Today’s children live in an era that is heavily influenced by digital devices- especially smartphones. These devices have become very prominent in the lives of children as everyone can use them as tools for teaching, learning, entertainment and distraction. Children are required to go online for their assignments or school projects however parents are becoming increasingly concerned about their children’s increasing addiction to using the internet and being online especially when it becomes a struggle to separate your child from their device.
Parents need to keep a check on the screen time of their children as it highly influences their behaviors and attitudes. As children spend more and more time online, families are struggling to develop and maintain real life social interactions which help children develop into well rounded individuals. It is not unusual to see a family sitting together in a room however they might as well be miles away from each other as everyone is busy pressing their phones. As parents we are losing our control over their activities.
How much time is healthy for your child to be spending looking at a digital screen? Is your child spending more time online than they should? These are very important questions that you should know the answers to and to help you we have found some of the following useful ways to keep a check on their screen time:
- With Screen Time Apps.
Many screen time apps let you access the real-time reports about how much time your child is spending online and you can set limits on what you want to manage. They log your child’s online time that is being spent on different mobile apps or websites on a particular device. The best known parental control apps are as follows:
- Zift
- Screen Time
- Qustodio Parental Control
- Boomerang Parental Control
- FamiSafe – Parental Control
- Parental Control & Kid Tracker
- Screen Time Parental Control
- Screen Time Limit KidCrono (iPhone, iPad)
This is the most convenient and handy way to keep a check on your child’s screen time. You can download any of these apps and can keep record of the usage time of a particular device.
- By Monitoring Screen Time
Various media studies have found that children of all ages from 0-18 years are spending a lot of time in front of screens. Some studies found that teens spend from 6- 9+ hours on across a varied screen activities while younger kids were found to be spending around four hours a day.
Parents should know how much time their children are spending online. According to the WHO guidelines based on their research findings, Babies and toddlers should spend no time looking at screens and under-fives be limited to one hour a day. They found that too much screen time could lead to obese children. Their recommendations suggest doing puzzles, colouring or singing instead.
AAP American Heart Association has recommended some screen time instructions that an entire family can follow.
- For toddlers of 18-24 months, media time should be limited
- For 2-5 years children, recommended screen time is one hour per day
- For 6 year and older, screen time shouldn’t replace the real-life interactions
These are the recommended screen time limits for each group and if your child is interacting with media more than that, you should be concerned that he/she is spending more than usual time in front of screens.
You can manually check on the time or can make charts for making it an interactive and fun activity. By noting downtime according to the chart, you can keep a record of the screen time but this is a time-consuming method.
- By Observing their behaviour
You can monitor the impact of your child screen time in their lives by observing for any changing behaviors. It has been observed and reported in a study that children who use media excessively show aggressive behaviors, frustrations, and are more prone to lack interest in physical activities.
You should keep an eye on the behavioural changes of your child to check their changing interests. Children of younger age usually like fighting games so they start behaving aggressively in their lives as well. Besides this, if the screen or media is replacing their family time of real-life interaction with friends or family, it is a clear sign that they are indulging in digital devices more than they should.
- By Browsing History
You can also check the online browsing history of the device to check the time for which your child is using the device. But it should be noted that this trick won’t be applicable to teens as the browsing history can be easily deleted by anyone.
Excessive use of digital devices by children of a younger age can hinder development and growth. Screen time should be monitored and controlled by the parents to keep their children healthy and active. You should introduce your child to other physical activities and keep a check on their online time.