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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:
Be a role model about using screen time ourselves
Create screen time rules
- Discuss with your partner
- Do what works for your family
- Stick to the rules as much as possible
- ASKING FOR Permission before using gadgets
- When and where to use screens
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
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.
Family tech- free days
Protecting from the internet
- Ensure proper privacy settings on the computer, safe search engines on browsers and apps
- Preview the show before allowing or co-viewing and monitoring the online content and interactions.
- Agree on appropriate length of time they can use their device.
- Offer choices as to when to use or which program to watch?
- Avoid programs and games with violent content.
A SCREEN cannot replace HUMAN INTERACTION
