How Much Screen Time Is Too Much?

Are Your Kids (And You) Getting Too Much Screen Time?

Screen time. In today’s ever-connected world, watching TV or using a phone, tablet, notebook or computer seems to be constant.

But it shouldn’t be!

There are considerable dangers when kids – and adults– have too much screen time.

Let’s look first at why it’s so important, and then the time recommendations by age.

Why Screen Time Is So Crucial

I know, I know. You’ve got a screaming 2-year-old. Or 3 bored youngsters cooped up in the house on a rainy day. A video to watch, or a game to play on the phone, can be an absolute lifesaver.

Or is it?

Here are some quite horrifying findings from several studies:

• The more time children under age 2 spend on handheld screens, the more likely they are to have speech delays.
• Teens suffer more distress when they connect with social media (and some connect over 100 times a day!).
• Kids and adults with a lot of screen time are more likely to forget information and make mistakes — even when they’re not connected to the internet or using their phones.

Parents need to limit screen time – for themselves AND for their kids — even if sometimes it means playing the bad guy.

Yes, it really is that important.

The Problems With Too Much Screen Time

Here are some of the problems we experience:

Teens show addictive behaviours and are distressed: Adults worry that teens are hooked on social media, but many have no idea what teens are actually doing online. The teenage years are difficult enough – teens worry greatly about how they fit in. When teens post on social media, it’s important to them how many likes and affirmations they get. That need for affirmation can become addictive. And when they don’t get “enough” affirmation (whatever number “enough” is), or when someone makes a nasty comment, it can be devastating. The more they check their social media, the more distressed teens become, according to a CNN study – and some check their accounts over 100 times each day!

Attention disorders. Smartphones, TVs, tablets and computers can cause attention problems. Skipping rapidly between items on phones and in social media makes it more difficult to concentrate for a while on a specific task. This occurs in all ages. And in the youngest kids, parents’ own phone use can contribute to their children’s attention issues. A small 2015 study showed that when parents stop playing with a baby to turn to their phone screen for a short while, the baby may mimic that behaviour by playing with toys or screens for only a short period of time.

Brain Fade. Worryingly, heavy internet and phone users are more likely to lose concentration, forget information, have poor spatial awareness and make mistakes — even at times when they’re not connected to the internet or using their phones. So they may miss appointments, fail to notice signs on the road, daydream during conversations and forget why they went from one part of the house to another.

(Yes, that also happens sometimes with old age!!) 🙂

Negative influences. Advertisements on screens can influence children’s opinions – and not always for the better. For example, junk food is marketed as delicious but it’s often high in saturated fats, salt and sugars. Video game ads and movie trailers may glorify violence.

Perhaps more obvious, but no less worrying, are the physical effects of too much screen time.

The Physical Effects of Too Much Screen Time

Obesity.  When you’re sitting in front of a television or computer you are not active, you’re sedentary. Adults and kids need to keep moving – but tweens in the U.S. stare at screens for more than four hours a day and teens up to seven hours. Parents spend up to nine hours a day in front of screens — and only two of them are for work-related reasons. Not a good example to kids, is it? (Interestingly, 78 percent of parents in this study said they believed they were good screen-time role models!).

Sleep loss. Screens and lack of physical activity affect sleep, too. And when you don’t get enough sleep, you are more likely to have behavioral and social problems, poorer academic performance, and health conditions

Hand pain.  A 2015 study found that those with high phone usage have more impaired hand function and repetitive-strain injuries than people who used their phone less.

Headaches. A 2016 study showed that people who used their phones and tablets more, got more headaches that lasted longer than those who didn’t use screens as much.

Screen time recommendations by age

Here are the recommendations issued by the American Academy of Pediatrics in October 2016:

How To Reduce Screen Time

Apart from being lousy for our health, it’s also not green or ecofriendly to spend so much time with our screens. We lose touch with reality and with our world. What we’re not aware of, we don’t care about, and so we don’t protect.

Here are some tips from the AAP:

Create a family media plan. Kids need enough time each day to play, study, talk, and sleep. Too much screen time can interfere with this. This video explains how to use the AAP’s online tool to create a family media plan:

1. Put Down Your Own Phone!  Be aware of your habits. Put your phone or tablet down during meals, of if your children need your attention.
2. Praise their “offline” behavior. When you see them being green and ecofriendly by playing outside, riding a bike or coloring, tell them it’s great and ask them questions about it. These conversations will help them focus on the joys of the real world, and they will notice that their activity attracts your attention.
3. Set limits, and stick to them. Set limits for screen time for the whole family. And if they break the rules, enforce the punishment you set out when making the house rules – for example, extra chores or taking the phone away.
4. Trim TV time. You don’t need TV during mealtimes. Don’t have televisions in children’s bedrooms. Kids shouldn’t be distracted by TV while doing homework. You don’t need a TV for background noise! If you’re going to watch a show, decide on the show ahead of time and turn off the TV when it’s over.
5. If you can’t reduce, at least monitor closely. One surprising — and welcome! — finding from that CNN teen study was that parents who keep a close eye on their child’s social media accounts greatly reduced the negative effects of their kids’ online conflicts.

Summary

Don’t just mindlessly consume what advertisers want you to see. Be mindful of how much time you spend online, and limit it – for your health and well-being. The planet will thank you – and so will your brain and your health!

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Do you spend too much time online? Are you worried now you’ve seen the problems? Let me know in the comments below.

Warm regards,

P.S.  Want to live a simpler, more green and ecofriendly life? (It’s been shown to increase happiness!). You can download your FREE green living handbook “Live Well, Live Green” here. Get it now!

Related:

• Do your kids have Nature Deficit Disorder? Find out here.
• Get rid of all the toxic products in your life (you’ll be shocked at where they hide!). It’s easy – see how here!