Screen Time For Kids [2023 ] Neurologist's / Psychiatrist / AACAP View

Table of Contents

Televisions, laptops, game consoles, smartphones, and tablets subject youngsters under the age of five to more screens than ever before. Screen time includes calculating how much time your child spends with screens on any of these various gadgets. It also includes time spent watching at home and in other locations, such as daycare. To guide you fully about the appropriate screen time for your kids, read the full article below.

What is Screen Time For Kids?

The length of time your kids spend using a screen device is referred to as screen time. Time spent watching tv, surfing the internet, using a mobile phone, and playing computer games was also included. A child’s desire to be involved or spend time outside is often hindered by screen time. Because low levels of physical activity may have a detrimental effect on their health over time.

Today’s technology is transforming children’s life by supplying them with unrestricted access to learning and resources. Unfortunately, the disadvantage is that children (or even adults) will easily get overstimulated and neglect more enjoyable and safer things.

Why Should You Limit Your Child’s Screen Time?

Screen time is frequently a missing chance for your child to learn in real-time. He is deprived of engaging with others, playing outside, making, or even experiencing social “downtime” with family and relatives. In other words your child’s chance of being overweight, sleep-deprived, school-readiness, tardiness, inattentiveness, aggressiveness, and unable to self-soothe rises with excessive screen time.

Video Review: What Are Parents Doing To Limit Screen Time For Young Kids?

US & Worldwide Statistics

Children and teenagers spend a lot of time in front of screens, such as smartphones, laptops, game consoles, televisions, and computers. In the United States, children aged 8 to 12 spend 4-6 hours a day viewing or using computers. Teenagers spend up to 9 hours. While displays can be used to stimulate, educate, and keep children entertained, inappropriate usage can create problems. Here are some screen time statistics to address your questions, whether you’re searching for iPhone screen time or Android screen time.

– According to a survey of 11k RescueTime users, people average about 3 hours and 15 minutes per day on their mobile phones.
– The typical US kid to adult spends 3 hours and 43 minutes on their mobile phone, according to eMarketer.
– According to CodeComputerLove, the average screen time in the UK is 3 hours 23 minutes a day.

Source: https://elitecontentmarketer.com/

Your Kid’s Screen Time

According to the Kaiser Family Foundation External, children aged 8 to 18 spend an average of 7.5 hours a day in front of a computer for viewing and entertainment, with 4.5 hours spent watching television. Over the course of a year, that equates to 114 full days of fun spent in front of a computer. That is simply the amount of time they spend watching television for entertainment. It excludes time spent on the device for instructional purposes at school or at home for assignments.

Negative Impact

Development happens quickly in small children, particularly those under the age of three. Young children learn by observing their surroundings and seeing and imitating the people of their lives. On the other hand, excessive screen time can hinder a child’s ability to observe and experience the commonplace activities that they need to participate in to learn about the world. Specifically, there are three aspects that you should be concerned about:

Health	Spending too much time doing sedentary things like watching TV or playing video games will raise the chance of being overweight. While many parents use television to unwind before going to bed, too much screen time before bed can be harmful. According to Sickkids Obesity rates are greater among children who spend more screen time than children who spend less time in front of screens. Additionally, the light emitted by screens disrupts the brain’s sleep cycle, which can lead to exhaustion and insomnia. Screen time is also often linked to poor eating habits. For example, whether your child is watching TV or playing a video game while eating, they may not be able to tell when they are finished. It’s also simple for your child to connect screen time to eating a favorite meal.
Psyche	Emotional, social, and concentration disorders are more likely in elementary school-aged children who watch TV or use a screen for more than 2 hours per day. In addition, children and teenagers who watch more than two hours of television a day have poorer self-esteem and self-worth results. Moreover, kids may become desensitized to violence by exposure to violent News shows, films, songs, and video games. According to the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, they may eventually resort to abuse to fix issues and may emulate what they see on television and on any device.
Education	According to research, kids under the age of two benefit less from a video than from another individual. And it suggests that while children will watch the TV screen by the age of six months, they do not appreciate the material until after the age of two. They won’t be bored with what’s on the show, so they won’t learn much from it. Between the ages of 2 and 3, language learning accelerates, and studies suggest that infants understand the language better when they engage and communicate with people who speak and play with them. There is also evidence that children who watch a lot of tv in the early primary school years fare poorly on literacy exams and may have concentration issues.

