The Impact of Screen Time on Mental Health cont'd

Finding the Balance: Tips for Parents

Here are five things you can begin to do today to build a better relationship with screens in your household.

1. Setting Reasonable limits

Follow guidelines for recommended screen use for different ages

The Canadian Paediatric Society recommends the following screen time guidelines for children:

Under 2 years old: No screen time except for video-chatting with caring adults

2–5 years old: Less than one hour per day

Older than 5 years old: Less than two hours per day

Some parents reading this will immediately recognize that less than two hours a day is unrealistic for older children. After all, teens use computers at school and for homework before we even consider some phone time or TV watching in the evening.

Perhaps more important here is to put in place some more reasonable limits. It is also important to monitor the impact of screens on your teens and the type of screen time they are most engaged in

The CPS also recommends that children have daily screen-free times, especially for family meals and book-sharing. They also suggest avoiding screens for at least one hour before bedtime. These are useful starting points for parents looking for attainable targets to limit screen use.

You can also establish a set of rules for your household regarding screen use. The American Academy of Pediatrics offers a handy, interactive tool to create a personalized family media plan You can specify when and how certain devices can be used

Above all, the first step the CPS recommends is to be mindful of screen use. Just start to take notice of the household relationship with screens. Even from this foundation, you may be able to spot some simple ways to cut down.

2. Encouraging Alternative Activities

This will differ from family to family and from household to household, but it is important to encourage other activities that can replace screen time.

Nobody is saying that it’s easy to pry your children and teens away from screen use. And, again, it’s part of their lives and the world they live in. And yet, we must all do what we can to encourage other activities alongside screen use. It’s not ‘one or the other’ but finding balance.

Ultimately, it is important for parents to work with their children to find ways of ensuring daily physical activity that they can enjoy and engage in as much as possible, given the family’s unique situation.