a parent devotes time for his/her children this cycle can be broken and after a point the child will not crave for screen time at all. They have better control over emotions once this habit is broken.
The common mistakes as parents you can make is to take use of technology to distract your child when at say a restaurant or when doing something very urgent. Parents need to be mindful of this. This must not be a routine and it is perfectly ok for kids to get bored. Boredom helps to bring in creativity. Kids will also have to learn to manage emotions. It is an easy task to just hand over the gadget, weaning is tougher. A simple pen and paper helps to bring out their creativity as well as keep the child engaged. It pays to invest in busy books rather than a tablet when it comes to children. Parents spending time with kids also matters immensely, kids feel important and will listen to you, parents!
Some of these guidelines in detail are:
- under 18 months – zero screen time, other than video-chatting
- children aged 18 months – 2 years: Can watch educational programmes only under adult supervision so they can teach them/make them understand what is being shown
- children aged 2-5 years: No more than 1 hour per day, accompanied by adults.
- children aged 6 years and older: Consistent limit on screentime of all types.
So what does this now mean?
Limiting screen time enables you to ensure that your child enjoys lots of healthy, fun activities – both with and without screens.
Limits mean looking at the time your child spends on screens and making sure it doesn’t get in the way of sleep and activities that are good for her development. Some such activities are things like playing – the real physical thing, reading, doing creative stuff like drawing, and socialising with family and friends.
You needn’t totally restrict your children from watching TV or videos just make sure the quality of the time spent is good for your child and also supervise them.
Tips for managing your kids’ screen time
- Try to hold off on giving tech devices to kids
- Set clear limits
- Talk to your child, make them understand
- Offer fun alternatives
- Watch your own screen time
- Set up parental controls
- Take charge of devices
- Make a family agreement
- Create clear consequences
So how are you dealing with this at home? Let us know in the comments!
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by Hridya
A biochemist by education who could never put what she studied to good use, finally found GetDoc as a medium to do what she loved - bring information to people using a forum that is dedicated to all things medical. View all articles by Hridya.