Video Review: Screen Time For Kids: Healthy Head To Toe

Are There Any Benefits?

Personal mobile gadgets, which used to be limited to televisions and laptops, today include tablets, smartphones, and notebook computers, all of which are easy to use and carry. This technology improves the academic experience (by allowing students to study content in new ways). What are other benefits of immersing your kids in technology?

Educational	Although many professionals claim that screen time is terrible for kids, it may also have a lot of advantages. For example, watching YouTube videos will help young children understand their letters, numbers, colors, and shapes. Besides, almost all literature indicates that introducing technology to children at a young age is extremely helpful.
Socialization	Screen time provides a place for teenagers to engage with like-minded others, ways to pursue activities and hobbies that aren’t present in “ordinary” life, and the ability to stay in contact with far-away friends and family. Also, many parents who oppose screens in all other areas of their children’s lives are comfortable with video chats. The reason is that research shows that serve-and-return conversations and real-time contact are beneficial to learning and bonding.
Engagement	Many smartphone applications can inspire kids to engage in healthy habits such as daily exercise, eating nutritious foods, and sleeping well. Learning is enhanced with the use of screens. That is to say, many screen activities allow children to learn new knowledge in a fun and engaging manner. Ultimately, parents should find a balance between screen time and real-life human contact to protect their children from the danger of having too much screen time.

Video Review: Tips for Healthier Screen Time

Screen Time Rules For Each Age

Managing a child’s screen time can be daunting for parents. A screen-time schedule is never too early for your kids. As a starting point, consider the following:
1. Limit screen time to video messaging with an adult until the child is 18 months old (for instance, with a parent or a relative who is out of town).
2. Under the ages of 18 and 24, television time can be limited to instructional content viewed by a caregiver or a parent.
3. Restricted non-educational screen time for children aged 2 to 5 to around 1 hour per weekday and 3 hours per weekend day.
4. Encourage healthier habits and restrict screen-based behaviors for children aged 6 and up.

Tips To Consider:

● During family dinners and outings, switching off all screens is recommended.
● Learn from parental controls and how to use them.
● Avoid using screens as a toy, babysitters to calm down children who are having tantrums.
● 30-60 minutes before bedtime, turn off computers and clear them from bedrooms.

Specifically, follow this table as a Guide:

Age	Screen Time	Why?
0-2 years old	Little to no screen time	Promote as much physical and artistic contact with your children as possible during this crucial transitional time. If they do get screen time, watch high-quality instructional material for them to make them appreciate what they’re watching, and keep overall exposure to less than one hour.
3-5 years old	Maximum of 1 hour a day	Try to arrange TV time ahead of time and fight the impulse to use it as a soothing or disruptive device. At this age, children may have thoughtful experiences with characters. So help them appreciate what they’re doing and relate it to their surroundings.
6-12 years old	1 to 1 and a half hours per day	Set reasonable limits on the amount of time spent on television and the types of media consumed. Make sure they don’t grow a habit of looking at computers before doing their homework now that they’re in college. Although it is necessary to learn technological knowledge, strive to strike a balance between creative and unstructured time.
12 years old and above	Maximum of 2 hours	Children should comprehend the idea of balance at this age. It is the responsibility of parents to assist their children in determining how screen time works with their schedule. If your child becomes engrossed in a video game for a week or two. Firmly encourage them to consider the importance of balance.

Video Review: A Neurologist’s View on Screen Time for Children – Jane Tavyev Asher, MD

3-6-9-12 Rule – What Is It?

The 3-6-9-12 rule was created by psychiatrist Serge Tisseron in 2008. It states that no screens are allowed for children under the age of three, no video games are allowed for children under the age of six, no unsupervised internet is allowed for children under the age of nine, and no social media is allowed for children under the age of twelve.

