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Tabitha Jonson wrote a new post, Navigating Screen Use 4 years, 11 months ago
Do conversations about screen use often lead to conflict in your family? Do you struggle to figure out how much screen time is appropriate to allow at different ages? Do you have the instinct to limit screen t
I can confirm the value of the above methods with my own 21 year old son who has grown up in this digital age. Compared to his peers, he has very minimal screen time, preferring to do a range of activities he has grown up with. He now works as an adventure leader helping children around ages 11 – 14 appreciate nature, creative play and develop resilience.
In additon to the wise options in this article, there still might need some negotiation and conflict resolution strategies. Some suggestions, once children are aware of your concerns as well as your alternatives to screen time, is to ask children themselves what they think are reasonable limits as well as alternative activities.
Once boundaries of use are negotiated along with alternative activities (including free playtime), you might consider using parental control apps. If so, rather than simply imposing these on your children, aim to reach an agreement about their use and then use lots of praise for engagement in alternative activities during the transition period ad empathising with discomfort with reduced screen time (consider reducing screen time over a period in the same way an addict might reduce drug use overtime to reduce withdrawal effects).
Jon this is so good to read and I really appreciate you taking the time to share this with other readers. It’s very hard to maintain healthy limits around screens when children, so it’s important to keep remembering the long term goals and the patterns being formed. And yes good advice about checking out the parental control apps too!