By India McCarty
If you’re looking for ways to cut down on your child’s endless social media scrolling, you’re not alone. Here are five tips from experts on how to get your children away from screens and into the real world.
“Changing a habit is always going to be hard,” child psychologist Dr. Jane Gilmour told the BBC, counseling parents to start with small changes and be realistic with their goals.
For example, have a designated place for devices to charge, and let your children know that when screen time ends, the device goes on the charger. Or, as the Child Mind Institute shared, make a schedule for screen time.
“That kind of structure helps kids know what to expect and cuts down on their requests for screens at other times,” CMI reported. “Plus, it gives you space to schedule your own tasks at a time when you know your children will be busy.”
Parenting coach Olivia Edwards’ recommendation? Make rules about screen time a collaboration between you and your children.
Related: 4 Ways to Cut Your Children’s Screen Time in Half Without a Fight
“We have to have a strong relationship with our child because that is what’s going to get us towards co-operation [and] teamwork,” she said.
Edwards also encouraged parents to turn discussions about screen time into learning opportunities about the addictive properties of social media.
“You might say something like: ‘How do you think social media works? How do you think that app works to keep people looking at it? Did you know they make money off the more time people spend on it?’” she recommended.
It’s also important for parents to model healthy behavior towards screens and social media and to acknowledge to their children that they can also be guilty of spending too much time on their phones.
“Parents’ tech use is the biggest indicator of a child’s relationship with their tech,” Andee Tagle said in an episode of NPR’s “Life Kit” podcast. “More than setting rules, more than, you know, how much a kid uses a laptop at school, what a parent does with their own devices — a parent’s attitudes towards their own tech — is going to indicate how a kid is going to use their technology, whether or not they’re going to have a positive relationship with their devices.”
Most importantly, don’t panic if screen time rules don’t immediately change children’s behavior.
Dr. Tony Sampson, who specializes in digital communication at the University of Essex, explained that there is “a tendency for anxious parents to become caught up in a prevailing media panic and see all adolescent brains as simply hardwired for social media addiction.”
However, he pointed out that “social media does not shorten or erode attention,” and instead “captures it and diverts it toward engagement with commercial content.”
“Positive technological use can help boost neuroplasticity for creativity, exploration and learning,” Sampson concluded.
It can be difficult to know where to start when it comes to regulating your children’s screen time, but with these tips, parents have a good place to start making real changes.
Read Next: Are We Surprised? An Hour of Play Is Better Than Screen Time
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