Helping Your Child Maintain a Healthy Relationship With Screens

Never before have children spent more time interacting with electronic devices such as smartphones, computers, and tablets. While these devices have opened children up to a vast number of educational and recreational opportunities, they also present the opportunity for abuse and overuse.

Here we will look at a number of ways parents or caretakers can help children maintain a healthy relationship with Screens and their devices.

It Starts With Adults:

Children learn from the adults in their life. If they see their parents, grandparent, or any other close adult, spending large blocks of time with their electronic device, they will think it’s normal and emulate that behavior. When it comes to setting the bounds of acceptable behavior, children will always look to the adults closest to them when determining benchmarks.

Understand The Role Of Technology In Modern Society:

Some parents refuse to accept the role that technology has to play in modern society and find themselves in an uphill battle. This can be especially true when it comes to families living in more rural areas, where agricultural activities such as fishing or farming occupy a significant role in day to day living.

Without understanding the importance of technology in modern society, it can be challenging to determine when screen time is appropriate and when it is not.

Use Blue Light Filter Before Bed:

Over the last several years, there has been significant growth in understanding how screen light affects brain waves. One of the major findings has been that blue light, especially when consumed before bed, can make it extremely difficult for some people to get to bed. This is due to how blue light interacts with brain waves; something children are more susceptible to than adults. Luckily, most devices these days come with a blue light filter, which should be turned on two to three hours before bedtime.

Set Limits for You Child:

As with all things in a child’s life, a healthy relationship with devices and screen time must have limits. How these limits are set varies from case to case, but in most instances, it involves setting time limits on certain activities. For example, each day, a child could be allowed to have a set number of hours to do non-essential screen activities such as video games or watching streaming services. It helps if these time periods are the same each day, as it allows children to build a sense of routine, something which can be helpful for them as they grow up.

Pay Attention To What Kind Of Video Games They Are Playing:

Although it is not fully understood yet, most researchers agree that overly violent video games can be bad for some children. The parent has a great deal of responsibility when it comes to this matter, as only they have the ability to tell a child which games they can and cannot play.

Encourage Good Content Use:

When done right, technology can be a significant boost to a child’s development. Not only can it get them reading sooner than ever before, but it can also expose them to a world of topics and information they may otherwise not come into contact with for many years. In a sense, technology has helped children expand their horizons and perspective in a way never before seen.

While this is true, it depends largely on the child coming into contact with quality content. Although there is a great deal of quality content on the web, there is also plenty of low-quality content that does not aid in a child’s development in any meaningful way. It is important to recall that it is not all up to the child to interact with quality content, and more often, they require the guidance of a parent or adult figure to do so.

Share Ideas And Content with Your Child:

Children have a better relationship with devices if their parents take on a proactive role in their use. A major part of this calls for the parent to be proactive in sharing and encouraging good screen use. An excellent way to do this is by sharing content or links with their child and then ask them questions about the content matter later on.

George J. Newton is a business development manager at Coursework writer. A married man of 10 years, George has written on several topics and niches and has also perfected the art of apology and appeasement.