Tag Archives: television

Screen time guidelines for elementary school aged children

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It’s an interesting time to have an elementary school aged child, isn’t it? You watch them grow and change so quickly, and it is sometimes difficult (for you and your child) to navigate all those changes. What’s the right diet? Are they getting enough exercise? How much sleep do they need?

One question that you may not have expected to have to answer is: What is the appropriate amount of screen time for my child?

Screens are everywhere, and they are not going away. Television, gaming devices, smart phones, tablets, computers. Sometimes there are even class sessions online, and if you’re a person who uses your computer for work, you may wonder what the harm is to let your kids hang out on the computer as much as you do. It’s a great question, and experts in the pediatric field are weighing in with helpful answers.

Too much screen time for children can impede social skills, cut down on physical exercise, and even harm sleep patterns. When children are on a device, they aren’t interacting in real space with adults or peers. Spending too much time watching television or gaming keeps children from important physical activity or from being outdoors in the fresh air. Watching a screen near bedtime has been shown to negatively affect sleep quality.

So, just what is the appropriate amount of time on a screen? How do you monitor use? The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry gives some guidelines, such as:

  • the whole family (including adults!) shutting off screens and phones during activities and at meals;
  • remove screens from bedrooms at least 30 minutes before bedtime;
  • learn how to use parental controls;
  • check phones and computers to see what your children are watching;
  • involve your child in other activities that don’t involve screens.

(You may find the entire article helpful and can read it here.)

How much time should your elementary aged child spend with screens?

Decide when is the right age for your child to receive a mobile device, and the right age for engaging in social media.

Pay attention and be involved in your children’s screen activity. Steer them away from violent images and content, and from sexual content or media that harms their self-image; steer them toward content that helps them connect with family, that is focused on learning, and that enables them to be creative.

Screens have made the modern world more accessible and more complicated for children. You can help them navigate devices and programs in healthy ways.

Screen time for young children

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Screens are a big part of modern life, from television to computers to phones to tablets. Every family must make decisions about how much time their children can or should spend in front of a screen. Like so many things, the right decision varies with the age of the child.

Does my child’s pediatrician have thoughts about how much screen time is too much for myEmily Sweigert, age 5 young child? Actually, yes.

The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychology has these recommendations for children aged 5 and under.

  • “Until 18 months of age limit screen use to video chatting along with an adult (for example, with a parent who is out of town).
  • Between 18 and 24 months screen time should be limited to watching educational programming with a caregiver.
  • For children 2-5, limit non-educational screen time to about 1 hour per weekday and 3 hours on the weekend days.”

What we know about young children is that they need human interaction, face-to-face. Screens are not a substitute for that. We offer them no help, and may do them harm, if we teach them (even unintentionally) from an early age that screens are better than human contact. Age-appropriate games, singing and talking to and with your children, eye contact, reading to them daily—all these are more beneficial than setting them in front of a screen for hours at a time.

Remember that you are a far better teacher to your young children than any device can be. Educational programs aimed at very young children (under 18 months) are not helpful for the children to watch, because their brains can’t process the information. What you can do, though, is watch the program and mimic what the educator does as you interact with your child.

Here’s a quote from a pediatrician on the American Academy of Pediatrics website. You can read the entire blog here.

“A toddler learns a lot more from banging pans on the floor while you cook dinner than he does from watching a screen for the same amount of time, because every now and then the two of you look at each other.

Just having the TV on in the background, even if “no one is watching it,” is enough to delay language development. Normally a parent speaks about 940 words per hour when a toddler is around. With the television on, that number falls by 770! Fewer words means less learning.”

Your child learns more from you than you can imagine. Remember that as you consider screen exposure.

Television–friend or foe?

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Well, honestly, it can be both.

With all the appropriate attention given to the internet these days, and its inherent worries for parents, we seem to have forgotten the conversation about television.

How many TVs are in your home?  Who has access to them when?  What are your children watching?  And what are your kids watching when you’re not watching the kids?

Content on television, even content aimed at youngsters, varies from brilliant to pitiful.  Additionally, the volume of television or videos watched can make a difference in your child’s mental and social development.

Any parent these days occasionally pops in a video or turns on the television so you’ll have a few uninterrupted minutes to cook supper, take a shower, or just relax without hearing a thousand questions.  There’s nothing wrong with that, to a point, because television has its good and bad aspects.

First, the good.  Most American kids today have learned or practiced their numbers and letters with Sesame Street, and have absorbed important social skills from Mister Rogers.  Or, they have simply been entertained by cartoons, music, and Animal Planet.  There is a big world out there, and television is a good source for information and for reinforcing skills learned at home or school.

But, not all is perfect in front of the TV.  Here are some concerns you should be aware of:

  • Social.  Though social skills can be reinforced effectively on the screen, nothing takes the place of real interaction.  Turn off the television and play a board game.  Perch your child on a chair in the kitchen while you cook and encourage him to tell you about his day.  Give the video screen in your vehicle a rest and play a car tag game or have a conversation about your road trip, whether it’s a couple of miles or a couple thousand.
  • Physical.  Too much television means too little physical activity.  That can lead to weight gain (especially when high calorie snacks are involved) and other health and wellness issues.  Get your child involved in a sport, or just play catch in the backyard.

 

What to do, then?  Here are some thoughts.

  • Limit viewing time.  The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends NO television for children under the age of 2, so that they can develop through interaction with adults and other children.  They also recommend limiting television viewing for older children to 1-2 hours/day of “educational, nonviolent programs,” supervised by a responsible adult.
  • Supervise.  You should know what your child is watching at all times.
  • Keep the television out of your children’s bedrooms.  Not only will they watch things you don’t want them to watch, their sleep patterns may be interrupted and they may be tempted to “hibernate,” avoiding healthy social interaction with family and friends.
  • Talk about television programs.  Older children and adolescents, especially, can benefit from conversations about their favorite (and your favorite) shows.  This is a good way to share something that’s important to your teen, while being sure she knows your values.
  • Turn it off.  Don’t keep the television on for “background noise.”  And be sure to limit when you have on the news.  Young children don’t need to see scenes of war, destruction, natural disasters.  Such  images lead to anxiety and sleeplessness.

 

Television can be a great tool for education and for fun.  We just need to make sure it doesn’t take the place of more important things!

artwork by Emily N., winner of our Pumpkin Coloring Contest!

artwork by Emily N., winner of our Pumpkin Coloring Contest!

 

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