Parenting has not been easy at any time and to simply complicate it more for you, your lock down diaries have just started to add on to your stress. Starting from daily chores and work-from-home to arranging your little one for the online school, it’s pretty hectic and you stay busy all day. And, finally or rather mistakenly, if you get time for yourself to relax you find your little devil either staring at the flat screen and adoring their fav cartoon character, or simply enjoying their time playing with your phone.
This potentially problematic obsession has come up with millennial problems for your munchkin’s eye health and has spiked your anxiety level.
So, should you be a terrible parent by grounding them for a week? Hell, no! Rather help them maintain a healthy balance between screen time and other activities.
Do the statistics talk about the same probability? Here’s what you need to know.
As per the research of the American Academy of Pediatrics, kids spend more time on screen than on any other activity. And, on average, this is 7 hours daily. Kids and technology have become inseparable nowadays, but can we call it an ‘addiction’- No! As technology does not change anybody biologically.
Even in the UK the cases are the same, researchers have noted that children of age between 6-15 years spend 6-7 hours of screen time, out of which they watch TV, surf on the internet, and play online games.
Therefore, to control the rising issues with kid’s screen time, most of the social media companies in the UK have introduced an age restriction policy and allow only those above 13 years.
Does increasing screen time affect a child’s development?
Kids nowadays have easy access to technology and that interrupts their overall mind and body development. It even affects their eyesight to a great extent.
- As per several studies on child development, it is found that kids up to the age of 3 years imitate and follow their parents. But screen flashing around them harms their observation which eventually affects their development.
- Increased screen time impacts negatively on their learning ability.
- Eye health is adversely affected, as a child’s vision is not fully developed up to the age of 8 years. And, extended screen time exposes them to harmful blue light which affects their eyesight. And, finally they end up wearing kid’s glasses at a very young age.
So, what can you do to limit their screen time?
Shouting, yelling, and snatching them away from the digital screen isn’t the solution. Going easy and making them understand what alternative they have to spend their leisure hours would be the best way to deal with this problem.
Here’s what you can try out!
- Engage them more in family time – Make it a point to spend a few hours daily with your kids and engage them in various kinds of discussions. That way they will feel entertained and would generate a healthy habit of spending more time with their family, rather than indulging in online activities.
- Ingrain healthy habits in them – Researchers say that kids have a habit of imitating the adults, may it be their parents, older siblings, or any other family members. Ensure that you don’t spend too much time staring at the digital screen in front of them.
- Indulge them in fun activities – Helps them engage in habits that help them in their overall development.
- Reading – Reading helps a lot in brain development and also keeps them away from digital screens.
- Craft – Figure out their area of interest and indulge them in art and craft activities to develop their creative minds.
- Explore – Allow them to engage in gardening and similar activities which will allow them to spend more time with nature. Exploring the outside world would be beneficial for their overall growth and development.
- Household chores – Make it a habit to engage them in household chores. Help them learn to wash their dishes after every meal. Let them help you in other daily household activities so that you can cut down on the screen time of your kids.
- Traditional indoor activities – Instead of investing time in digital video games, gift your little one’s board games or jigsaw puzzles so that they stay away from online activities.
- Finally, educate yourself about technology – You need to be equally smart and updated to deal with your tech-savvy kids. Gaming might seem intriguing to them but you know the consequences. Hence, teach your children about the risk factors related to it. Moreover, get anti-blue light coating kid’s glasses to reduce the negative impact of screen time to some extent.
Being a parent it’s your responsibility to take care of your kids’ health. Manage their screen time tactfully. Take them for an eye test every year and build a healthy habit to reduce their screen time.
