LIMITING SCREEN TIME FOR CHILDREN

 

 

Most millennial parents are pressed for time owing to stress and pressure at the workplace. This has a direct impact on their engagement levels with children. It results in the latter turning to alternate modes of engagement such as mobile phones, television, tabs and computers. In fact, many parents hand over gadgets to their children to keep them occupied. Technology also allows for a convenient alternative to physical activities such as playing outdoor games for both children and parents.

 

A report by the World Health Organization further shows that “an average child and teenager between the age of 8 to 18 years consumes at least seven hours of screen time per day in contradiction to the recommended guidelines of one to two hours or less per day”. A majority of brain development happens in the early years when the brain triples and grows in size rapidly. Therefore, the demographic whose brain health is negatively affected the most due to exposure to screen time is children.

 

Do you ever find yourself fighting for your kids' attention? Of course, the thing that keeps them from paying attention to you is... their smartphone. We know how negative the effects can be. You're missing out on precious quality family time. Smartphones are interrupting one-on-one interactions. Real friends with whom we played football are nowhere to be seen, all replaced by virtual ones. Not to mention how compromising it is for the kids' health to be exposed to screens for prolonged periods. You and I both know that neither politely asking nor assertively demanding to put that phone away is going to help. This is a serious problem of our age.

 

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and hybrid and distance learning models, many children are incorporating more screen time into their school day. That's why it's more important than ever to reduce the use of electronics the rest of the day.

 

While screens are a part of today's culture, there are health benefits related to reducing screen time, including improved physical health, decreased obesity and more time to play and explore. This is especially true for children spending considerable time learning on computers and tablets in their online classes. The average time spent on screens is seven to 10 hours. If on top of this they spend their leisure glued to video games then you can imagine the magnitude of the problem!

 

Harmful effects of excessive Screen time

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommendations for an acceptable amount of screen time are:

• No screen time for children under 2
• One hour per day for children 2 to 12
• Two hours per day for teens and adults

Limiting screen time also helps parents keep a closer eye on what their children are experiencing on social media and the internet. It's important to use break times to get in some physical activity.

While more research is needed to fully understand the effects screen time levels have on kids, parents are not off the hook. Screen time affects adults the same as children. Too much screen time puts everyone at risk of obesity, and it's linked with sleep disturbances and can affect relationships. For kids, especially teens, there are studies concerning the negative effects of screen time and its relationship to anxiety, depression and attention span. Excessive screen time has an adverse effect on the psychological and physical health of a child.

Screen-based activities often delay bedtime resulting in insufficient and low-quality sleep. The screen content too, particularly the violence in cartoons, can interfere with the ability to fall asleep due to the physical and psychological effects. It hampers the child’s concentration and imagination. In fact, the light from the screen has a direct impact on the alertness and circadian rhythm of the child. Circadian rhythm can influence sleep-wake cycles, hormone release, eating habits, digestion as well as body temperature.

According to The American Journal of Pediatrics, “screen time has an adverse effect on the communication skills and language development of the child”. Children under the age of two, who watch screens more than the permissible limit may talk later and have an issue deciphering meaning. The background noise from television is associated with decreased attention, lower quality interactions with parents, and behavioural and cognitive problem. Then again every hour spent on smartphone, tablet, computer or television and binging on unhealthy snacks increases the risk of obesity by two-folds. While it may not be a causative factor, excessive screen time socially isolates the child and pushes him/her towards Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and autism.

 

These 8 tips can help you trim your children's screen time when not in school:

 

1. Be a role model

If you are all the time glued to your phone or the television then you cannot expect your kids to take you seriously when you admonish them about their excessive screen time. You have to be an ideal parent / grand-parent and do what you preach. Your own screen time should be fixed and the screen should not be your default mode of entertainment or your company in solitude. When the child sees you reading a book, playing a musical instrument, baking a cake he/she comes to know about the hidden pleasures of life!

 

2. Be accountable.

Set Screen-Time Limits: Set expectations with your kids, and set goals to be intentional about reducing screen time. Once you set the limits, declare them and stick to them. With your older children, you can negotiate and agree on a timeframe that is accepted by both parties to avoid conflict. For the younger ones, try to split the time throughout the day, as they find it more difficult to resist urges, and a strict hand will only lead to conflict and more resistance from their side. Meet them in the middle: if they tend to reach for their phone to rest after lunch, allow them to use a portion of their designated screen-time after lunch. Keep them posted every 10 minutes on how much time is left for the day.

