Every child’s use of technology isn’t just the internet and or media. It is how their first relationship with television is, games on apps, youtube, nor video games, ext. In time it’s best to start having your child understand their needs to be limited before they gain access to the world of technology.
Screen Time: How Much Is Too Much is a question many parents ask as they try to understand its impact on kids and why managing it can feel overwhelming at times.
At school they will have corners with computers, interactive whiteboards, and computer classes. All of this is how technology enters your child’s life from a very young age, and it’s as parents who know whose best to put the device in their hands.
Experts from an organization had created a guide system that helps parents know how much is too much screen time. The world health organization has published new ways of suggesting that no child should be using a screen before the age of one, and that screen time should be a thing parents need to limit more often in today’s age.
There are several reasons why parents need to be very aware of how much screen time they allow their child to have. Even at young or older age, there can be a lot of negative effects this can have on their development.
Main Threats Faced by Children and adolescent online
Sharing sexual images or videos
Sending inappropriate images or videos in a fun way or to show affection, but it tends to be very risky. Once someone has the material they use it in negative ways which is known as sextortion. Even if it is a person they trust you still can’t control what they will do with those images. Which will cause stress and fear, problems at school, and with family. So its important to never send images out there. talk with a trusted adult if someone tries to pressure you.
Online Harassment and bullying
Cyberbullying has been a big issue since online media had hit. Instead of using paper to write notes about the other or talking by spreading word by word, online bullying spread fastly over time and they used it as a way not even to just spread gossip or just thinking that it was a joke. It became a place to send hateful messages that everyone can see, and leads to a lot of cases in North America where sadly we lose lives because of this issue. So as parents it’s best to know and ask how your child is feeling and make sure they’re not being harassed online but if they are, it’s best to take it to the police so they can look into the issue.
Exposure to Harmful Content
Browsing on the internet can be fun, but there is a lot of content out there that can be harmful for a child’s eyes, like violent games, sexual content, or hate speeches. Even if they will see an accident it can affect how they see, feel, or think about others, and the world as well. This will cause fear and anxiety or even confusion, and can lead your child to believe that bad behavior is normal. So it’s best to limit screen time for them or use site blockers on any device they can reach. Because we don’t want our kids to feel uncomfortable or sad.
Overexposure to screens can lead to various health problems
- Like Weight gain, can lead to varying types of obesity from a young age
- Insufficient sleep, both in terms of time, and quality.
- Behavioral problems, including irritability
- Delays in language development, which can lead to poor academic performance
- And lastly addictions, which is big when they are exposed to violent games and sexual content.
These are 5 recommendations to limit your child's screen time
- Agree together that there are rules set on usage, schedule following, and exceptions. It’s best that you print and display that you and your child have a family agreement on device use. It’s best as parents to show our kids that we don’t need a device all the time to have fun. Connecting with family is important when bringing your kids on trips or going to the park.
- Make them more encouraged to use creative and educational purposes. Go for content that promotes health values and learning. Give them a boost to help the creativity go wild using apps that can draw with.
- Give them parental control tools, like site blockers that will block any inappropriate sites and violent games. Keep them from listening to bad music as well, like songs with cuss words and talking about sexual oppression.
- As parents you need to promote other activities, like games, sports, hiking, and any other outdoor activities.
- Lastly, support their learning through your own examples. We need to be our children’s role models, it’s very important we set good examples for what they are and see from us they will do as well. So it’s up to the type of parent you will be for them.
