Screen Time for Kids – Pros and Cons
I, like any other parents, was determined not to let my little one play with my phone or at least limit his screen time. However, things didn’t go as planned. It seemed to be an easy option whenever he was restless and I started to hand him my phone just to keep him engaged.
Till he was 18 months, I felt that he was getting smarter by being able to use the smart devices independently. All I had to do was hand him the unlocked device (both phone and tablet) and he would play his favorite videos on youtube and open apps that read him stories all by himself. I was happy that I was getting so much spare time for myself by simply leaving him with the device.
He was having normal growth and development like any other average kids. He walked and ran around whole day and was feeding and sleeping properly. I had no issue with giving him plenty screen time until I started to notice that he hadn’t spoken any words clearly till this date.
He sometimes babbled few things as soon as he got up in the morning. Other than that, he didn’t speak anything or even try to speak. He does understand everything. He holds our hands and takes us to any part of the room or near any object to tell us what he wants. He even repeats the process continuously as long as we keep refusing.
I was bit worried about this language development and consulted with a GP. The doctor said it was very common for the first baby to be slightly behind in his language development considering he wouldn’t have many people to talk to. Our GP also suggested us to wait till he started going to child care and told us that it most likely didn’t have anything to do with his screen time.
I was still not completely satisfied about the impact of screen time. So, I started doing research on the effect of screen time on kids and came out with the following findings.
Contents
How much screen time can you give to your children?
- For toddlers and babies below the age of 18 months, American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has recommended absolutely no screen time.
- AAP has recommended to limit the screen time for kids under 5 years to no more than 1 hour a day.
- AAP has recommended to limit the recreational screen time for kids above 5 years to 2 hour a day.
Screen time for kids - numbers and stats
- Children between 0 and 8 years use screen media for an average of 2 hours and 19 minutes each day. These numbers have changed only slightly in the past 6 years.
- On average toddlers under age 2 spend about 42 minutes, kids ages 2 to 4 spend 2 hours and 40 minutes, and children ages 5 to 8 spend nearly 3 hours with screen media daily.
- Nearly all children between 0 and 8 (98 percent) now live in a home that has a mobile device, a percentage now equal to TV.
- About 35 percent of children’s spend screen time on a mobile device, compared to only 4 percent in 2011.
How excess screen time for kids can affects their development?
Considering the amount of things that kids can learn from screen time, it can be argued that screen time is a must for kids these days. We have heard of kids who can speak multiple languages or know their alphabets and numbers even before they turn three. These kids were allowed to have screen time under supervised guidance of their parents and must have had restrictions in the amount of time they could spend with these devices.
As valuable for education and learning, mobile, computers and television can be, the health benefits and development of skills that kids get from being physically active are also equally important. Kids who spent more than 2 hours a day with electronic devices might face following problems in their growth and development.
Physical Development
- Less physical activity
- Inactivity which can lead to obesity
- Poor sleeping patterns and routines
- Bad Posture
- Deteriorating eyesight
- Poor diet and unhealthy snacking
Social Issues
- Poor social skills
- Difficulty making friends
- Researchers have found that babies and toddlers who watch TV at such a young age may have a tougher time managing their emotions and comforting themselves when they're older.
Language Development
- Toddlers under 2 and half years are unable to learn effectively just from watching something on a screen.
- One study found that in children younger than 4, the more hours of television they watched, the fewer words they learned.
- Parents can play important role in helping kids learn from screen time by repeating the words. It gives babies ample time to understand the word and they can try to repeat it.
Psychological Issues
- Reduced motivation
- Reduced self-esteem
- Depression
Cognitive Development
- Reduced verbal interactions
- Language delays
- Poor attention span and challenges with problem solving
- MRI scans found significant differences in the brains of some children who reported using smartphones, tablets, and video games more than seven hours a day.
- Children who reported more than two hours a day of screen time got lower scores on thinking and language tests.
How to manage screen time for kids at home?
Set Time Limits For Screen Time
- Try to follow the guidelines suggested by AAP to limit the screen time for your kids. It will not be easy but is worth trying for the sake of proper growth and development of your babies.
- Allow screen time only when you actually have to. If possible limit the screen time to less than an hour.
Turn Off Background TV
- Tv running in the background still counts as screen time.
- If you find that kids are engaged in other books or toys then immediately turn off the tv and never leave it running on in the background.
Keep Electronics Away From The Bedroom
- Once you enter the bedroom, at least until the baby falls asleep, keep your electronics away from the bedroom.
- Try to use a book rather than an ipad for reading story to your kids. Reading story from ipad or other tablet still counts as screen time.
Interact With Your Child
- Increase interaction with kids helps in their language development.
- it not only helps to improve their vocal skills but also helps parents in development bond with their kids.
Be A Role Model
- The more you use your electronic devices in front of your kids, the more they will want to use them.
- Try to limit the use of phones and tablets during meals and bedtime.
- Do not encourge your kids to use the device when they ask for it.
Funny Quotes on Screen Time for Kids
- “I find television very educating. Every time somebody turns on the set, I go into the other room and read a book.” Groucho Marx
- “I like my new phone, my computer works just fine, my calculator is perfect, but Lord, I miss my mind!” - Unknown
- Television has changed a child from an irresistible force to an immovable object.” - Unknown
- “I had a life once… now I have a computer.” - Unknown
- “All television is educational television. The question is: what is it teaching?” - Nicholas Johnson
- You don't let your kids have screen time? That's cool. Tell me some other ways you enjoy punishing yourself. - @R_A_Dadass
- Parenting today: Screen time that rots their brains or playtime that rots your house. - @copymama
- I don't want to alarm anyone but I've been told about a serious situation where someone got 4.2 seconds more screen time than their sibling.- @mamabirddiaries
- The most effective way I've found to limit screen time is to be too poor to afford cable or WiFi. - @draggingfeeties
- Are my kids getting too much screen time? I’m not sure because I’ve been playing on my cell phone since 2007. - @discourt
- They say too much screen time is bad but my 3 year old speaks like 10 different languages now. - @ramblinma
