One Akron parent gives her kids two-hour blocks of screen time at home — one when they finish their homework and one before bed.
Another limits her kids’ time on technology to three hours per day while they’re at home.
And a third parent allows her kids eight hours of screen time each day.
Third of a three-part series.
Every parent has a different tactic, but the goal shouldn’t be to insulate kids from screens, said Dr. Michael Redovian, a child and adolescent psychiatrist with Akron Children’s Hospital. Instead, he said, it’s to teach children how to use technology effectively and safely so they build healthy habits for the future.
With the new school year beginning, here are some ways Akron parents manage their kids’ screen time at home.
Screen time tactics local parents use
April Cameron, who allows her seven kids two-hour long blocks of screen time, said she is impressed by the attention span of her children, who range from 8 to 16. She believes they can focus for around an hour or two at a time.
Even so, she makes sure not to overdo the amount of screen time she allows her children. When she notices them getting antsy, she has them play outside.
“Honestly, if I didn’t have rules, they would be on their computers 24 hours a day,” Cameron said.
Mirriam Reid said, as a whole, she believes all seven of her children have good attention spans — especially Aniya Smith, a second grader at Akron’s Crouse Community Learning Center. She said she allows her children three hours of screen time per day.
“She’s pretty well-rounded — she’ll go read, she’ll go color, she’ll do something to occupy her time,” Reid said.
Reid sometimes allows her kids to watch videos while she is cooking or trying to get things done. Other times, she plays online games with them to bond.
Jakeela Collins said she allows eight hours of screen time per day during the week for her children. She has a parental control app for her daughter, who is 6 years old, that allows her to control what she does on her phone and for how long.
She said her kids stay occupied throughout the day with activities and chores, and in the summer, they play sports, which keep them busy.
“My daughter, she knows that she has a time limit on her phone, so she puts her phone down for a bit and tries to do something else, like read or play with her toys or clean up,” Collins said.
Redirecting attention away from screens
Redovian said excessive screen time on electronics like computers, smart phones, tablets and television can lead to less developed social skills, difficulty sustaining attention or unhealthy sleep habits.
To avoid these issues, he recommended parents explain to their kids that it’s okay to be bored and not always have something holding their attention.
Instead of allowing them to constantly turn to technology, redirect their attention to something creative, like drawing, reading or coloring, Redovian suggested.
“The more that the boundary is held, and you can say, ‘No, this is what you’re going to do,’ the more they’ll start figuring things out,” he said.
A toolkit published with an advisory by the U.S. Surgeon General’s Office suggested families create media plans to ensure screen time for both children and adults in a household is healthy. It recommends two hours of screen time per day for children 6 to 18.
Some of the family media plan suggestions include planning who can use what screen, where, when, for what content and for how long. It also recommended a digital detox to help reset unhealthy screen habits.
Even if a child has used screens throughout their childhood, it is possible to reduce their time on them, Redovian said.
He recommends parents set limits and expectations early on, maintain boundaries, monitor the content they consume and have kids earn screen time.
The balance between digital engagement and offline activities is important to help develop children’s ability to focus, said Dr. Jasdeep Sohi, a child and adolescent psychiatrist at Cleveland Clinic Children’s.
She suggested having no phones in bedrooms after a certain time to help children get better sleep, encouraging kids to read books, putting phones away while doing homework and getting children involved in extracurriculars and sports.
Sohi also recommended parents work with kids on activities that do not involve technology, such as doing a puzzle or going for a walk.
Parents have to be good role models, she said, which means not going on their own phone or device in front of their kids too much.
“Changing their own behaviors to help their kids have a positive behavior is always important for any kind of behavior modification,” Sohi said.
Redovian said if a parent becomes concerned for their child’s mental health because of their technology use, they should see their pediatrician.
“These are definitely questions that parents should be asking and should be thinking about, and we are the people who are more than happy to answer them for you,” he said.
Lauren Cohen was a community reporting intern for the Akron Beacon Journal and Signal Akron. The position was funded through a grant from the Knight Foundation, which is a financial sponsor of Signal Akron.