3 – Children Under 3	Many parents want their children under the age of three to engage on their phones to entertain and relax them. And half of all children under the age of three spend an average of 30 minutes a week on an electronic device, not including time spent in front of the television. A child’s perception of space and time must be developed by stories and artistry told by their parents until they are three years old.
6 – Children Under 6	Your child’s creativity is evolving between the ages of 3 and 6. Drawing, modeling clay, painting, baking, and other activities teach them how to use their hands. Video games stifle the child’s ability to improve physical skills and imagination. Similarly, a child of this age group should expend relatively little time in front of some form of computer in order to avoid being hooked.
9 – Children Under 9	It is better to monitor your child of 9-12 years old the very first time you encourage them to go online in order to follow the laws as well as a few simple rules. Your child will enter puberty and high school between the ages of 9 and 12, as social pressure to get a cellphone increases. You, on the other hand, get to pick whether your child gets their own phone.
12 – Children Under 12	Highlight the rules specifically for children under the age of 12, even though they are very familiar with technology and the internet. You can, for instance, compromise on specific hours for browsing the web, ensure your computer has parental controls that restrict access to certain pages. Don’t let them have a phone, a laptop, or a tablet in their room at night, particularly if they have unlimited internet.

Screen Time Apps

With your smart devices, you can do almost everything. However, if you’re like most people, you’re probably worried about how much time you or your child spends on their phone. Fortunately, there are some outstanding apps that will assist you in regaining your balance.

DinnerTime – iOS, Google Play

You can use this software to tell your kids that it’s time to take a break from their device. When it’s time for your child to research or eat dinner, their phone will display a message that tells them when their mobile will be available again. In the parental hand, the screen will display which phone or device is being controlled, as well as the length of the limitation. There are a few other parental controls available in the app as well.

FamiSafe- iOS, Android

Parents can maximize screen time on FamiSafe by developing plans dependent on location, rewarding children with extra time, and tracking app use. You can also block other applications during study hours or before bedtime, watch real-time locations, and detect pornographic content on your children’s devices, among other things. Much better, depending on the package you choose, you can cover up to 30 smartphones.

Our Pact – iOS, Android

This software helps you to set and arrange screen time and app access so that your children can learn or rest before going to bed. Parents may also use the app to restrict or permit internet access at any time. As well as set limits to keep track of which applications their children use. One app might be called “Always Blocked,” while another might be “On a Timetable,” and yet another might be “Always Allowed.”

Qustodio – iOS, Android, Kindle, Desktop

You can use Qustodio to track and restrict your child’s screen time by a computer, control their social media activities, block offensive content, limit games and applications, and more.

Video Review: Get to know Screen Time for families on iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch — Apple Support

FAQ

How do I check my screen time?

Go to Settings > Digital Wellbeing & Parental Controls > menu > Manage your data > click on Daily mobile consumption to track screen time on android.
Click Manage Family Settings Online under Start>Settings>Accounts>Family and Other Users. This will bring up the Activity Page, where you can select Screen Time to see how much time you spend on your computer using smartphones, games, and other things.
For Apple devices, go to Settings > Screen Time and tap See All Activity under the graph to see the report. You can monitor your use, set limits on your most commonly used applications, and see how many times a smartphone has been picked up or received a message from there.

How does screen time affect your emotions?

After an hour of screen time per day, more hours of regular screen time is related to lower psychological well-being, including reduced interest, lower self-control, more distractibility, more trouble making friends, decreased social health, being more difficult to care for, and failure to perform assignments.

Can screen time cause depression?

When you take the hours spent watching tv, many adults spend a large amount of their day in front of a screen. Adults who spend four to six hours a day in front of a monitor or watching television have a higher risk of depression than people who spend fewer than four hours a day in front of a screen, according to recent reports.

Does screen time affect anxiety?

Children become addicted to the constant rush of dopamine, to the point where some teenagers search social media hundreds of times per day. Excessive screen time has a dynamic association with increased rates of depression and anxiety in children.

How much screen time is OK for a teenager?

Teens can only have two hours of interactive screen time a day, according to the 24-Hour Movement recommendation. The truth is that most teenagers spend much too much time in front of their screens. Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and YouTube can’t really cope with the allure of the great outdoors.