How to Manage Healthy Screen Time Habits for Kids

Before COVID-19, it was already a struggle to balance the gift of visual media for kids with the curse of overreliance on the internet for entertainment. Although this post cannot solve that issue entirely, we hope to provide you with some tips and tools to minimize your child’s reliance on the internet. Although we love quality age-appropriate content here at National Broadband, we know that there are plenty of enriching and productive activities to be had when kids unplug from their devices for a while.

However, since the pandemic rolled out and promoted the sudden implementation of remote education (and, for many adults, remote work), screen time has skyrocketed for everyone. Perhaps we will return to normal in the future, but it’s more likely that our “normal” will be a bit different from pre-pandemic times. So many new digital infrastructures have been created in response to the global health crisis that they may not ever disappear entirely—even after we start to heal from the effects of the coronavirus. For example, some schools are considering the option of eliminating snow days altogether. Since it’s clearly possible to learn from home, they reason, there will never be a reason to fall behind due to the weather again, right? Maybe. Either way, we can expect that required screen time will only increase as technology moves forward. As there’s no stopping it, you can at least take back some control of how much your child relies on the internet for non-essential entertainment.

Aside from modeling good internet habits and having intentional conversations with your children about healthy internet usage, you can find services and devices that offer parents support in their efforts to keep kids from slowly turning into tech zombies. According to the CDC, older children should be limiting their screen time to one or two hours per day. The reality: children ages eight to eighteen years old average between seven to ten hours of screen time per day (see below for a chart that breaks down ideal screen time by age). Help your child reclaim their time by incorporating the following tips into your family’s screen time practices.

Before you make any changes: talk to your kiddos. Have conversations about balance so that eliminating screen time can feel less like a punishment and more like a team effort towards a healthy attitude. Screen time is not inherently bad but, like junk food, it needs to be consumed in moderation. Although older children will be able to understand the logic of balance a bit more readily than younger children, you can still start early by modeling the language you want them to acclimate to. For example, you might have some key phrases to help them have the ability to talk about the topic of screen time. You might announce, “You can have thirty minutes of screen time now” to let them know that what they’re about to do is engage in an activity that does have an end. Another example may be to pair transition to non-screen activities with the phrase, “No, we had a lot of screen time already today. It’s time for us to do something different now.”

Having these conversations and phrases can help your family begin to orient non-essential screen time as a privilege and not a right. There is a difference! There is also a difference between essential and non-essential screen time. Using a computer for work or school is a must. It generally cannot be avoided whether you enjoy computer work or not. Watching Netflix or playing the next level of an online game, however, is enjoyable but non-essential. It’s that non-essential screen time that is a privilege.

Finally, allowing children to have a say in the creation of screen time limits (or any household rules) can give them less license to combat those rules later. So, when you have conversations about implementing screen time limits, it is not a bad idea to loop them in.

If you have set realistic expectations for your child’s screen time, then negotiations can more easily be avoided—but not eliminated. Every kid at some point tries to cut a deal with their parents when they want to bend a rule or two. It can be difficult to stay strong in the face of “just five more minutes,” but the results of consistent rules will be worth it! If a child knows that no level of negotiating or wheedling will change their screen time rules, they may ask less often.

If screen time limits continue to devolve into power struggles, remind your children about why balance is so important when it comes to technology use. Then, if possible, try to give them a little more power through additional choices that they get to make about their screen time. Examples might include choices about when they have screen time, on which devices they have screen time, how they spend their screen time, and more.

Another way to help manage your child’s screen time is to use devices already at your disposal. For example, if you have an Apple product, you already have some screen time control through their built-in Screen Time protocols. This includes App Limits that can limit the use of an app or app group to a certain length of time. Once the limit is reached, the device can shut down certain apps. There is also a Downtime function that shuts down certain apps at designated times. You can also find Communication Limits as well as Content and Privacy Restrictions. Because these features can easily be turned off, using these features would work for older children who have learned about balance and just need visual reminders.

Many Android devices also come with a screen time limits and bedtime settings. With their screen time limits, users will be notified when they are about to reach their time limit. When they do, apps and notifications can be blocked (although you can still receive calls and use the Emergency function to make a call if the device is furnished with a calling plan). These settings are passcode protected.

Apps like Screentime can help, too. With Screentime, you can set screen time limits, block access to certain apps, establish downtimes, and even prevent kids from uninstalling the app themselves.

It is also worth noting that some internet services and devices have parental controls, such as Cox Panoramic Gateway Wifi, AT&T Security Suite, Spectrum Security Suite, and more. Although these services do not necessarily deal in screen time limits, they can still help parents take care of what children have access to when they do have screen time.

No matter what time- or location-specific limits you set, consistency is still key. All kids, no matter the temperament or personality, can benefit from schedules and dependable rules. Having clearly established times and physical spaces for the use, disuse, or charging of devices can help kids remember that they should be trying to retain some level of balance between screened and non-screened activities.

Once again, if you take a significant amount of time-filling activity away, something else has to replace it—otherwise, you’re spoiling for a battle and a potential power struggle. Be ready with some suggestions for other activities you know your child will enjoy. You could have the swimsuits and towels on standby for a pool or beach adventure, dig out those old kickballs for a game outside, gather up some crafting supplies for creative pursuits, break out those dusty tabletop games for screenless family time, crank up the oven to make some homemade snacks, and more. There’s so much out there to enjoy!

One of the easiest ways to use screen time to unwind is to enjoy your favorite shows and movies. If you’re interested in keeping a streaming service around, consider one that will allow you to have some control over what they watch, how much they watch, and when they watch it. Although you should always be monitoring your child’s screen time habits, you can use streaming services to help minimize both sneaky and accidental binging. If you’d like more information about the finer details of family-friendly streaming services, please visit our guide to streaming services for kids.