Managing Screen Time for Children: How Much is Too Much and How Can We Limit It?
It starts innocently: a few minutes checking social media, a quick round of video games. But for many children, these 'quick' sessions spiral into hours of screen time that take a toll on their well-being. Screens have become a central part of kids' lives—whether for school, entertainment, or connecting with friends. As they spend more time on devices, concerns about screen addiction are growing. CDC (Center for Disease Control) reports that children between ages 8-18 spend around six to nine hours in front of a screen on an average day. What’s alarming is that this statistic does not include schoolwork.
It becomes extremely important to recognise the effects excessive screen time can have on their children's mental well-being and their ability to form meaningful relationships with friends and family. But parents and teachers now face the challenge of finding a healthy balance. How much screen time is too much? And what do we do to curb this? Let’s break it down one step at a time. Often, as is common with any type of addiction, we may fail to recognise its onset until it has already taken a significant toll. Here are some telltale signs of screen addiction in a child:
- Loss of interest in offline activities - Watching a video or playing an online game seems to excite a child more than, say, books, toys or sports.
- It preoccupies them - Observe if a child cannot stop talking about or re-enacting a game or a video they watched online. While this is normal as children pick up the content they consume, it is important to note how much of it they’re doing, and how much of it is healthy.
- Withdrawal symptoms - Are they constantly anxious and irritable when they don’t have a gadget around? Are they having issues sleeping and eating? Are they having constant mood swings and headaches? They could be addicted to a digital screen.
- Impact on academic performance - Excessive screen use is known to decrease a user’s attention span. Extrapolating this to children, whose attention spans are normally reduced, screens alter a child’s ability to focus, concentrate and retain information.
Now – as parents, educators and caregivers – what we can do is foster a healthy balance in a child’s relationship with technology. How do we do this? Here are a few ways -
Set strict and clear timetables for screen-use among children at home and school. A way to ensure that this is followed would be to introduce little tokens of gratification like a star, a favourite food, or even some dance-time!
Let your child choose a day when this timetable will be put into action. Children like being in control of their actions, and this will give them the opportunity to do just that. This can help in a smooth transition.
Make a list of activities that you can do with your child that do not involve gadgets - this could range from playing at the park, taking them to museums and libraries, having a storytime, or cooking together!
Encourage children to build and create new things by painting, solving puzzles, using building blocks, modelling clay and so on. Sit with them and engage with them through stories and anecdotes while they do this if it’s something that they enjoy.
Avoid using gadgets around children. Children learn by observing. If they have no choice but to use technology for schoolwork, it becomes necessary to prevent its use during other times of the day.
These strategies can guide parents and educators to help children build a healthier relationship with technology, supporting their well-being and encouraging balanced lifestyles in a world so consumed by digital media. And importantly, we must ensure that we are gentle and kind while we deal with such issues in children.
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