Screen time is the total time spent per
day in viewing screens such as mobile phone, TV, computer, tablet, or any
hand-held or visual device. Screens have become an essential part of our life.
I, Dr. Jil Shah, as a parent and health
professional, am concerned about the increase in children’s screen time. Just
like the balanced food that we eat, screens need to be properly chosen and to
be consumed in the right quantity and at the right time. The way we use the
screens determines whether it is healthy or unhealthy. Screen time spent for
educational or pro social activities such as schoolwork, interacting with
friends and relatives, and creating art or music or relaxation is termed
positive or healthy, while watching inappropriate TV shows, visiting unsafe
websites, or playing violent video games are few examples of negative or
unhealthy screen time.
·
Children below the age of 2 years should not be
exposed to any type of screen with the exception of occasional video call with
relatives.
·
Screen time for children between the age of 2
and 5 years should not exceed 1 hour; the lesser, the better.
·
For older children and adolescents, it is
important to balance screen time with other activities that are required for
overall development.
When screens
are used in moderation in a balanced and healthy way, they have many benefits:
·
Encourage learning and knowledge
·
Act as a tool for communicating with friends and
family and promote social interaction
·
Healthy co-viewing and co-playing using digital
platforms improve child and parent bonding, recreation, and relaxation.
·
Smartphone Apps such as Calm, and digital
platforms such as NIMHANS online yoga class encourage kids to adopt healthy
behaviors and kindle device promotes reading
·
Channels and blogging platforms give
opportunities to children to display their talents
·
Customized computer programs can improve social
behavior in children with autism and study skills in children with learning
problems.
Screen time and
digital technology have become an inevitable part of childhood, with shift of
learning and socialization to virtual environments. However, concerns on
ill-effects of excessive exposure to screen and digital media have emerged. There
are multiple ill effects of excessive screen
time on child:
· Physical
health: Obesity, sedentary lifestyle, disturbed sleep, headache, eye
strain, neck, back, and wrist pains, postural Kyphosis, poor balance, fatigue,
body pain resulting from bad posture
· Mental
health: Delayed speech, hyperactivity, aggression, violence, desire for
instant gratification, poor concentration, FOMO (fear of missing out), FOBLO
(fear of being left out), cyberbullying, media addiction, distorted perception
of sex by exposure to pornography, drug use, self-harm, anxiety, and depression
·
Affecting sleep: Emitting blue
light reduces melatonin, creating more alertness and later bedtimes, reduced
sleep hours, insomnia, poor consolidation of memory and learning, daytime
drowsiness
·
Social: Reduced socialization and
social anxiety, poor development of expressive language, hampers responsive and
interactive conversations, affects bonding with family friends, low self esteem
and low confidence
·
Scholastic: Decreased academic
performance, poor attention and concentration, poor recall, affecting language
development, affects posture, less time on homework
Children feel
secure when boundaries and rules are laid down for behavior. You should
formulate “digital rules” to
encourage healthy media usage when your child begins to use a digital device.
These should be age appropriate and new rules could be added as the child
becomes older. A few rules for maintaining “digital hygiene” are:
1. Be
a role model about using screen time ourselves
2. Create
screen time rules
·
Discuss with your partner
·
Do what works for your family
·
Stick to the rules as much as possible
·
A SKING FOR Permission before using
·
When and where to use screens
3. No
screens during meals
·
Socio-emotional, language, motor development
·
‘No phones at the table’ rule
·
Start with avoiding screens or reduce the timing
of screen for single meal, later on with all the mealtimes.
·
Offer choices for activities after the meal
4. No
screens for atleast 1-2 hours before bedtime so as to wind down
the brain
·
Turn off notifications so as to avoid constant
pings!
·
Buy an alarm clock so you don’t have devices in
the bedrooms
5. Family
tech- free days
Protecting
from the internet
Ø
Ensure proper privacy settings on the computer, safe
search engines on browsers and apps
Ø
Preview the show before allowing or co-viewing
and monitoring the online content and interactions
Ø
Agree on appropriate length of time they can use
their device.
Ø
Offer choices as to when to use or which program
to watch?
Ø
Avoid programs and games with violent content.
A SCREEN cannot replace HUMAN
INTERACTION
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