By Dr Santosh Mhetre, MD (Paediatrics)
No doubt about it — TV, interactive video games, and the Internet can be excellent sources of education and entertainment for kids. But too much screen time can have unhealthy side effects.
That’s why it is wise to monitor and limit the time your child spends in playing video games, watching TV, and playing games on the Internet.
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends that kids under the age of 2 should have no screen time, and those kids older than 2 can watch no more than 1 to 2 hours a day of quality programming.
It’s also a good idea to make sure kids have a wide variety of free-time activities like reading, playing with friends, and sports, which can all play a vital part in helping them develop a healthy body and mind.
Ways to reduce TV time for kids
If you want your child to be able to pay attention for longer periods of time (a necessary skill for school), it’s a good idea to sharply limit TV time.
Here are a few simple tips to help your children reduce their screen time and increase physical activity in order to maintain a healthy weight.
Talk to your child. Explain to your children that it’s important to sit less and move more. They will also be more energized, have a chance to practice certain skills (such as riding a bike or shooting hoops), and have fun with friends and peers.
Set limits on screen time. Set a house rule that your children may spend no more than two hours a day of screen time. More importantly, enforce the rule once it’s made.
Minimize the influence of TV in the home. Do not put a TV or computer in your child’s bedroom. This tends to physically isolate family members and decrease interaction. Also, children who have TVs in their room tend to spend almost 1½ hours more in a typical day watching TV than their peers without a set in their room.
Make meal time, family time. Turn off the TV during family meal time. Better yet, remove the TV from the eating area if you have one there. Family meals are a good time to talk to each other. Research has shown that families who eat together tend to eat more nutritious meals than families who eat separately. Make eating together a priority and schedule in family meals at least two to three times a week.
Provide other options and alternatives. Watching TV can become a habit for your child. Provide other alternatives for them to spend their time, such as playing outside, learning a hobby or sport, or spending time with family and friends.
Set a good example. You need to be a good role model and also limit your screen time to no more than two hours a day. Instead of watching TV or surfing the Internet, spend time with your family doing something active.
Don’t use TV to reward or punish a child. Practices like this make TV seem even more important to children.
TV time
Limit the number of TV-watching hours.
Stock the room in which you have your TV with plenty of other non-screen entertainment (books, kids’ magazines, toys, puzzles, board games, etc) to encourage kids to do something other than watching the tube.
Don’t allow your child to watch TV while doing homework.
Treat TV as a privilege that kids need to earn — not a right that they’re entitled to. Tell them that TV viewing is allowed only after chores and homework are completed.
Come up with a family TV schedule. Come up with something the entire family agrees on. Then post the schedule in a visible household area (ie, on the refrigerator) so that everyone knows which programme is OK to watch. Make sure to turn off the TV when the ‘scheduled’ programme is over instead of channel surfing for something else to watch.
Watch TV with your child. If you can’t sit through the whole programme, at least watch the first few minutes to assess the tone and appropriateness
Video and interactive computer games
Look at the ratings. Video games do have ratings to indicate when they have violence, strong language, mature sexual themes, and other content that may be inappropriate for kids. The ratings, established for the Entertainment Software Rating Board, range from EC (meaning Early Childhood), which indicates that the game is appropriate for kids aged 3 and older, to AO (for Adults Only), which indicates that violent or graphic sexual content makes it appropriate only for adults.
Preview the games. Even with the ratings, it’s still important to preview the games — or even play them — before letting kids play. The game’s rating may not match what you feel is appropriate for your child.
Help kids get a perspective on the games. Monitor how the games are affecting your kids. If they seem more aggressive after spending time playing a certain game, discuss the game and help them understand how the violence that’s portrayed is different from what occurs in the real world. That can help them identify less with the aggressive characters and reduce the negative effects that violent video games can have.
Internet safety
Become computer literate. Learn how to block objectionable material.
Keep the computer in a common area. Keep it where you can watch and monitor your kids. Avoid putting a computer in a child’s bedroom.
Share an email account with younger children. That way, you can monitor who is sending them messages.
Bookmark your child’s favourite sites. Your child will have easy access and be less likely to make a typographical error that could lead to inappropriate content.
Spend time online together. Teach your kids appropriate online behaviour.
