GREEN BAY (NBC 26) — In a report from Common Sense Media, screen time in children and adolescents ages 8 to 18 jumped 17% between 2019 and 2021.
The report shows that screen time is at an average of five and half hours a day for children eight to twelve and averages close to nine hours a day for teenagers.
Excessive screen time has been shown to have an impact on a child's development. The American Academy of Pediatrics says that children under the age of two should not use any sort of media or screen time. They go on to recommend that children above the age of two should only be exposed to two hours of screen time a day.
It is understood that every family is different and has unique needs, but to help combat the excessive use of screen time in children, US Cellular provides five tips to manage your child's screen time.
- Create a personalized parent-child agreement
Establishing set parameters can help parents and children see eye-to-eye on appropriate device usage. - Keep screen time and mealtime separate
Eating meals in front of the screen can be convenient, but it also leads to increased screen time. Use mealtime to converse or play games as a family around the dinner table. Unless people are actively watching the screen, the Mayo Clinic suggests turning off the television. - Keep TVs or computers in a shared space
It's easier to know what a child is doing on the web when a parent can easily see their activities from shared living spaces. - Let the apps help
There are apps such as Qustodio Parental Control & Screen Timewhich allow guardians to schedule specific screen time and block websites. - Understand rules change
Specific guidelines around screen time can be set as a family but there are instances, such as a long airplane ride, which can cause family rules to be modified for certain length of time.
For more information about the report or Common Sense Media visit commonsensemedia.org.
