A colleague recently suggested my wife and I should have no computing screen time limitations for our daughters.<\/p>\n
Should parents set screen time limits for children? Should screen time be correlated to age? Does the type of screen time matter?<\/p>\n
\u201cYou mean no limits after finishing their schoolwork?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy set that limit? I trust my kids to set their own limits.\u201d<\/p>\n
I\u2019m sure that\u2019s the ideal: trust the kids to understand homework should be completed.<\/p>\n
Every child is different. Some can self-regulate, some cannot.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n There isn\u2019t a single right approach to screen time. Families need to discover what works for them.<\/p>\n The problem is, our girls never quite get their homework done, even when they turn it in as completed. We\u2019re not ready to trust they wouldn\u2019t spend three hours staring at screens and never do a single page of schoolwork.<\/p>\n Be honest. We all know plenty of adults who cannot regulate their screen habits effectively.<\/strong><\/p>\n My colleague had a curious response: \u201cDo you worry about their book time? How\u2019s that different?”<\/p>\n That\u2019s a faulty analogy, at best.<\/p>\n Screens are designed to be addictive. Moving pictures and sounds were already hard for our minds to ignore. How often have you watched a mediocre movie or television show? Yet, do you finish a mediocre book?<\/p>\n Tech companies have taken this impulse to watch and listen to screens further than film and television ever could.<\/p>\n We don\u2019t want to ignore an email. A friend\u2019s social media post. Breaking news.\u00a0Gamification demands a response. Things beep, vibrate, flash, and otherwise demand we pay attention.<\/p>\n Educational games have adopted gamification of learning, using the same addictive designs other apps exploit.<\/p>\n Toss in ADHD and my daughters cannot focus while using a tablet or computer.\u00a0For our family, tech has to come after schoolwork. The tech also comes with screen time limits.<\/p>\n I don\u2019t have much self-discipline and have to limit where my screens are when I\u2019m writing. My ADHD is nowhere near as severe as that of the girls. Yes, I write on paper a lot of the time because I\u2019m so easily distracted. My daughters struggle even more with the temptation of screens.<\/p>\n Limiting screen time and setting preconditions on it isn\u2019t the same as not allowing any tech time. I want the girls to learn to use tech wisely and with good habits.<\/p>\n I didn\u2019t argue with my colleague because her slightly older and non-ADHD children probably can self-regulate. I admit to some envy, since it would be great to trust the girls that much.<\/p>\n In time, I hope the girls can self-regulate their screen time. They\u2019re simply not there yet.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A colleague recently suggested my wife and I should have no computing screen time limitations for our daughters. Should parents set screen time limits for…<\/p>\n