WASHINGTON — Today’s kids spend an average of seven hours a day on entertainment media. Teenagers top that trend with an average of 9 hours a day spent in front of screens, not including time spent using media for school or homework.
And with kids out for summer vacation, that number can quickly creep up.
Before you hide all the iPads and lock all of your TVs, consider the benefits of digital media. Here is some expert advice on how you can make screen time an educational and socially enriching experience for your kids this summer:
Choose quality content
Sara DeWitt, vice president of digital for PBS Kids, says before you turn on the TV, stop and think about what your child’s interests are. Is your toddler into trains and trucks? Maybe your kids are passionate about animals? Curating the content based on the topic du jour will result in a richer, more educational experience.
DeWitt recommends Common Sense Media as a resource to help parents find age-appropriate content for kids.
Start a conversation
When your little one finishes watching a show or playing a game, strike up a conversation about that experience.
“I can’t even stress this enough: This is a really amazing opportunity that parents have to boost their kids’ education,” DeWitt said.
When you ask your child to recall details of a story they just watched, several things happen. They might relate to a social-emotional experience they witnessed and even improve their literacy skills.
“They’re working on some key skills, like what’s the beginning of a story? Then what happened? Then what happened next? This is a core preschool readiness and kindergarten readiness skill, and you can do it by talking about TV,” DeWitt said.
Set limits
As with everything, screen time needs its limits. DeWitt says think about what works best for your family structure. Maybe that’s having your child watch TV while you’re trying to get dinner together, or perhaps it’s during a younger sibling’s nap time. Decide on a good window and be clear on what can be watched, when.
That said, expect some flexibility on this rule during the summer when schedules aren’t as rigid.
“You have some days that are really busy with camp, and other days where you might just have a whole day of downtime,” said Leticia Barr of Tech Savvy Momma.
“So I think that it’s really important to not get caught up in the moment and think that, ‘Oh my gosh, my kids have spent hours in front of the computer or looking at their phone.’ I think it’s important to look at the overall week, and just as we want our kids to have a healthy diet, we want them to have a healthy media balance as well.”
However, when it comes to road trips, Barr says anything goes.
“When you are on the family road trip or on the plane, it is purely about survival.”
Barr recommends Cricket Media’s Keeping Tech in Check as a resource for parents looking for additional advice on screen time limits.
Use screen time as family time
If your kids are older and the family enjoys the same shows, don’t shy away from combining “family time” and “screen time.”
“A lot of parents — almost 90 percent — say that they watch TV together as a family,” DeWitt said.
Again, asking a few questions after the entertainment is over is a great way to start a deeper conversation about a particular topic or emotional experience that was explored.
“That chance to sit down together and watch something and discuss it as a family is setting up a really good media habit for young kids — that media is something to be shared and discussed,” DeWitt added.