 

3. Be realistic.

If your kids are spending a lot of leisure time on screens, including watching TV, start by setting smaller, more attainable goals. Instead of drastically cutting down their screen time to 1 hour a day start by cutting their current screen time to half. There is no point in triggering a revolt because then the very purpose of reform will be defeated.

 

4. Be engaged.

Involve Them in Your Daily Activities: Don't leave the kids to entertain themselves. Children, especially the younger ones, love to imitate grown-ups, so see how you can involve them in your activities if you haven't got anything planned just for them. For example, they can help with meal preparation, gardening, or even hanging the laundry to dry. And you can help with building a fortress in the living room! Challenge yourself not to be concerned if they accidentally spill juice or make a little mess - this is a learning curve for both of you. After school or work, spend time each day talking face to face with kids and give them your full attention. Quality time with parents can easily wean them off their gadgets.

 

5. Put hand-held devices away.

Out of Sight, Out of Mind: During screen-free hours, put devices away or at a charging station in a common area so they're not attracting your kids' attention. When the phone is near, but the child knows that he/she is not allowed to touch it, their willpower is on the line. Don't put your children to this test, as it requires many mental resources. It will be much easier for everyone to put them away and forget they exist. You could also make a small morning ritual in which all of you put the phones away together in a basket and have breakfast together without screens.

Phones won't nag the kids so much once they are away from the disturbing notification sounds that trigger anxiety. And you won't have to constantly play cop too! This means you could also throw a sheet over the TV if you'd like. Do not let the TV run as a background noise all the time.

 

6. Create a Challenge

If you feel your children can handle it and it won't create too many conflicts, create a healthy challenge or competition for the time you'll spend together. This is a good way to keep them occupied and help them develop skills while strengthening your family bonds. Here are examples for inspiration: Learn how to skate on roller-blades See who can score the most jumps on the jump rope Fold an origami project the fastest\ most accurately Can we build a tree-house together in 48 hours? Who can draw the largest side-walk drawing with chalk? Learn how to bake a cake or make biscuits. There can be no end to such interesting challenges!

 

7. Create phone-free zones in the home.

Making family meal areas a phone-free zone is an easy way to start. Not carrying the phone to bed is the second rule that can be easily implemented with a bit of persuasion. Toilets should be phone free zones – you can take in books or newspapers but not phones.

 

8. Opt for the Great Outdoors.

The great outdoors is as stimulating as their phone and is much healthier. One of the reasons why kids are so attached to their small-screen devices is that they are very stimulating. There are endless varying sounds and constant movements on the screen, keeping them trapped in a loop, waiting for the next stimulus. Spending time outside rather than inside (if possible) is all the more stimulating, with added health benefits. Thus cycling around the block, having a picnic in the park, campout and bonfire, going for a swim can all be healthier alternatives. Putting down the phone and taking a walk or playing outdoors increases your endorphins and provides that feeling of happiness in your brain, boosting your mood and improving your physical health.

 

China has responded to this problem as a nation

China’s National Press and Publication Administration restricted the amount of time that children could play video games to three hours a week. That’s one hour each on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The facial recognition technology will force kids to log off if they are playing outside the approved hours. That’s a powerful tool - perhaps the only one that would actually be able to enforce these measures anywhere in the world - but one that I imagine many parents in India would be deeply uncomfortable with.

China’s government had decided that a generation of kids was growing up distracted, addicted and surly. Teachers would complain that students were falling asleep in class after playing games all night. Parents said their kids were irritable and throwing tantrums after having their games taken away from them. They were showing withdrawal symptoms.

Video games, once confined to desktop computers and consoles, are now readily accessible everywhere from the bus trip home to the living room couch. Parents in the affluent families of our country are not unfamiliar with this problem. But before you call for the government to intervene, it’s worth considering what type of society can actually enforce these measures. Unlike China, where government has control over all game creators and where foreign games are not allowed our video games market is autonomous.

China’s crackdown on video games is part of a wider move to restrict movies, songs and artists that aren’t doing their bit for China’s rising nationalism. Restricting games is only one measure taken down a very slippery slope. We will certainly not like to go down that way.

 

 

While the means is unacceptable to us the objective seems to be noble. Parents have to take responsibility and not relegate it to any governmental body. When the school day wraps up, have a plan to put away devices somewhere out of sight and engage kids in other ways. Remember when you were a child how your parents and grand-parents spent quality time with you, reading stories and fables, singing songs and reciting poetries. Remember how they tried to keep you busy in gully cricket and roof-top badminton. So now when it is your turn to look after your own children why are you shying away from your responsibility and depriving your children of a healthy childhood? And, worse still, why should the government substitute you and start doing the parenting?