For decades, children’s access to media was basically limited to just watching television or listening to music. Yet, the issue of addiction to television among children has never disappeared, nor declined throughout the decades. In fact, Active Healthy Canada (AHC) reported that according to their recent research -- television still dominates screen time for children 3 to 5 years old, spending at least three hours a day.

In addition, parents nowadays should not just be vigilant about their children watching television, hence -- technological advancements took the media by storm; nowadays media have been accessed through the internet, smartphones, tablet computers, and gaming consoles.

Research shows that kids of all ages watch approximately three hours of television every day during the week and four hours on the weekends. While older kids add more screen time on top of that with the internet, gaming consoles, and mobile apps. Kids with ages 2 to 5 spend watching television, averaging three and a half hours a day, which is also the highest number in a decade.

What’s the Harm?

Research examining television exposure has demonstrated associations; evidence of an association between screen time and attentional difficulties is mixed, with negative effects only clearly apparent when screen exposure is extremely high (i.e., more than 7 hours a day).

Results show that overexposure to television has harmful effects in language, attention, cognitive development and executive functions in children younger than 5 years. Also, it reduces the quantity and quality of parent-child interaction.

Another issue to be considered is the reinforcing capability of advertisements; i.e., exposing our children to unhealthy foods may encourage them to develop an appetite for junk foods.

Moreover, the time spent viewing screens before bedtime is associated with an increase in sleep problems. Evidence suggests that the amount of screen time rather than the content alone is harmful to sleep patterns.

What are the Recommendations?

To promote child health and development in a digital world, here are some specific recommendations for appropriate usage of screen time:

Limit Screen Time.

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends that kids over the age of 2 should not spend more than an hour a day with screens of any kind (TV, tablet, phone, or computer). And, no screens at all for children younger than 18 months.

As parents, we are in charge of setting limits on screen media for our children.

According to AAP the ideal for the healthy kids includes school, homework time, at least one hour of physical activity, social interaction, and sleep -- which is anywhere from eight to 12 hours for kids -- whatever's left over can be screen time.

So, what are the alternatives or strategies to limit screen time?

Split the viewing time in 10 to 15-minute increments, this will keep the children’s brain from going autopilot mode.

Keep screens out of the bedrooms. For some, they would rather move their television to their basement to discourage watching and make it quite uncomfortable. Personally, I think it’ a case-by-case basis, so whatever works will be fine.

During meals -- keep screens off. Truth is, this is quite a nuisance, and there’s no exception; even for us parents. Obviously, as parents, we are the role models for our kids; besides the children are perfect imitators -- so whatever we practice, most likely they would adopt.

Combine Screen time with Active Play.

Beginning at 2 years old, age-appropriate programs with specific learning outcomes – can provide a supplementary means to early language and literacy development; quality contents also fosters cognitive development.

But, needless to say, we should attend to our children when they’re viewing any variety of screen media; obviously, this is to safeguard them against inappropriate contents.

On top of that, we can take advantage of the screen time and convert it into a positive learning experience, of course with the guidance and facilitation of an adult or parent. Moreover, adults can creatively spell out and connect what is being viewed with real life and build language and cognitive skills, such as attention, memory, and thinking.

Choosing the Right Content.

The first step is to figure out what contents are appropriate for children. Here are some factors to be considered before deciding what content to allow for children’s viewing.

Obviously, the content must be appropriate for the child’s age. Do not pick a content just because it is said to be for children. Especially for infants or toddlers, they’re not capable yet to rationalize sophisticated contents -- in fact, you might confuse and jeopardize your children’s early brain development due to interactive animations or CGI!

Formerly I was mistakenly enticed to contents with high-quality graphics without paying much and deliberate attention to the details of the content relative to my child's brain developmental stage. So, after learning some simple principles, I immediately narrowed down the contents; also -- I'm now more specific with the contents that I allowed her to watch.

Moving forward, pick content with shorter duration; the longer they watch -- the more chances of addiction. And not to mention, failure to scrutinize and select contents being watched by our children may risk counterproductive results in their brain development.

Do not let your children watch ads. Since children are naïve and not yet capable to process sophisticated contents, there’s a risk that could wire your child’s brain with unsuitable coping mechanisms. Besides, ads are manipulative, they’re engineered to stimulate our emotions to sell their products or services.

Encourage the children to watch educational programs by watching together and making it as a family activity. Remember item no. 2? Make it active, use it an opportunity to associate watching together with active learning.

Lastly, for preschool and older, talk to them about what they see on the screens, and share your knowledge, beliefs or values. Turn off the screen If something inappropriate appears; you can use this opportunity to talk with your child.

Conclusion

Screen media have been so powerful in influencing anybody -- no exception -- and our children are the most vulnerable. We’ve learned that we’re jeopardizing our children’s cognitive and social development and their future upon failing to supervise them in their screen time. Yet, we cannot simply ignore the other side of the coin that screen media can be used as a learning tool that may also help enhance our children's development with quality content suitable for their age -- together with the most vital ingredient -- the adults/parents participation by utilizing screen time as an active learning experience.

And finally, screen media should never be a substitute to parent-child interaction; as parents -- it’s our moral duty to supervise and train up our child in the way he/she should go -- and we should not just forfeit that noble privilege in the hands of screen media.

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Image sourced from Pixabay: https://pixabay.com/en/children-tv-child-television-home-403582/

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