Beating the battle of the small screen

Picture this:

You just get home from picking up your little ones at TSL Adventures after work. You’re so excited to see your older kids. So you walk into the kitchen, where they sit and do their homework every day after school. You’ve got great news to tell them about something that happened today.

“Guess what! I got a…..” And your voice trails off.

They’re not listening. They’re stuck in their own little world of tweets, memes and mindless scrolling.

We get it. You’re confused. You’re frustrated. What makes that tiny little screen so much more entertaining than the world around your child?

Don’t blame your kids; blame the world around them. They were born into the era of smartphones, tablets and instant access to information. It’s only natural, despite what you might think.

As helpful and entertaining as all of this technology can be, there is a downside. Exposure to screens before bed can cause sleeping troubles. Spending too much time navigating the social media world can decrease productivity levels, as you may have noticed with your kids. By the way, have they unloaded the dishwasher like you asked them to yesterday?

And perhaps most importantly, studies show teens in the smartphone era are more depressed than ever, largely due to their friends’ glorified social media lives, which often appear greater than reality indicates. Jealousy and insecurities arise, leading to mental anguish among young people.

So what can you do to help? You probably already have taken away your child’s phone or tablet, or even limited access on the home computer. Schools have tried to do the same thing. But it’s just not going to happen, no matter how hard you try. So you need to compromise. Here are some simple (and reasonable) compromises you and your children can make so that they don’t spend too much time on their devices, negatively impacting their physical and mental health along the way.

• Put a limit on the data plan. Money is the ultimate persuader. Your children don’t want to go into their own piggy banks or wallets to start paying after reaching the data limit, now do they? That strategy could teach them to ration their daily usage.
• Have them turn off the phones and give them to you at bedtime. After all, increased exposure to light before bed can cause trouble. If the kids say they use the phone to wake them up for school, there’s an easy solution: an old-fashioned alarm clock. .
• Limit your child to one device. Does your child really need an iPhone, Amazon Kindle and a Dell laptop?Set a good example. You can’t expect your child to respect your rules if you are spending the same amount of hours on the screen. Remember, children like to model their parents’ actions.
• ​Make house rules for when it is appropriate to use these devices. Start with no phones at the dinner table! That’s the time for families to gather and engage in discussion.
• Change the WiFi password every now and then. Your child will have to ask you for it, which gives you an opportunity to reinforce your rules.

We know how protective children and teenagers are of their technology. But it falls on parents to be vigilant and make sure they aren’t overused. Encourage family time and outdoor activities. It’s a tough battle to fight, but remember, it’s your house and they play by your rules!