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Screen Time and Kids
Does High Speed Broadband lead to Large Scale Arguments in Your Home Too?
At Whizzy Internet, your local fast fibre internet provider, lots of our team members have kids and they play a big part in our lives.
As fast internet gets more accessible, we’ve all noticed how, bit by bit, the amount of time our children spend on screens – gaming consoles, tablets, smartphones and more – has crept up to a worrying amount.
A recent piece of European research tells us that 60% of boys and 56% of girls watch TV for more than 2 hours a day. In addition 51% of boys and 33% of girls play computer games for over 2 hours a day! At the same time, our children are doing less physical activity – not good news for their physical and mental wellbeing or for their social skills and personal development.
We all want the best for our kids and sometimes that means curtailing the amount of time they spend on screens. But that can turn into a real battle, right?
We thought we would have a chat about how to avoid the skirmishes in getting kids offline and how to avoid ending up like the mean gaming or streaming police!
1. Explain to young kids why too much screen time is too much and make sure they understand how it can affect them and all in the family. Ask the kids why and what they like to use the internet for. Encourage online time for learning and creativity.
2. Sit down together and have a chat with the kids and agree on a set screen time. Allow for compromise and listen to reasons for more screen time and set a clear limit. The most important rule is to set the limit, stick with it and be a good example yourself (monkey see, monkey do).
3. Don’t have screens always on in the background, often the TV is streaming away in the sitting room even when not being watched or enjoyed, turn off all devices and help to avoid the distraction.
4. Make sure there are plenty of other activities for the kids and family to do, rather than relying on screens for entertainment. Get outdoors together if possible and get active.
5. Don’t allow consoles or smartphones in the bedroom if possible or implement a cut off time for older children. Encourage a charging area away from the bedroom.
6. It’s always great to chat to other parents for advice and tips.
7. Join in on the fun with the kids and set some time to play their favourite game or watch YouTube clips together.
It’s great to have internet that is so fast and we can all get great benefit from it, as long as we remember to have a good balance!
