Children & Screen time

The distraction and the entertainment have always been there, TV, cinema, Magazines, etc. But now many of us have it in our pockets, in our bedrooms, at the dining table, in schools, in shopping malls, it is absolutely everywhere. The screens love our time and most of all content is designed so we should watch more and more. We have gone from a society where knowledge was hard to get to a place where we have so much information, that we have to be careful what we let in.

So if we "grown-ups" can be distracted for hours by phone games, that we actually don't like. Re-watch dramas that actually are not that good. Scrolling social media for no other reason than distract yourself from the task at hand. If we can not handle it, how can we expect our children to do it?

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends

• 0-2 years no screen time
• 2-5 years maximum ~1 hour/day
• 5-18 years maximum 2 hours/day not including homework.

All of us that have hung around the internet for a while, know that everything is not that bad and if you know where to look you can set yourself up for skills that you can use for the rest of your life.

You will never "find" time for anything.

If you want time, you must make it.

~ Charles Brixton

Say that we have an energy level on 100% for one day. Of course, it can go a little bit up and down depending on if you take a nap/rest, do physical activity or eat during the day. But successively your energy and focus will go down so you have to prioritize when your entertainment takes place. My dad used to say that I could play video games when my homework was done and if I didn't miss any soccer and golf practices. (Even if I was a very active kid, this led to, way too much screen time for a teenager. I had definitely a period where I was very addicted to playing video games.)

Positive things

• Culture exchange
• Language exchange
• Problem-solving skills
• Teamwork
• Friends

Negative things

• Lack of physical activity
• Lack of sunlight
• Lack of different lengths of eyesight
• Ergonomi problems

This is a discussion like any other one, it needs a plan and I would suggest some ground rules also. Why are we watching our screen? what is the purpose? Learning, entertainment, distraction? When are we using what, and do we have a reason behind it?

Some ground rules can be, Screen-free zones (bedroom, kitchen?). It can be no screens when we eat our food. It can be maximum screen time for one day. It can be different restrictions on what they can watch and so on.

When it comes to games I would recommend playing the game with your child so you can get a feeling if the game is suitable or not. I think most kids understand that it is not real (violence, fantasy, etc.), but where attention goes energy flows.

We have a chance to learn them to conquer and leverage the internet. So don't sit by the sideline and think it will solve itself because it will not.

Thank you.