This week is Screen-Free Week, seven days devoted to shutting down electronic devices and connecting with life without the distraction of a screen, an exercise that could serve many of our youth well.
Our kids’ online and offline interactions are intertwined in their everyday lives and sometimes it’s hard to get them to disconnect from the virtual world. Research has shown both the positive and negative effects associated with the amount of time teens spend looking at a screen. But there seems to be a consensus that teens’ overdependence on their devices affects their psychological and physical well-being.
Screen Time and Health
Too much time online has been linked to mental and physical problems such as anxiety, depression, low self-esteem, sleep deprivation and obesity. Research published in the journal Emotion showed adolescent self-esteem, life satisfaction and happiness decreased the more hours teens spent per week using their devices to surf the internet, play on social media, text, game and communicate via video chats. Researchers from San Diego State and Florida State universities discovered about 50 percent of teens who spent five or more hours looking at a screen each day reported experiencing thoughts of suicide and experienced prolonged periods of hopelessness or sadness in comparison to those who did not spend as much time online.
From a physical perspective, many studies have shown a relationship between the amount of time kids spend online and obesity. Kids glued to a screen aren’t moving or getting the recommended 60 minutes of exercise needed each day. In addition to being sedentary, kids who are constantly connected aren’t getting the sleep they need to function. The National Sleep Foundation recommends that teens get eight to 10 hours of sleep each night, but in most cases, they are only averaging six to seven hours per night during the typical school week. Research has shown that electronic devices may be contributing to youth sleep deprivation by emitting a blue light that throws off their body’s biological clock and interferes with their sleep cycle. Therefore, a lot of experts recommend shutting off the devices an hour or two before bed.
[Read: 4 Ways to Cut Your Screen Time.]
Too Much Time Online
There is no clear-cut answer to how much is too much screen time. The research is all over the place when it comes to the recommended time.
In a study published in the journal Psychiatric Quarterly, teens were asked questions about how much time they spent on their devices, sleep, grades, family eating patterns, depression, physical activity and risky behavior such as carrying weapons, fighting at school and sexual promiscuity while under the influence of alcohol and drugs. The findings indicated that six hours or less online per day was not associated with any negative outcomes. This research followed suit with another study that found six hours of sleep or less doesn’t appear to be linked to unhealthy behaviors. To flip it around, another study showed that teens who spent more than two hours a day on electronic devices were more likely to report mental health issues than teens who spent more time offline engaging in in-person interactions, sports or other exercise, doing homework, consuming print media, and attending religious services. With the research all over the place, what’s a parent to do?
The answer is use good judgment. Here are some indicators to help you determine whether your teen is online too much:
— Your teen is looking down at a device more than up.
— Your teen can’t function without having her device in hand.
— Your teen spends more time online than with people.
— Your teen’s virtual world has taken over his real world.
[Read: What to Do About Teens ‘Phubbing.’]
Managing Screen Time
Taking into account your teen’s device use, here’s what you can do to help your child with managing screen time:
1. Assess screen time. Kids use their devices for a lot of different reasons, including schoolwork. So, you don’t want to set unrealistic rules and then backtrack because you were too rigid. If you aren’t sure how often and for what reason your kid’s using media, have him keep a daily and weekly log. This will give you and your teen a snapshot of where time is wasted online. If you do this as a joint effort, your teen is more apt to buy into cutting back on his media use.
2. Start with the small stuff. Set some non-negotiable electronic use rules such as:
— No using devices, or having them out, when eating meals.
— No using devices at bedtime (experts recommend turning devices off an hour or two before turning in).
— No messing with devices in places where undivided attention is required, such as when watching a movie or a play.
— No playing on devices when you’re with someone else. I think most of us would agree that it’s highly annoying when we are out with someone and they spend more time looking at a phone screen than us.
— Absolutely no using devices out when driving.
3. Get moving. It’s spring, the weather is beckoning us to get outside and move, and that’s just what we should encourage our teens to do, rather than staying inside and staring at a screen. Sure, she may want to take her phone along to listen to music, track each step through a fitness app, or text some friends to see if they want to meet up and go for a walk, and that’s OK. The key is to let technology supplement the activity, not be the sole entertainment.
4. Teach priorities. Case in point, the other day I asked my teen daughter to clean her room. After some time, I went to check her progress. Propped on her dresser was a YouTube video of another teen providing tips and strategies for cleaning a bedroom. OK — that’s good, but now do we really need a video detailing how to pick clothes off the floor? You probably came to the same conclusion I did, but rather than saying put the phone away and clean your room. I laughed and said, “Really? OK that’s cool, but how about turning on some music and watching that later to get tips for next time you need to clean your room?” Instead of engaging in a screen battle, I took time to respect that she was looking for organization advice but needed a little redirection on what was most important, like physically, not virtually cleaning her room. Kids can easily get sidetracked, and what they intended to do for a few minutes can turn into an hour of screen time. It’s our job to help them set priorities and stick with them.
5. Practice what you preach. If you start calling out your teen for spending too much time online, don’t be surprised if he doesn’t call out your behaviors. I’ll be the first to admit, being in a Ph.D. program and an author, I spend a lot of time in front of a screen. Too often my kids have called me out on it too, but I dismissed it as “work.” I was implying that my time online was more important than theirs, but really? Sure, to me it is, but trust me, they don’t give one iota about what I am doing on the computer. If you’re asking your kid to change, maybe you need to look at whether you also need to change. The adage “do as I say, not as I do” doesn’t fly with today’s teens.
[Read: How to Customize a Healthier Approach to Screen Use for Your Family.]
Kids need to learn how to integrate technology in their lives, but not let it rule their lives. As parents, we can help them put first things first by setting healthy boundaries and teaching them how to use and not abuse technology.
More from U.S. News
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Managing Your Teen’s Screen Time originally appeared on usnews.com
