Whether we want to admit it or not, screens play a huge role in our lives and you may be shocked to know that, on average, we touch our phones 2,617 times a day. The world has moved at an incredible pace in terms of technology in recent years, and our phones now serve as a means to pay for things, grant us infinite knowledge on any given subject, allow us to connect with celebrities, stalk our friends (thanks for that frightening feature, SnapChat), read our favorite books, track our pregnancies, play games, learn another language…oh and of course, call people if we feel the need to have an actual conversation.
We’re the first generation of people that have to make a parenting choice with regards to “screen time,” which wasn’t a phrase even a few years ago. It’s down to us to pave the way for future parents, do our homework, and figure out what works. We don’t want to raise a cohort of kids unable to react with actual humans in the real world, but we also don’t want our children to be left behind in a world where tech is paramount.
Our son is almost one year old and has been fascinated with screens for months. As well as playing with his toys and reading stories with him, we let him play on the iPad sometimes. We also have apps and games on our phones for long car journeys or if he needs entertaining in a restaurant while we throw some food down our neck, and there are a couple of TV shows that he loves which we’ll put on every now and again.
The thing is though, I feel guilty about giving him my phone instead of a book. The idea that screens are no longer just mindless TV is still relatively new to us, so perhaps it feels like lazy parenting to offer the screen option to our kids? Our parents told us that too much TV would rot our brains and give us square eyes…are these words haunting us, making us reluctant to accept the new way of things?
I think what we need to remember is, just like us, screens have evolved and these apps directed at children are developed with baby brains in mind. It’s OK to have a new way of helping our little ones grow and learn. In fact it’s more than OK. It’s amazing to think that these tiny people will know about so many things that didn’t even exist when we were their age. Their world is so different from the one we grew up in, which is terrifying and super exciting in equal measure.
1. Don’t allow kids to watch a tablet/phone or TV screen too close to bedtime.It can make it way harder for them to fall asleep, plus affect sleep once they have nodded off.
2. If kids are using a screen for homework, make sure they take regular breaks.Also ensure they are sitting up at a desk so that their posture doesn’t suffer.
3. Set a good example and don’t use your phone during dinner or family time.Kids will copy you and you won’t have a leg to stand on when telling them no.
4. Keep computers and TVs in communal spaces.It’s pretty hard, especially with older kids, to keep phones and tablets out of rooms but you can make sure other devices stay out.
5. Set some rules.If you have very young children, this is still important so that you can stick to any limitations you’d like to enforce, and for older kids you can talk to them about the rules, or even come up with them together so they don’t feel too hard done by.
沪ICP备15036271号-2
