Ways to enhance your kid’s screen time
One study says that a teenager’s average screen time is about 7 hours daily, and a preteen spends about 5 hours daily. That is a long time when we have only 24 hours a day. You can cling to some guidelines that the American Academy of Paediatrics has published; for example, for kids under two years of age, the recommendation is to avoid screen time at all if possible. They learn from direct caregiver directions, which is most important.
And if you are going to do some screen time, make sure that you are present there with them, guiding them through it. In terms of pre-schoolers, like those who are 3 to 5 years of age, the recommendation for screen time is an hour a day. Again a lot of time can be spent with a parent guiding them through it, or a caregiver.
Something crucial for parents to take care of
The important thing is to make sure that you try to decrease the time you use devices to calm or distract your child. Your child needs to learn the natural process, patience, and self-soothing mechanisms.
In terms of the older children, that is where things start getting messy or complicated. There are no guidelines or rules set that you have to follow; it is according to your will. But the essential thing is that as a parent, you have to make sure that you pay attention to your child and that they spend more or enough time on other activities rather than the devices.
The American Academy of Pediatrics has made a practical website named AAP Media Plan, where you can set up the settings. You can mention your child’s age, and according to the age, they provide you the recommended sleep time for your child, and then they provide you with all the activities other than the screen time they do in a day. Experts at the nursing dissertation helped and suggested this site be beneficial in their studies on paediatrics.
Now you can create the plan for your child, and once the settings are done, the limits are all set, cling to them.
We understand that things can differ from daily, depending on what is going on in your home or your plans for the day. For the most part, at least, cling to those guidelines or advice provided, and if there needs to be any change or adjustment, you can include your child in it.
It is what works for your family and your loved ones. So take care, keep a check on those close to you. Keep maintaining social interactions with your family members. Try to figure out what is best for you and your family.
A guide on screen time for babies and toddlers
A newborn baby’s brain starts developing in the first two years of life. This is why babies and toddlers need to discover their surroundings and look at many sights, sounds, tastes, and textures. Talking and playing around with different people benefits kids by allowing them to experience and learn about the environment or the world surrounding them.
This is the purpose for which AAP made the website. As the world moves too fast, keeping the kids away from all these devices around them like television, computers, tablets, androids and gaming consoles is challenging.
We must face the fact that screens are everywhere; no matter where we travel or camp, technology has access to everything today. Your kids are among these billions of kids engaged in these devices. A parent has to take steps about whether to try distancing the kids from these devices or make it practical for them.
Productive ways
You can let 18- to 24-month-old toddlers enjoy a little screen time with a caregiver or a parent beside them. Set 1 hour a day for kids ages 2 and 3, not more than that.
Now, good and productive screen time is when you and your kid are playing colour games, shape games, and educational games, but lousy screen time will be when you make your kid sit in front of the television to watch your favourite TV show.
Advice on screen time
- Make good use of screen time.
- Fix sometimes for your family and have talks with your kid and make them learn the lessons regarding the world and the good and bad things in it. Do not leave them alone at any time to sit blankly in front of the screen; it can hurt them.
- Show them an example. Do it because kids learn more when they see you doing it.
- The rules you apply to screen time are just like those for other things.
- Set a limit for everything that it should never exceed and talk about it.
- Stay with your kids while they are using devices and keep socializing, which includes learning productive games and exciting activities, making them know more and more about good habits.
- Keep research of good games before you present it to your kids, apps and social media cannot be trusted nowadays. They claim to be educational but are not, so take care of that.
- Make a timetable on the colourful chart for non-screen time activities. Playtime is an integral part of the young phase of a child. Plan family picnics in the parks and family lunch or dinner plans to distract kids more from screen time activities.
I hope the above ways help you schedule your kids’ screen time. I wish you the best of luck!
