Are you frustrated that your children are always watching screens? Are you having trouble limiting their screen time? Does your kid reach for their own device whenever they’re bored? If so, your child might have a tech addiction.
Don’t worry — you’re not alone. The pandemic accelerated screen time use for both adults and kids. Being home more led to an increase in downtime, which often translates to screen time. On top of that, classrooms last year were often replaced with Zoom rooms.
Face-to-face socialization was replaced with FaceTime chats. Whether you’re a parent, guardian, or caretaker, it’s your responsibility to make sure your children are happy, healthy, and learning.
Our kids are growing up in a digital age, and it’s hard to figure out how to cut back on their tech time. Not sure where to start? Here are five tips for breaking your kids’ tech addiction.
Set Your Kids Up for Less Screen Time
Like adults, most kids use devices for entertainment. They want to play a game, watch videos, and scroll through photos. Or — depending on the child’s age — they want to connect with friends via text or social media.
If your kid owns a smartphone, it may be time for a change. Switching from a smartphone to a children’s phone can be useful for establishing boundaries. A phone without internet, social media, games, or an app store limits what your children have access to.
Your kid will likely be upset by this change, so you’ll want to talk with them about it openly. The kind of conversation you have with them depends on your child’s age.
Share information with your teen about the side effects of screen time, like losing interest in other activities. You can tell a younger kid that a kids’ phone is a first step toward building responsibility at home.
Establish a Screen Time Budget
Part of growing up is having opportunities to learn and develop. Use this moment to teach your children about time management by setting a weekly screen time budget. Like an allowance, a screen time budget helps you set ground rules for how your kid spends their time.
If you have an older kid, you may want to start with a weekly time budget. Ask them what you both think is fair. Letting them be part of the conversation helps them feel like they own their behavior, rather than feeling forced to comply.
Your child will quickly learn what happens if they use up all their hours right away. If you have a younger kid, start with smaller daily time budget increments. A full day might already feel like an eternity to an eager kid. Create a visible chart to track screen time use.
Hang it in their bedroom or a more central place, like the living room. That way, everyone knows how much time has been spent on screens and how much time is left.
Create Tech-Free Zones
You might be wondering how to monitor your child’s screen time without watching their behavior 24/7. The key is to create technology-free zones within the home. These areas should be off-limits to tech for all family members — regardless of age.
We already know that looking at a screen before bed can disrupt sleep patterns, and too much screen time can impact your health. The bedroom and the dining room are two places you can easily designate as tech-free zones.
And don’t let your kids take their devices outside, either — that defeats the whole purpose of enjoying the outdoors! Have a parent-child chat or a family conversation about why these chosen spaces in the home are tech-free.
Engaging your children in that conversation helps them feel like they’re contributing to the home’s shared environment.
Be a Screen Time Role Model
Kids mimic adults. They mimic what we say, how we behave in public, what we wear, and how we spend our free time. To model good screen time behavior for your children, you need to limit your own screen time.
This can be a tough task. But if you’re up for the challenge, it can be worthwhile for your own mental well-being too. After all, the average U.S. adult now spends more than four hours on their mobile device each day, up from under four hours just a few years ago.
That number is just the minimum, since it doesn’t include time spent on a laptop, tablet, e-reader, or wearable device. Set your own boundaries by checking your iPhone’s Screen Time summary or your Android’s Digital Wellbeing tool.
Look at how much time you’re spending daily and weekly on your most-used devices. Decide when you’re going to be on your devices and when you’ll put them away. You can also download apps to help you prioritize and refocus your time if you’re struggling to break the habit.
Tell Others About Your Screen Time Rules
This last tip can be a bit tricky to navigate. But if you want your kids to limit their tech time, you need to talk to others about your rules. Your immediate family should already know the rules, but your extended family should too.
Having your kid stay the night at their grandparents’ house, for instance, can lead to extended screen time. No wonder they love grandma so much, right? Let your nanny or babysitters know the rules and offer suggestions for fun, tech-free activities.
