Screen Madness & Your Kids: A Parental Guide to Limiting Electronics Use

Maybe your kids start gaming as soon as they get home from school. Or maybe they just never look up from their phones—they’re texting and surfing from after dinner until they go to bed, and then they start again from under the covers. Sound familiar? From gaming consoles and cell phones to computers and tablets and back again, kids spend too much time in front of a screen. A Harris Interactive study found that kids ages 8-18 spend an average of 44.5 hours per week in front of various screens. That’s more than a full-time job. Is there anything we can do to stop the madness? We have a few ideas to try:

Get All Screens out of Their Room

Studies have shown a link between being in front of a screen right before bed and not doing well in school. It’s a little hard to pay attention when you went to bed at two in the morning because you were playing games all night, to say nothing of creating bad sleep habits.

So here’s the rule: No screens in the room. Period. Homework with an iPad is OK, but that’s it. Set a, “It can be in your room, but only when you’re doing your homework” rule. After they do their homework, they need to put the iPad in their backpacks or leave it by the door. Move all desktop computers into a common area, and all phones go on their chargers in a common area, too.

Limit Time Spent Gaming & Online

If given a choice between watching TV and being on the Internet, more than 75 percent of teens said they’d choose the Internet, a survey from Pangea Media and YPulse found. So expect some heated feedback to this one. Start by doing two things:

• Become familiar with the parental controls on your devices and platforms
• Establish an electronics curfew—say, everybody gets off everything by 8 or 9 p.m.

It’s OK to ask that your kids demonstrate respect for their electronics, too. Put everybody’s devices on a protection plan and have them foot a portion of the bill. “You wanna play, you gotta pay”—it’s a valuable life lesson.

Set limits appropriately, too. If your kid gets straight As and does his homework and chores with no complaining—but he likes to play games or surf the Web—there’s no reason he can’t enjoy an hour a day of gaming or Web time. Communicate with your teenager and let him know your concerns. You will probably be able to work out a good schedule that will please you both.

Lead by Example

One more thing: To be taken seriously, you need to follow the rules, too. Kids know when they’re being told, “Do as I say, not as I do.” Set aside your laptop and ask your kids to go for a bike ride. Play a board game with them. Bust out a new deck of cards. Don’t just tell them to get off their devices—show them what that looks like, and enjoy your time together as a family.