As
parents, the information on how much screen time (and what kind of screen time)
our kids should have seems endless. It’s challenging to keep up, much less sift
through it all and figure out what’s real and current. I’ve taught technology
to elementary and middle school students for more than 15 years, and have two
kids of my own under the age of 6. These basic guidelines (based on
recommendations from the American Academy of Pediatrics) can help you navigate
the muddy waters and figure out what’s really ok for your child at
different ages.
Good
guidelines to follow are:
- Children under
18 months should avoid any media unless looking at pictures or using
video chat.
- Children 18
- 24 months may watch high quality programming if you watch it with
them (and talk about it with them).
- Children 2
- 5 years may watch 1 hr./day of high-quality, co-viewed programming;
at this age, it’s important for parents to help kids understand what
they’re seeing and how it relates to the world.
- Children 6
years and older need enough sleep, physical activity, and face-to-face
social interaction first and foremost – it’s essential that these be
priorities. According to recent research, once these are accounted for,
children are not negatively impacted academically, socially, or mentally
by moderate amounts of screentime.
- A good rule
of thumb is no screens half an hour to one hour before bedtime.
So,
why are the guidelines the way they are? Children learn the most from direct
parent interaction and connections with the real world around them (think of
this as your fruits and vegetables). Next, they learn from co-viewing, which
includes watching or reading with an adult. They learn the least from using
media by themselves (think of this as junk food). You might have a cupcake once
in a while, but you wouldn’t have it in place of your meals!
It can
also be challenging to figure out which media is high-quality media. The best
programs for kids are slower-paced, concrete, and real-world, with pauses for
interactivity. PBS Kids has some good options including Sesame Street, Daniel
Tiger, Mr. Rogers, Curious George, Doc McStuffins, SuperWhy, Wild Kratts, and
Planet Earth.
Parents
should be very careful with Netflix, YouTube and Amazon Prime. Content on these
services is not filtered effectively for kids, and inappropriate content is
just one click away; young kids should never view/navigate these channels by
themselves. For example, on YouTube, videos that get a lot of attention bubble
to the top; unfortunately, a video may seem like a cartoon initially, but a few
minutes in shift to violent or other inappropriate content.
I’ll
leave you with a few practical suggestions for helping your family navigate the
technology-driven world that we live in:
- Ask
permission before taking pictures. This seems like a simple thing, but we
don’t do it. A sobering statistic is that more than half of all girls will
be asked for a nude photo of themselves by the age of 14. Our children
need to be comfortable saying “no.”
- It’s ok to
have different rules for different kids. Kids are different from each
other – one may need very firm limits, and the other may function
well with more flexibility.
- Treat media
time the same as you would reading books – sit together, and choose
content that is language-rich and interactive.
- Re-enact
things from a show; repetition and contextualizing things with kids help
them process it. Talk with them about what they took away from a show.
- Eliminate
background TV.
- If a
smartphone is in the room, it’s affecting the quality of parent/child
interaction; find a place to dump it.
- Technology
doesn’t have to be just screen media. If you have old pieces of technology
around your house (keyboards, phones, etc.), use them as “take aparts,” or
spend time playing with Snap Circuits or Makey Makey.
- If you have
an iPad for your child, keep one app on it at a time. When they get bored
with it, they will naturally turn it off and go onto another activity.
Periodically, change that app out for another one. Some good apps for
young kids include Puppet Pals and Scratch Jr.
At the
end of the day, parent-child engagement is key with media, as it is with
anything. Following the practices outlined here will support your child’s
development and set the foundation for a healthy relationship with technology
in the future.
About the Author:
Steve
Trust is Director of Academic Technology at Charles River School, an
independent PreK - school in Dover, Mass., and father to a five-year-old son
and two-year-old daughter.
