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5 Steps to Cut Down on Screen Time
- Mar 18, 2019
- 2 min read
https://www.entangledharmony.com/stop-the-battle-5-steps-to-cut-down-on-your-childs-screen-time/
You know it’s not good for your child to spend time in front of screens. Yet, it snug into your life anyway.
It happens to the best of us.
It’s been a long rainy day. Everyone is cranky and you are trying to get dinner on the table. Watching a half-hour show is not going to harm them. You will get dinner ready in peace while the kids are happily entertained.
And THEN the next cranky day comes along. Or they are sick. Or you need to make an important phone call and need some quiet. Soon, they are bugging you all day long.
It gets exhausting and you start to wonder if you are being too tough on them. You tell yourself that you used to watch TV as kid and you turned out just fine. But then you remember the research you read the other day about how it affects their brains. And you wish that they would just naturally prefer to play outside, read a book or play with legos.
The American Pediatric Associationrecommends the following:
Children and teens should engage with entertainment media for no more than one or two hours per day, and that should be high-quality content. It is important for kids to spend time on outdoor play, reading, hobbies, and using their imaginations in free play. Television and other entertainment media should be avoided for infants and children under age 2. A child’s brain develops rapidly during these first years, and young children learn best by interacting with people, not screens.
My take on this? I believe 1 or 2 hours per day is still too long. You may feel differently and that’s okay. You need to decide what is appropriate for your family. For us, it is about 1 hour per week, sometimes none. In the winter, it’s a bit more.
Now, it’s easy to state that children need to spend more time outdoors, read and use their imagination. It’s another story to actually get them to do those things when they are glued to their devices.
So, how does one keep screen time at a healthy level?
Understanding the Why
Watching TV or playing games on a tablet is a habit. A highly addictive habit for that matter.
Understanding and internalizing this is key.
Once you look at watching TV as a habit, you are less likely to get frustrated when your child is asking for it…again and again. You remind yourself that they are not doing it to be more challenging. It is simply what their brain is craving. And it’s our job to help them break this habit because they don’t have the tools yet to do so.
This single mind shift will instantly infuse you with more empathy and your child will take note.
So, how do you reduce screen time without having to fight a battle with your kids every day?
5 Steps to Curb the Screen Habit
Step #1: Have the Talk
Trying to tell children what we want them to do and then expecting them to follow suit rarely works. It’s in their nature to question everything that comes their way.
To read more:
https://www.entangledharmony.com/stop-the-battle-5-steps-to-cut-down-on-your-childs-screen-time/
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