Love it or hate it, the debate is ongoing when it comes to screen time for kids.
How much is too much? Does it do more harm than good? How do you enforce limitations?
We’re partnering with OurPact parental control to bring you this discussion. We’ve asked several moms to weigh in on how they handle screen time for kids in their homes.
My Kids Know My iPhone Password
“Mommy, can we go visit the solar system?”
I looked at my four-year-old in confusion. We’d never really talked about much beyond Earth. It wasn’t really something I knew he was interested in. I looked at my husband for some insight. “YouTube,” he shrugged.
Well, that explained it.
We’ve never really limited screen time in our house. My son has had his own screen of educational apps on my phone since he was a baby. At four, he uses my err, his iPad on a daily basis. When YouTube came out with their Kids app, I rejoiced.
Andrew has always been an inquisitive child, and to be honest, the fact that he can push a little microphone button and his endless questions will be answered by videos is kind of awesome. Of course, it is isn’t a substitute for one-on-one instruction and communication, but for this busy mom, it sure helps.
In today’s age of endless screens, even pediatricians are changing their tune regarding screen time. Maybe we were just ahead of the curve.
My Kids Watch TV for an Hour Each Week
I know that sounds incredibly restrictive, but they watch an hour of TV each week by their own choice. There are just too many other things to do!
Our family has never restricted screen time, but we have set some guidelines in place to assure that it isn’t the only thing that my three boys do. They can’t play video games, use the computer or their iPads until their homework and chores are done.
If I see that their devices are keeping them up later than they should, we go for a few weeks of limiting devices before bedtime – but that has only been necessary once.
My opinion is that this is the world that they were born into. I think it is full of opportunity and adventure and want them to see the good side of being able to have the world available to you at the touch of a screen.
My Kids Play a Ridiculous Amount of Computer Games
I am married to a gamer, so I shouldn’t be surprised that that is what my kids feel drawn to – we have a whole computer lab in our house! My kiddos are familiar with command line coding, are super comfortable with even some html. This is the tech age. They are learning and exploring within the bounds of technology!
While we do limit the TV, and we have guidelines for the computer and we are involved in picking computer games, we are pretty lax about the amount of time they spend online.
Some of the rules we have are the kids must finish their school work first, they need to take a break every hour or so and go jump on the trampoline or run some laps… and our “weird” rule is that they must play in a public area and if possible join with siblings/friends (i.e. no solo-gaming). We have a large family and want our kids to be involved in each others lives, this includes their online lives. We don’t want the computers to take away from a social life, but rather to complement it!
We also have a no devices at the dinner table or in their bedrooms rule. And anytime a parent wants to see your device we can – there is no “privacy.” The TV is rarely ever on at our house.
Screen Time for Kids
No matter what side you fall on, the best parental control app can be useful – OurPact. It’s free, and every parent’s best friend when it comes to managing kids device habits.
Whether it’s creating a contract between kids and parents, the ability to block all Internet and create schedules, or only allow certain apps to be used, OurPact allows parents to take control of how their family approaches screen time for kids.
How does your family handle technology?
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