The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that children under the age of two should not be in front of a screen at all (tv, computer, iphone, dvd, etc.). Then it is recommended no more than two hours a day. As a teacher and former nanny, I have seen a difference between children that watch television versus children that have limited access or none at all. I am a believer in all things in moderation. However, I decided before the birth of my son that screen time would be limited and non-existent before the age of two. I have to admit that although it began as a decision that would be in the best interest of our children, it turned into a challenge for me as a parent. I could very easily see myself using tv as a babysitter. I have heard it time and time again from friends and parents over the years – “I just need a break” or I just need to get dinner started.” I get it, I do.
I came across this Huffington Post article on screen time last week which inspired this post. It also came the day after a not so great parenting day. Let’s just say I wasn’t going to win any awards. After reading the article, I thought about it and I realized that my accomplishment was no small feat. You see, I did go two years without our son watching any type of screen (unless photos on the computer counts). Although there were times that I wanted to break down, I stuck to it. Even now, he is four and is limited to movies and educational shows on the weekend only. I calculated his total tv/dvd time to be about 2-3 hours per week.
Now, when you have multiple children it gets a little more difficult. I am thankful that our two year old doesn’t really have any interest in watching although he has seen tv/dvd before he turned two. My boys (and I admit I am biased) are creative, imaginative, attentive and interesting individuals. You can carry a conversation with both of them. They have interesting thoughts and ideas and are both great problem solvers. I believe these are all benefits of limiting screen time. They are up by 7am and sometimes earlier and don’t go to bed until 8pm. They can engage themselves all day without the tv and even on my worst parenting day, it doesn’t occur to me to turn it on. I am quite proud of that.
How much screen time does your child/ren get? What would it take to scale back?
