How much screen time for kids?
Posted by: Stuart31314627
5th Jun 2024 12:35am
I have two boys around 10 years old, and there's a big gap in the daily hours of time their friends spend in front of screens. What do parents allow on average? Any tips for helping to reduce the hours?
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Comments 1
jtmorri
I don't have a child to worry about screentime with. When my daughter was younger all her schoolwork had to be done before she used a computer, tablet or mobile phone. We didn't allow her to have the devices in her room. If we thought she'd been on long enough after 2 hours we'd tell her to get off the devices and occupy herself in some other way. I know some parents have a drawer the devices are locked in until they allow the children to go on the devices again. Her interests were creative like music, art, craft, crotchet etc. and going to family friendly attractions like Scitech, AQWA, Perth Zoo, the museum.
To counteract screentime, I'd find out what they are interested in and then the activity will stimulate their curiosity and engagement. A hint may be the type of content they watch or games they play as there are many organisations and societies that cater to interests (medieval and renaissance groups, car clubs). Rather than passively watching the content or playing the games they can immerse themselves in the activities and actively participate outdoors.
The key is planning ahead and letting them know what will be happening on the weekend that is new and different. Plan outdoor activities if it is sport (anything like frisbee, kick around), take a day trip, make a fly a kite, flying fox, fishing, a theme park, go to a museum (it could be a car museum or anything else different), zoo, hiking, geocaching, treasure hunt, bike riding, skating, playground, or in the garden digging holes, moving mulch, chopping, planting, washing the car, cleaning up the yard (kids love pressure cleaners) etc. One of the boys may be interested in building and tinkering and you could build something together or paint something around the house.