You just finished searching for a clinic to help treat youridiopathic neuropathy, when you notice your child staring at you. They finally ask if you’re done with your phone because they want to play a game on it. You’ve become concerned with how often they want to use your phone or repeatedly ask for their tablet.
Research shows that too much screen time can be harmful to children’s physical and mental health, and you want to figure out a way to prevent this from happening. That’s why we’re here to help by offering a list of 4 tips to reduce your child’s screen time.
Let’s jump right in!
Lead by Example
When it comes to limiting your child’s screen time, you must lead by example. After all, children learn from observing behavior. If you’re constantly glued to your phone or laptop, your children will assume this is okay. When you try and push back on their amount of screen time, they might experience confusion as to why you spend so much time on your devices yet ask them not to. While we don’t necessarily need to come up with excuses for our children, it’s important that we exhibit behaviors that we want them to follow. So, make the effort to keep your screen time down when your children are present.
Establish a Schedule
An effective and simple way to reduce your child’s screen time is to establish a schedule. You can pick particular times of the day when they’re able to use their devices. This way, your children will grow accustomed to only having their phones or tablets for a certain portion of the day. This is also a great way to teach them the importance of routine and consistency, and they will hopefully carry this with them into their adult life.
Encourage Healthier Activities
A great method to help minimize the amount of time your child spends interacting with their devices is to encourage healthier activities like sports, painting, or playing outside. When children participate in activities outside or express themselves creatively, they’re engaging in activities that promote healthier overall well-being. Instead of relying on screen time to entertain them, they’re making use of physical or creative activities to have fun.
Make Quality Time a Priority
Quality time is essential when it comes to raising your children. In fact, research shows that children who spend more quality time with their parents are not as likely to participate in risky behaviors later on in life. It also ensures a way to connect with your children without a phone or tablet getting in the way. It’s a good idea to keep the TV off, phones away, and tablets left in their case when it comes to quality time with your children.
Final Thoughts
We live in a world that is filled with technology, so it’s impossible to ask that children have no screen time at all. However, there are steps you can take to try and minimize your child’s screen time like setting a schedule, encouraging other activities, and leading by example!