Is there an “ideal” or desired amount of screen time for toddlers? In this blog post, I will discuss some guidelines on this topic. I will present information applicable to children in all phases of development.
The bottom line is that parents and custodians have to always monitor the children’s screen time. As a basic as rule of thumb, “the less, the better”.
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Please, see my blog post titled “Less Time In Front of a Smartphone Means Happier Children” for another perspective on the effect that overexposure to digital media can have on children.
Also, any screen time, if allowed, has to be supervised. In other words, parents and custodians have to take an active role in monitoring the screen time by children of all ages.
The following are two of my favorite books on this topic:
Or you can get it a Scepter Publishers here: Digital Families.
Background
Almost from the time children are born they are potentially exposed to some form of device that has a screen. These devices can come in the form of TVs, tablets, computers, mobile phones, or consoles of video games.
Early in their lives, the children are not necessarily the ones wanting to use the devices. Instead, are us adults that sometimes without intending to do so, expose the children to these devices.
Regardless of the circumstances, children need limits to the time spent in front of any screen. This is because excessive or inappropriate consumption of time in front of the screen has the potential of having an adverse effect. This can be in their health and personal development, as well as in school.
Like with other instruments and devices use every day, toddlers and children alike need standards. These rules, which are specifically geared towards the use of digital devices, are important to survive in the digital world.
Children MUST be instructed by their parents or custodian in the proper use of electronic devices.
As reported in the CBS program 60 minutes on 9 December 2018, the MRI scans of kids “who use smartphones, tablets, and video games more than seven hours a day” (Cooper, 2018) show premature thinning of the brain’s cortex, according to a study by the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
Therefore, it is not surprising to believe that excessive screen time can lead to problems of health. These can be in the form of disturbances of sleep, irritability, aggression, a risk of a deficit of attention, disorders of nutrition, and even obesity.
In addition, when the contents are inappropriate for their age, the children can develop violent behavior. In some cases, they can end up having a distorted image of sexuality.
This can have devastating consequences in establishing social relationships. Specifically, if in the future they are blessed with a vocation to marriage, this inappropriate exposure will compromise their ability to live a healthy marriage life.
Therefore, it is necessary and imperative for us, as parents, to set limits on the time and the content that toddler, as well as children, can spend in front of the screens.
Recommended Screen Times:
Two Years Old and Younger
Children two years and younger should NEVER spend ANY time in front of the screens. These include TVs, according to a recommendation of the American Academy of Pediatrics. Unfortunately, the statistics show that more than 90% of the infants in this age group has already done this in the first year of their lives.
During the first two or three years of age, the child ‘s brain undergoes an intense growth. It is at this age that the requirements for the manipulation of objects and direct contact with people are essential for their development.
The baby has to directly face the relationship between cause and effect that are attributed to him. He or she has to interpret the voices, gestures, and words of the people around him (her). Although the child under the age of two can play with a digital device, his brain is not able to transfer that experience to his real world.
Likewise, when a baby is watching TV, he is abandoning the opportunity to have time to do other fundamental things in their development. The fact is that activities, such as exercising cognitive, linguistic, social, emotional and motor skills are not performed to the fullest extent possible or required.
Therefore, the exposure to screens prior to 18 months of age may adversely affect language, short-term memory, reading, sleeping, and attention.
It is because of this reason that it would be best that before the age of two years, infants ARE NOT exposed to ANY screens. One exception would be for showing the infant distant family members through video calls, like Skype or Facetime).
Taking the above points in mind, if parents want to start exposing their young children to screens at an early age, I recommend that they wait until they are 18 months old.
If this is necessary, the time in front of a screen must always be for educational purposes. The content has to be of quality and in the constant presence of the parent or custodian while they are using the electronic device. The following are some excellent ideas to try for the purpose of focusing the attention of the children away from digital devices:
Children Between 2 and 5 Years Old
The maximum exposure time in front of screens for children between 2 and 5 years old should not exceed one hour daily. To be sincere ideally it should not exceed 30 minutes a day.
For children in this age group, it is very important that parents or custodians choose both, the content of what they watch on TV, as well as what they do with the rest of the devices.
Again, the material has to be of educational content. The quality of the material has to allows the child to learn new concepts related to math, language arts, science, and encourage social skills.
Let’s face it, TVs and the rest of digital media cannot become a “nanny” or an “object of comfort.” Parents and custodian MUST stay with the children in this age group every time they are in front of a screen.
This is the way in which parents or custodians will assist the child in making sense of what they see. They will play an important role in helping them translate what they observe to the real world in which they live.
In addition, when the child has a tantrum or is misbehaving, the screens should not be the only remedy to calm him (or her) down. Using the screens as a pseudo pacifier will increase the risk that they end up having difficulties regulating their emotions or understanding limits. I recommend that you take a look at the following book for additional information and tips:
It is important to highlight the fact that the programs or applications chosen for young children should have a slow pace. They should not offer too much content all at once. In that way, the child will be able to progress following their normal development pace.
Violent contents or geared for older age children are totally discouraged.
I recommend that during the preschool years, instead of spending time in front of a screen, the children be more involved in an unstructured play or games. Whether on their own or with other children, these opportunities, as well as the parent-child interactions contribute better to the development of the child virtual applications.
