In today’s digital world, it’s absolutely impossible to stay away from screens! Screens are everywhere whether we use them for work or play, whether used by the young or the old, As for children, they have grown up with screens and were handed a tablet or remotes to smart TVs at such a young age. Since young children struggle effectively learning how to manage their time and exercising self-control, they need to be helped and guided by their parents in a manner that they feel like their screen time isn’t restricted but they feel like they get a say in how to manage their valuable time.
Help them plan their time!
Good planning and prioritising can go a long way. It’s important to help children develop this good habit as it will help them later on in life as well. Children, much like adults get swayed and can sometimes spend hours getting lost in the rabbit hole of information and content available online. Many of their assignments, projects and even classes are held online. This is a point of concern for many parents trying to protect their children’s health, posture, eyesight and others.
First things first, parents have to realistically understand that there will never be a way to cut out screen time completely. Keeping this in mind, It’s best to sit with your child and help chalk out their timetable. Help them find pockets of time in their everyday routine when they will be using their phone/tablet/ to play games or watch videos (for either work or play!)
Encourage them to meet their friends and play outside!
It seems like gone are the days when children used to meet outside to play every evening! Or spend their mornings playing cricket and hide and seek. Many children now seem to think of online gaming and chatting with their friends as the only medium of socialising. The original entertainment will always be hanging out with our friends! This feel-good activity involves no screens and will always be the best way to stay connected and help children grow socially amongst peers of their own age group.
No phones at the dinner table
Set some ground rules for your house to have certain nights where the family plans a screen detox! How should you go about this? Easy! Make a rule that no phones or tablets will be allowed during lunch and dinner. It’s best to have designated family nights when on a fun family playlist and all cook a meal together and have family and friends over for dinner. Also, a plus point of keeping your devices aside at night is that screen time before bed can affect quality of sleep in individuals.
Level up your kid’s online content!
Screentime doesn’t always have to mean clickbaity content or pointless computer games! if your child wants to explore the internet, there are so many educational and recreational ways to do it! There are so many online resources that can help children learn, grow and have so much fun doing it as well! Children can use online resources like children’s news portals or watch engaging visual content. They can read current affairs for kids, or play vocabulary games, memory games and mathematical puzzles online that many kids enjoy playing and are excellent for visual learning and enhancing cognitive abilities. The internet is a great resource to educate children!
Set a good example!
It’s almost impossible for parents to limit their own screen time as they have so many more responsibilities. Everything from ordering groceries online to paying bills will require them to be on their screens more than children, but it’s important to lead by example! As a parent, you should try to not be on your phone too much as if your child sees you wasting your time online it will only encourage them to think of it as a normal habit.
The Takeaway
It’s important for us all to understand that screens are here to stay! They’re not inherently bad for any of us, as they prove to be helpful in so many aspects of our lives. It is of utmost importance for children and their parents to learn how to effectively manage their time, so we can use technology to our advantage, instead of being controlled by technology!
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