Healthy Ways to Use Technology
I understand you want to help your child find balance with screen-time and technology, but that can be a difficult task when the world is constantly pushing more and more digital devices in front of you. You don’t want your child to be a hermit, but you don’t want them exposed to digital devices too early either. It’s hard to figure out when and what technology to expose your child to. Below are the recommendations from The American Academy of Pediatrics and World Health Organization, as well as, some thoughts on how to implement them.
Screen Time by Ages
Under 2 Years Old
No screen-time, outside of video chatting family members or friends, is recommended. The noise and activity of a screen can cause the baby or toddler to be distracted or even overstimulated. For example, if you are trying to instruct your toddler to clean up their toys, put shoes on, or come eat lunch while they are on a tablet or sitting in front of the TV you might have to sound a siren just to get them to bat an eye in your direction. It is better for children at this age to have more face-to-face interaction with the ones they love to enhance brain development.
2-5 Years Old
Try to prioritize physical and creative play and activities as much as possible for preschoolers. Their brains are still at a critical developmental period.
Children at this age can be introduced to screens, but no more than an hour a day of screen-time is recommended. Screen-time for a preschooler refers to high-quality educational content on the TV or desktop computer. The type of media preschoolers are exposed to is critical; they haven’t developed the mental skills to understand advertisements or animations yet. So it is best to watch shows without commercials and to sit with them during a program to explain what they are seeing and apply it to the real world.
Other technology based toys you can introduce to your preschooler instead of a screen would include: remote control cars, Simon game, watch, science kits, like this circuit board.
6-10 Years Old
You are in charge of setting limits on screen-time for kids 6-10 years old, but the Academy recommends no more than 1.5 hours a day. Screen-time should never replace healthy activities like sleep, social interaction, and physical activity. Aim for balance with creative and laid-back time.
Children need to learn the ability to think first, and then use technology to enhance the learning experience. Technology can be a vegetable to learning—things that would enhance the learning experience would be a computer game like Math Blasters, doing a research project, or a coding robot like Makeblock. Alternatively, there are also technology candies that can be harmful to a child’s development—video games, addictive games like Candy Crush or Minecraft, or endless Youtube videos.
**Just as a reminder, you have the option to allow your child or not allow your child to use a device at school. You can opt-out!**
11 Years and Older
The amount of daily screen-time for kids 11 years and older depends on the kid and family, but the Academy recommends no more than 2 hours a day. Just like with children ages 6-10 years old, healthy activities like sleep, social interaction, and physical activity should come before screen-time.
It is your job to be your tween’s/teen’s media mentor. You need to teach them how to use technology safely, responsibly, and productively. Set limits and boundaries for them, such as no devices in the bedroom. Tweens and teens have access to thousands of apps, video games, and websites. Even though technology can be beneficial, it can also be a dangerous place that can open our kids up to the risk of cyberbullying, sexting, predators, violence, porn and exposure to things we don’t want them exposed to. It’s our job to teach our tweens and teens how to behave online just like we teach them how to behave offline.
Ultimately, it is best to prioritize physical activity, social connections, and sleeping habits over screen-time for all ages, including adults. If or when you choose to introduce screens and technology is your choice. Be mindful of the ways you introduce it and how often it is used.
What are some screen-free technology toys you and your child have found? I would enjoy hearing your ideas; email me to share.
