youthspeakoutint.orgFour Ways to Help Your Kids Use Screen Time for Good
Screen devices, like smartphones and tablets, are a bit like sugar. When used in huge amounts, they can do plenty of harm, but in smaller amounts, the right kind of sugar is essential. The natural sugars in fruits and vegetables give our bodies what we need to function. In the same way, screen technology has become a basic tool for learning and communicating.
When managing your child’s use of screen devices, you can start by limiting screen time. You can set a daily limit on how long your child can play games on a phone, for example, and turn certain family activities like dinner into device-free zones.
Along with this strategy, however, you can also make sure that the screen time they do get, like the sugar in their diet, is the healthy kind. Here are four ideas for helping your child use screen devices in positive, healthy ways.
1. Encourage your child to look up information about things they find interesting.
If your child becomes excited about dinosaurs, you can show them how to search for information about dinosaurs on the internet. If they are wondering what kind of bird has landed outside their window, you can help them find the name of the bird by describing it in a Google search. When children learn because they have a natural interest in something, it helps them build their motivation and confidence for learning in school.
2. Ask your child to show you what they’ve learned using their screen device.
Although screen time can take away from family time, it can also be the starting point for more quality time together. By asking your child to show you what they’re learning, sharing, or creating on their screen device, you help them interact face-to-face and eventually put the device down. You might even ask for a quick lesson from your child on how to use a new app. Teaching others to use screen media is one of the many ways children socialize with family and friends.
3. Allow time for your child to communicate online with teachers and classmates about educational topics.
Screen time may help your child build stronger relationships with teachers and peers if they use it to communicate about what they’re learning in school. If you only have one computer in your house, make sure your child gets enough time on the computer to connect with their class.
4. Experience screen time together.
Using screen devices to interact (while in the same room) is called active co-use. By inviting your child to spend their screen time interacting with you or others, you can improve the quality of their screen time. Instead of watching 100 YouTube videos in a row while alone in their room, they can spend that time discussing game-playing strategies with you, creating a video with you, or showing you how to build an oak house in Minecraft.
Not all screen time is harmful. Screen time can be a time for learning, getting to know friends better, building interest in educational topics, and even interacting face-to-face.
References
Katz, V. S., Gonzalez, C., Clark, K. (2017). Digital inequality and developmental trajectories of low-income, immigrant, and minority children. Pediatrics, 140(2), 132-136.
Sheridan, K., Clark, K., Williams, A. (2013). Designing games, designing roles: A study of youth agency in an urban informal education program. Urban Education, 48(5), 734-758.
Very good advice!