Screen time for kids – Med-Healths

One of the consequences of the pandemic is that children are spending more and more time in front of their computers, tablets and smartphones. It can be difficult for parents to find a healthy balance that allows children to enjoy screen time while ensuring it doesn’t harm their development.

According to a Hamburg study, the time children and young people spend gaming and using social media has increased drastically since the lockdown in 2020. Almost 700,000 children and young people classify gaming as risky or pathological.

At the same time, technologies are becoming increasingly important when it comes to learning, socializing and gaming. So, a certain amount of screen time is essential.

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Learning on the screen: pros and cons

“While there are some potentially negative effects of spending too much time in front of a screen, it’s not all downsides,” says child psychologist Martin Forster. “The solution lies in finding a good balance between digital and analogue leisure activities.”

School life was severely restricted for months due to Corona. Many schools have now switched back to face-to-face teaching, but the increasing number of infections could lead to school closures and distance learning again.

“The quality and effectiveness of online learning depends very much on the school and the teachers, but also on the individual circumstances of the students,” says Forster.

A study from Frankfurt examined how effective online lessons were during the first lockdown – and found significant learning deficits in the children. However, the situation seems to have improved as the Corona crisis progressed.

Here’s how you can reduce screen time

As a family, regularly discuss what everyone can do to reduce screen time .
Introduce screen-free days. It won’t work if you simply ban tablets and the like. It will also not work if you allow your child to use the tablet e.g. E.g. use it for 1 hour in the evening, because it might wait all day. Instead, schedule days when no computers, smartphones (except for essential communication), social media, tablets, or televisions are used.
Talk to your child about what they could do instead. Encourage them to exercise outside, ride a bike, or play board games—all of which will help the child develop skills that screens may impede.
Plan things to do with your kids like sports, walks, cooking, gardening, painting, drawing, and creative projects .
Make sure you take regular breaks when learning online

Do screens damage my child’s eyes?

More screen time and less time outdoors can increase the risk of children developing nearsightedness (myopia), which can lead to poor eyesight.

How to protect your child’s eyes:

Teach your child the 20-20-20 rule: for every 20 minutes they look at a screen, they should look at an object at least 20 feet (6 meters) away for 20 seconds. This relaxes the eye muscles.
Remind your child to blink more because it keeps their eyes moist. Staring at a monitor reduces blinking frequency.
Note the distance between the screen and the eyes. With a tablet or smartphone, it should be at least 30 cm.
Decrease the brightness of the screen.

How do screens affect activity levels?

“When children spend too much time in front of the screen, they become more and more sluggish,” says Forster. “They go outside less often to exercise and exercise. Research also shows that children who spend a lot of time in front of the screen spend, rather reach for chips and sweets.”

Here’s how to get your child moving more:

Swap screen time for exercise: Make the allowed screen time dependent on how much your child has been outdoors and exercised.
This can be, for example, a new sports course, a meeting with friends in the park or an hour on the soccer field.
If you have a garden or a balcony, your child can help you water the flowers or do gardening. Gardening is a healthy form of moderate exercise. A walk in the countryside or a hike also has positive effects.

Can Social Media Affect Self-Esteem?

“If a child uses social networking apps to keep in touch with others, that can be a positive thing. Especially during the lockdown, when friends or family members can’t always be there in person,” says Forster.

However, studies show that children and young people also use social media to browse the profiles of others and to compare themselves to others. Constantly comparing yourself to others can lead to low self-esteem, low mood, and even depression .

“However, it is not clear to what extent this use of social media leads to emotional problems, or if it is rather the other way around,” says Forster.

How to protect your child:

Introduce screen-free days (see above)
Take time to talk to your child about their problems. Look for signs that something might be wrong.
Encourage your child to engage in self-esteem activities such as exercising, playing an instrument, or taking a writing, photography, or art class. Being creative is often a good outlet for children and young people.
If you suspect your child might be depressed, talk to a pediatrician .

How much screen time is too much?

The WHO has published recommendations for babies and young children that are based on scientific evidence. The main suggestions are:

Babies under the age of 1 should not be in front of screens at all. Instead, reading stories to them or singing songs to them while sitting is recommended.
Children under the age of 2 should also not sit in front of screens. From the age of 2 , the WHO recommends no more than 1 hour per day – preferably less.
Children aged 3 to 4 should not spend more than 1 hour per day in front of a screen – preferably less.

In 2017, Canadian researchers released guidelines on how much time older children should spend each day on physical activity, screen time and sleep, based on data from 20 US cities. Your recommendation:

Children and adolescents from 5 to 17 years should not spend more than 2 hours a day in front of the screen.

The recommendations of the BZgA ( Federal Center for Health Education ) are even stricter:

Children from 0 to 3 years: do not use screen media
Children from 3 to 6 years: maximum 30 minutes per day
Children from 6 to 10 years: maximum 45 to 60 minutes per day

Exceptions may also be, emphasizes the BZgA. For example, if it rains all weekend or you watch a movie. To compensate, however, there should always be screen-free days .