Screen time

Q1 What is screen time?

Screen time is the total time spent per day in viewing screens such as mobile phone, TV, computer, tablet, or any hand-held or visual device.Screen time spent for educational or prosocial activities such as schoolwork, interacting with friends and relatives, and creating art or music or relaxation is termed positive or healthy, while watching inappropriate TV shows, visiting unsafe websites, or playing violent video games are few examples of negative or unhealthy screen time.

Q2 How much screen time is ok?

• Children below the age of 2 years-no screen time except occasional video call with relatives.
• 2 and 5 years should not exceed 1 hour; the lesser, the better.
• For older children and adolescents, if screen time affects physical activity (play time), sleep, time for schoolwork, meals, hobbies, and family time it is called excessive screen time and it should be reduced.

Q3 What are the adverse effects of screen time

Excess screen time can cause following:

• Physical health: Obesity, sedentary lifestyle, disturbed sleep, headache, eye strain, neck, back, and wrist pains
• Mental health: Delayed speech, hyperactivity, aggression, violence, desire for instant gratification, poor concentration, FOMO (fear of missing out), FOBLO (fear of being left out), cyberbullying, mediaaddiction, distorted, drug use, self-harm, anxiety, and depression.
• Social: Reduced socialization and social anxiety
• Scholastic: Decreased academic performance

Q4 What age to introduce screen time?

At 2 years, you could introduce digital devices such as computer and television but you should view the screens along with the children and prefer educative interactive programs for a short duration of time.

Q5 What is the permissible age for use of various platforms?

Q6 How can I motivate my child to use media in a healthy way?

To have “Digital rules”- Children feel secure when boundaries and rules are laid down for behaviour.

Digital Hygiene:

A few rules are:

• Ensure a warm, nurturing and secure environment at home. Children follow rules, if they are guided in a respectful and empathetic manner. Do not use a screen for calming or distracting a child.
• Balance screen time with adequate time for sleep, physical activity, study, family, meals, and hobby time. Not to use screen 1 hour before bedtime, as blue light emitted from devices disturbs sleep.
• To reduce eyestrain and dryness of eyes, it is important to follow 20-20-20 rule that is every 20 minutes take a break for 20 seconds to look at an object 20 feet away.
• Avoid multitasking. While doing offline homework, all digital devices should be switched off.
• Keep children safe by co-viewing and monitoring the online content and interactions. Avoidprograms and games with violent content. Also, ensure proper privacy settings on the computer, safe search engines on browsers and apps, and anti-virus software. For young children, install protective software to restrict access to inappropriate websites.
• Encourage the use of media for educational purposes and promote physical activity andoffline creative games for recreation. Use “teachable moments” on the media to convey family values, healthy lifestyle, and interpret media messages.
• Mark digital free zones such as bedroom, dining table, kitchen, bathroom, and motorizedvehicles where no family member uses a gadget. Decide upon a digital fasting time when no family member uses any device and utilizes that time for family bonding.
• You should role model healthy media use and formulate a family media usage plan.