The Big Screen

Here’s a text I recently got from a dear friend of mine regarding her 5-year-old daughter, “Alyssa has just discovered games on the computer.  Great, something else I have to monitor and limit!” 

While my daughter has not yet had the same discovery, I can completely relate to her stress about limiting other types of screen time.  I feel guilty on a daily basis about how much TV we let our daughter watch.  When I express this guilt to my mom or friends who do not yet have children, they always say, “well, at least she’s watching educational programs.”  Unfortunately, that’s no longer an acceptable rationale for letting your children watch mass amounts of TV or spend time in front of the computer.  

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends zero screen time for children 2-years-old and younger.  For children 2 and older, the AAP recommends no more than two hours a day of screen time, including television, computer, video games, cell phone games etc. 

For children 2 and under, there is no evidence that so called “educational” shows are effective.  Bottom-line, there is a reason why children are programmed to love to play.  They need lots of play to properly develop their brains.   No TV show, educational or not, can replace or substitute the value of play and human interaction for a healthy child.  A mom I know who has done an amazing job of allowing little to no TV in her home said that she would rather her daughter watch her cook than watch a TV.  Here is a great article on the effects of media use on children 2 and under.  Other studies have found that too much screen time leads to obesity, attention disorders, sleep disorders and aggressive behavior.   Here you’ll find a collection of articles on the topic of media exposure in all ages of children.

So, now that we know how evil screen time is for our kids, even having the TV on in the background is bad, how do you find a healthy balance for your family?  The reality is that computers, cell phones, and TV are all a part of our daily lives.  To think that we can keep our children completely sheltered from the media age is crazy.  In fact, to not expose them to the computer in this day and age is impossible as most schools now incorporate and require computer time in their curriculum.  

My sister recently went to a curriculum night at her sons’ elementary school and found herself reexamining the limits they have on computer time in her house.  She wondered if she was over limiting computer time, causing her kids to be under prepared for what is to come in their scholastic futures.  She then read this article in the NY Times about a Waldorf school in the Silicon Valley that is void of computers up until the 8^th grade at which time there is minimal gadget exposure.  Can you imagine that the chief technology officer of eBay sends his children to this very school? Such a great article about why computers and screens are not essential for learning in this day and age.

I took a little survey amongst my friends and siblings to ask how they handle screen time in their homes.  Their children range in age from infants up to 12-years-old.  Surprisingly, a lot of them said that limiting screen time in their homes just isn’t an issue.  Particularly with the older school aged children, there simply isn’t time during the week for a lot of TV or computer. My brother and his wife don’t have strict rules around screen time in their house but because their girls are so busy with school, homework and extracurricular activities there is very little time left in the day for screen time.  If they watch movies in their home, it’s often as a family.

Some families have a ban on screen time during the school week and allow limited screen privileges during the weekend.  Others told me that their kids have to earn any TV or computer time.  I remember going to a lecture by John Medina, the author of “Brain Rules”, almost two years ago and a member of the audience asked how he handles screen time in his home.  Mr. Medina admitted that sheltering his teenager from the computer was impossible.  So, in his home his son had to earn screen time by reading.  I can’t remember the exact equation he had set up but it was something like for every 30 minutes of reading, his son could earn a certain amount of time on the computer.  I love this idea. 

Regardless of how much screen time you do or don’t allow in your house, the common theme I heard from all parents is that having set limits and clear expectations for screen time eliminates much of the battle surrounding this issue. 

If you’d like more help or suggestions for limiting or cutting down on screen time in your home, here are some great sites with great suggestions.

http://kidshealth.org/parent/positive/family/tv_habits.html

http://fit.webmd.com/jr/parents/article/parents-kids-screen-time

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/children-and-tv/MY00522

Common Sense Media is a fantastic resource for dealing with the media age as a parent.  It is a non-profit organization “dedicated to improving the lives of kids and families by providing the trustworthy information, education, and independent voice they need to thrive in a world of media and technology.”  

Having read about how all of my friends and siblings handle screen time in their homes I am inspired to cut back in our house.  This morning, I warned my daughter that after a certain show that she enjoys was over, she would need to turn off the TV.  She not only did it, but did it without a struggle and went on to happily play on her own until it was time to go to preschool.  This was a huge eye opener for me.  I’m excited to continue to cut back the TV time in our house and expand our face and play time.