3 ways parents can lower kids’ screentime
EL.KZ Информационно-познавательный портал
A majority, 83% of parents think U.S. kids’ mental health is getting worse, El.kz reports citing CNBC.
And many blame screens: three-quarters of respondents identify both social media and general device use as major problems for U.S. youth, while 66% specifically point to internet safety.
Health and science journalist who has a 10-year-old daughter herself, agrees with her fellow parents. Every minute kids are spending on screens is a minute they’re not “developing real world skills or real world relationships or having real world experiences,” she says.
Here’s what she recommends - 3 ways parents can lower kids’ screen time
“It’ll be easier to limit your kids’ screentime if they see you trying to work on your own habits, too,” price says.
Experts agree modeling the behavior you want your kids to exhibit is key in helping to mold them.
“Think about the person you want your child to become,” writer and educator Theo Wolf wrote.
“Ask yourself: Am I demonstrating those traits in front of them? Is there anything I’m doing that opposes the values I want to pass on?”
You can even ask your kids to hold you accountable for looking at your phone or computer too much.
2. Invest in some shared family phonesInstead of giving your kids their own phone, have a few shared family phones.
Price suggests using a landline to help children develop conversational skills, encouraging them to use the phone to check in with grandparents or chat with friends.
You can also have a family flip phone for after school activities or if they’re going to a friend’s house. “They take it, they use it, they give it back,” she says.
3. Have them pay for their own smartphonePrice is a proponent of putting off getting your kids a smartphone until they’re at least 16, a guideline psychologist Jean Twenge recommends, too.
If you’re hoping to put it off even longer, though, you can tell them they have to pay for their smartphone themselves. If they know they’re financially responsible for it, “they probably won’t get one until they’re 25,” she says.
Plus, it could help “teach a lot of important lessons about working hard toward a goal,” she says.

