Kids and Screen Time

While all screen time is not bad for kids, it’s a good idea to encourage your children to avoid excessive screen time. Too much screen time has been linked to obesity, poor sleep patterns, low self-esteem, and behavioral problems.

Kids and Screen Time

Here are a few tips that can help:

• Put a daily time limit on screen time, and make that time limit clear. Generally, a max of 1 to 2 hours during the day is recommended.
• Set up no-device areas, like the dining room and kitchen, where no one (adults included) can use their devices.
• Don’t allow devices in bedrooms. This can help to protect solid sleep schedules.
• Don’t eat in front of screens.
• Watch screens together. Make it a chosen family activity rather than a mindless individual one.
• Reducing the blue light exposure and how much time you spend using electronic devices can help you to manage your kids’ sleep cycle.

You can limit how much time kids spend using digital devices, especially at night. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends creating a routine at night to help them get regular sleep, and one step is to stop using devices that emit blue light two hours before going to bed. If your kids have sleep troubles, you could remove these devices from their bedroom so they are less tempted to use them while in bed.

Guest Writer ~ Josuee Palacios