The real games (not virtual) develops, among others, the control of impulses, the flexibility of thought, emotional control and the persistence of in completing tasks. These are important traits that have their foundation at this early age.
Children Between 5 and 12 Years Old
For this age group, parents and custodians can consider increasing the time exposure in front of screens anywhere from 60 minutes to 90 minutes per day.
In spite of the recommendation to increase the time in front of the screen, in this age range, it is very important to provide the child with other alternatives away from the digital world. This is because excessive time in front of the screen can have adverse consequences on their health at a crucial time when the good social and moral habits of life are being formed as part of their permanent imprint.
It is out of the question to notice that too much time in front of the screen would promote physical inactivity and childhood obesity. This is partly because of the amount of advertising of food (mainly junk or unhealthy) that a child who watches TVs faces.
On the other hand, children who at the end of the day continue to play with electronic devices suffer from the bad quality of sleep and sleepless. This is because of the hours of play that “steal” time that otherwise would have been dedicated to rest.
Also, we have to consider the adverse effect of the blue light of the screens has on the generation of melatonin, which regulates sleep. For this reason, I strongly recommend that children should never have TVs, computers or mobile phones in the bedroom at the time they go to sleep.
At this age, parents or custodian should monitor the content their children see. They must enable appropriate parental controls so that the children can not access inappropriate websites.
Please, remember that many of the ads that are distributed in the content that the children are exposed to are not appropriate for them. This is important at any age, but especially when they are very young since they are not able to differentiate reality from advertising.
Children Over 12 Years Old
During the adolescence years, the use and exposure to digital media grow exponentially. However, parents and custodians should make every effort possible to not letting it exceed two hours a day.
Currently, children make use of social networks on a regular basis. Therefore, it is advisable that parents or custodian have a basic knowledge of how they work.
The fact is that children over the age of 12 years old are not fully aware of the risks and dangers of the Internet. Therefore, parents and custodians have to be proactive in providing information and monitoring the use of the Internet.
Parents and custodians must ensure that the children use all digital media in a commonplace in the house. The contents of games and applications must also be reviewed.
Special attention must be taken into account since content that is violent, of sexual nature or contrary to the norms of coexistence, can do a lot of damage to the adolescent brain in a moment of intense change like the one they are experiencing.
It is very important to control the amount of time that adolescents spend in front of the screens. In that way, neither their health (food, exercise, hours of sleep) nor their school performance or their social or family relationships is affected.
Some children in this age group begin to have challenges in reducing the time they spend in digital environments. This is of special concern when they show signs of addictive behaviors.
For additional information on the effect that overexposure to social media may have on children, please check my blog post titled “The Risk of Technology and Social Network”.
In this Mayo Clinic Minute, pediatrician Dr. Angela Mattke explains new screen time recommendations released by the American Academy of Pediatrics.
Vivien Williams reports. More health and medical news on the Mayo Clinic News Network http://newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org/
10 Tips to Reduce Digital Exposure in The Family
In addition to limiting time and monitoring content, the family can establish a series of rules to reduce digital consumption. These are 10 tips to achieve it:
1. During meals, the TV should remain off to encourage dialogue. Likewise, mobile phones must be put away while the family is eating. I am sure that you have seen that family seating at a restaurant table in which each family member is with the head down staring at their mobile phones…what a pitiful site that is!
2. The children bedroom should not have TVs. Tablets, game consoles, and mobile phones should not be taken to their bedroom at the time of going to sleep. Try this: at least one hour prior to sleep, the child should not use electronic devices to enhance the quality of sleep.
3. Whenever possible, parents or custodians have to share TV time with their children. The younger they are, the more important this is.
4. When they are not being used or watch, the devices should be turned off.
5. Digital content must first be reviewed by parents or custodians. Consider installing the necessary systems of parental control to prevent access to certain websites or inappropriate content.
6. Establish clear rules regarding prohibited content (sex, violence, drugs, etc.).
7. The children have to know in advance how much time is available to devote to digital media. Be consistent on the time allowed applying restrictions, as appropriate and necessary.
8. Tell the children why the digital media use is limited so they understand that it is not an arbitrary decision. If there are difficulties in compliance, you can do a review with them of why it is not working. It is better to agree with respect to what is going on, rather than to prohibit without a conversation.
9. Be the example. It is easier to follow the rules if the parents or custodians set an example in the digital world. Exercise a responsible posture with respect to your own use of digital media and devices, such as the telephone or social networks.
10. Ensure that game digital media is compatible with the age of the children that will be using it. Control its use to allow children to move, socialize and explore other very important parts of their development.
The following two books are another excellent source of information an how to reduce the digital exposure of children:
Conclusion
The above are ideas that I have learned from making mistakes and reflecting on them. While I am not an expert on the subject, I have gathered information from different sources and formulated these recommendations based on them.
I encourage you to look at your particular situation and find what is practical for you, as well as your family.
One thing for sure, parent or custodian involvement is essential to help our children navigate this digital world. Controlling screen time at all ages is one step in the right direction.
Ignoring it would have serious consequences in the current and future development of our children.
I would like your feedback on this. What has worked for you? In what areas have you struggled?
