Create Screen Time Boundaries That Work for Your Family
Smartphones, tablets, computers, TVs! Does it feel like your family’s lives revolve around these electronic devices? It is completely understandable if you do since families began spending more time than usual on screens once COVID-19 hit the states in 2020. Your devices became one of your only lifelines to the outside world as families stayed home to help stop the spread of the virus.
Ten months later though, we suggest that you take stock of just how much time you and your family are spending on screens and what content is being consumed. Too much screen time can be mentally and physically unhealthy. For our youngest children especially, limited screen time is recommended.
Guidelines from the American Academy of Pediatrics discourages parents of children 18 months and younger to allow their children to use screens other than for video chats. For children ages 18 months to five years, the recommendation for digital media usage in the past was only for one hour each day. The newest guidelines, created prior to COVID-19, are more flexible but still urge parents to allow screen time in moderation.
Other recommendations for young children are:
Ensure your child is watching high-quality programming, such as found with Sesame Street. Other resources for content are PBS Kids, Sesame Workshop, and Common Sense Media.
Avoid letting your child use and view media by themselves. Toddlers learn best through play and by mimicking their trusted adults, so they look to you on how to understand what they are seeing.
Limit young children from watching fast-paced programming, apps with lots of distracting content, and any content with violence.
Don’t use media as a soothing strategy. We understand that it can be helpful in certain situations to help calm your child but not on a regular basis or as your first go-to.
Keep special time together, such as mealtimes, parent-child playtime, and other bonding times like storytime, free of media.
Make it a rule that phones nor tablets are allowed at the table during mealtimes or in the bedroom once lights are out.
Implement a no screens an hour before bedtime rule to help your child rest easier and better.
We know that changing media habits is easier said than done and that even prior to the pandemic, you and your children probably did not agree on how much time they should have for screen time. However, with the extra time being spent on video devices, children are becoming more dependent on them as their source of entertainment and are less physically active which experts fear is contributing to the increase in childhood obesity these past 10 months.
How do you go back to pre-pandemic media guidelines, or at least establish new rules?
Good question. And while there’s no one answer that will work for all families, we have some good resources below that offer suggestions and tools to help. A few tips that we like and are easy to implement are:
Start the conversation about limiting screen time with honesty. Tell them that too much time on video devices is not healthy.
Plan a family digital detox. Start with establishing one day each week as an electronics-free day. Eventually, try extending the digital detox to include one electronics-free weekend each month and then for longer periods such as a week while on vacation, camping, or even during summer camps.
Establish agreed-upon limits for electronics and ways that children can earn extra screen time.
Create a Family Media Plan together to make sure everyone knows the rules, any consequences to breaking the rules or ways to earn additional time, what content is allowed and etc.
More Resources:
