Screen Time
Set Screen Time Rules, Be A Role Model For Your Child
Picture taken from: http://consumers.ofcom.org.uk/files/2009/10/mob-guide.jpg
Imagine a child (or baby) who watches his parents pick up calls at the dinner table, send emails via the tablet and swipe pages of the Kindle – all this while the child plays with his toys in the living room, and with television turned on and running in the background. It’s no wonder the child would want to trade his Lego blocks for that immersive experience on the handheld device. After all, that is what his mummy and daddy are doing!
The evidence is clear: Yale psychiatrist Bruce Wexler found that when infants are given the choice of playing with an object handled by an adult or with an identical copy of an object that is closer, they will reach past the copy to play with the one the adult has. Often the child’s pining for a mobile device can be traced back to a desire to gain the parent’s attention (which has been stolen by the device) and build a connection.
Parents, it is impossible to regulate your child’s technology usage when your behaviour speaks otherwise. If parents hold double standards (and sometimes they are not conscious of it), children are likely to respond negatively to all attempts at disciplining and teaching. Children are after all highly impressionable and learn fastest when they are young.
If you hope to teach your child healthy media use and online habits, start from leading by example. It may be difficult at the start, but you can set the standard by setting some screen time rules such as:
- Putting the phone aside during meal time and bedtime.
- Using screen time for a specific purpose, such as watching an episode of a cartoon programme or viewing photos of the family you have taken together.
- Spending screen-free time, away from technology, as a family.
