In this new era of smartphones, we all are glued to our mobiles. So, it’s a kind of unfair to have "no screen time" expectation from your child. When we were kids, we used to have very less exposure to the screen due to the availability of limited resources. It is one of the most challenging behaviours of new parenting techniques. A child follows the actions of their elders, especially parents so when you are spending long hours on your mobile so your child also starts demanding the same. This situation really turns into your frustration but you are not alone who is facing this situation.
Pandemic had increased screen time for children as we not left with any other choice. Schools are running online and now it’s compulsory to give more screen time to children. Now we have to plan child’s day in such a way so that they have less screen time instead of zero screen time.
A study done by Center for Child Health, Behaviour, and Development Seattle Children’s Research Institute show that children who were engaged in more physical activity and less screen time had better mental health outcomes. There is a direct association between screen time and mental health.
The screen time is a big problem and cause of worry by parents all across the world. With easy access to the internet, we have become addicted to smartphones so the first important thing is to reduce our screen timing. The screen time is hard to get away from for all of us and you must have observed that with the use of mobile 2-3 times your child has become addicted to it. As an adult, we can control our addiction but for a child who does not even understand the meaning of addiction, the situation turns worse. If you deny giving mobile to the child, they start to through bad tantrums. The situation goes off from your hand and you surrender to the child tantrum.
Findings support that COVID-19 has resulted in significant increases in children's recreational screen time compared to within-person time trends pre-pandemic. High durations of screen time have been linked to poor behavioural and developmental outcomes.
For the healthy development of the child, screen-free time is the prerequisite and it should not be avoided in any condition. The screen time includes anything from television, mobiles, tablets, and many more that grabs the attention of your child. It's really very difficult and challenging to completely avoid this screen time behavior. But you can encourage your child with several screen-free activities that are engaging as well as good for their overall growth.
REDUCE YOUR SCREEN-TIME:
First and foremost, important thing is you need to cut down your screen time. The more time you spend on the mobile more vulnerable is your child to this addiction.
SET A TIME TABLE:
In most of the cases, while mothers are busy with other commitments. So, to be sure that the child has their food properly we compromise by sharing the mobile with the child. We are satisfied that the child has food but it is at the cost of some unhealthy habit. You need to make sure that there is a fixed place to eat food, with a set of time table. No mobiles, no other screen devices should be allowed this time. The child focus should be only on the food.
TALK TO THE CHILD:
You need to talk to your child about its ill-effects on the children. How badly it can affect their eyes and brain and it’s not good for their tiny cute eyes. Please be clear in your conversation and do not use any false story or scary explanations. The meaning here is to make them understand and not to scare them about the gadgets.
PLAN YOUR HOLIDAY:
Be it's your Sunday or any other holiday, try to schedule your daily activity with the child. It is always helpful to engage your child in your domestic chores in a fun way. It serves two purposes, first, your child is away from the screen and the second child is able to spend enough time with you.
DEVELOP READING HABIT:
To divert the attention of a child, read a book for them so that slowly it starts developing the reading habit in them. So, after some time, you can observe your child is more interested to read a book rather than spending time on screen.
GO FOR OUTING:
Sometimes you can plan a visit to local museums, aquariums any historical monument or a picnic. You can engage your child into some adventure or into some other activity of their interest. It will help them to have hands-on experience with entertainment and fun at the same time.
HOBBY CLASS:
You know well the interest of your child so it's better to engage your child into some activity or hobby class. It will keep the child busy and engaged and reduces the attention towards the screen.
PARENTAL OVERSIGHT-Talk to children about their online experience what they like to watch, which games they play and observe other general mood and happiness as they play.
SCREEN FREE BEDROOM- Avoid putting TV or computer in your child’s room. It will help to keep watch n their screen time. Generally, kids who have tv in their own room tend to spend more time watching.
GIVE THEM ALTERNATIVES- if child is addicted to screen time, then please provide them with some exciting alternatives like cycling, playing outside, engage in new hobby. Channelize their energies into right direction.
It's difficult to completely control screen time of your child but definitely you can limit the screen time. You can make this time as shared screen time to have control on your child activity on the gadget.
To follow all these tricks first you as a parent need to change your daily habits to ensure that your child is getting a healthier upbringing. Please make all these tricks to be fun-filled in order to inculcate these as habits.
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