How to Limit Kids’ Screen Time

Too much screen time is not only a trap for children and families, but also a dangerous one. A sedentary lifestyle can lead to obesity, high blood pressure and other health problems. In addition, the screen time can be reduced by several hours, better used for sleep, reading, homework or active games. Of course, most parents agree that limiting screen time is a good idea. It’s hard to do that.

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has long recommended that children under the age of two should not touch the screen at all, while children between the ages of two and five should be limited to one hour a day. 2. However, the organization has updated its recommendations to reflect the extensive use of media by children and families and now recommends that:

For infants under 18 months of age: video chat only (e.g. chat with parents who are traveling or relatives who live far away)

18 to 24 month old children: high quality programs that infants and parents can watch together

Preschool children aged 2 to 5: watch no more than one hour of high-quality programs every day, and they can watch them together

Children aged 6 and above: there is no specific time limit. Instead, parents should “set consistent limits on the amount of time and type of media they use, and ensure that media does not replace adequate sleep, physical exercise, and other health-related behaviors.” AAP has an interactive media program that families can use to set their own limits.

You can also try to use these 10 options to tame your family’s use of the screen. You just need families that work for your family (remember, you can and are likely to change as your child grows).

No screen in bedroom

Keep TVs, video games and computers in public areas, not in children’s bedrooms. That means children can’t disappear for hours at a time. They have to share the time on screen with other family members, and you can have a better grasp of their work status and time.

Portable devices such as tablets and smartphones make the rule difficult to enforce. At least these devices should be charged overnight in public areas rather than bedrooms to avoid interfering with children’s sleep.

 

Turn off the screen in some days or hours

Some families have found that the easiest way is to turn off the screen during school, summer or, for example, meal time between 3 p.m. and 7 p.m., especially during meal time, which includes mothers and children. It’s the same with dad’s phone.

Such rules make it unnecessary for you to decide how much screen time is too much every day or every case. Once children overcome the initial resistance, they will accept the rule like anyone else.

Or, you can match technology with technology with tools like router plug-ins, cable and phone settings, and applications. These features allow you to control the online time, duration and access time of your home device.

 

Define “too much screen time” for your child

Determine how much comfortable screen time you have every day (for example, one hour a day on weekdays, two hours a day on weekends, without counting the screen time required for homework). Remind your child of this restriction and explain why you enforce it: sedentary time is really bad for their health. For young children, simply put, spending too much time on the screen is not good for their brain and body. Determine in advance the consequences of violating these rules.

 

Provide positive choices

Encourage children to walk, bike, play outdoors or play indoor games instead of using the screen. Playing with them usually attracts a lot of people. You can also work with them to create a list of their favorite non screen activities, so you can refer to the list when you have too much screen time.

 

Use age appropriate incentives

Customize the screen restriction policy according to the child’s age. For preschoolers, be distracted. If you usually let your child play on your tablet while you are in the bath or preparing dinner, find an activity she can do with you (for example, coloring with a washable crayon outside the bathtub, or tearing lettuce into salad).

For school-age children, make screening time their privilege (see below) and plan frequent play time so that they don’t complain about “doing nothing.”. For teenagers, we reserve your right to avoid cancellation of mobile phone and Internet access due to poor performance or housework.

 

Let them make money

Children are required to earn time by doing homework, doing housework, listening to music or physical exercise, playing outdoors, etc. There are many ways to do this. For example, you may provide tickets or chips that they have to cash when they watch TV or play games online. Or have them track the time they spend doing housework and set aside the same screen time. Or simply stipulate that homework always comes first, and then you can spend any remaining time on TV (however, please set a limit for that remaining time!).

 

Make the screen right for you

Turn on the TV or tablet to watch a particular program, and then turn it off. Don’t use it as background noise. Watch with your child so you can monitor the appropriateness of their choices. If you see something you don’t like, please say it out loud! Those are great teaching moments. Use a digital video recorder or streaming service to time shift your viewing time so that your viewing time matches your schedule. Try to use action control games to improve the activity level of video games (although these games should not replace other more intense exercises).

 

Become an example

Remember, what you’re doing is much more powerful than what you’re saying. If you turn on the TV news immediately after you walk into the house at night, or check your mobile phone at the traffic lights, it will be more difficult to enforce the screen time rules for children.

 

Give your child (some) control

Allow your child to choose how and when to use the screen, as long as they are in line with your family guidelines in terms of time and content. Try to avoid turning off the scene or his intermediate video game during the performance. An opportunity to give a warning when the time is up and let the child (especially the child) press the “close” button on his own.

 

Let children become producers rather than consumers

If your child really likes TV, movies or video games, encourage her to turn to the other side of the screen and become a Creator! She can choreograph dances, fight epic nerf battles or tell her own interesting stories.