It’s inevitable that along the way some screen rules will be broken. It’s up to you how much time your kids spend on their devices, but having different routines for school days and weekends can help kids focus more during the week and enjoy a healthy amount of screen time on the weekends.Įnforce the rules. Have different routines for school days and weekends. Things like “no screens during meals” or “devices can only be used in the living room” are clear and easy for kids to follow. Overly complicated rules all too often get thrown in the “too hard” basket. No one likes consequences but making it clear to kids from the start that they might have their iPad taken away for a day will hopefully discourage them from breaking any rules. In this step make it clear that there will be consequences for breaking any rules set out in the routine. For example, they might have a favourite show on Friday nights and as it’s not a school night you might all agree to half an hour extra screen time. Kids are more likely to follow along if they have a say in how things will go. If you’re not sure where to start when it comes to getting screen time under control, it helps to think about the times your child spends the most time on their screens.įor many families, most recreational screen time occurs between the kids getting home from school and going to bed.Īsk yourself what isn’t working for your family during these times and imagine how you would like this part of the day to look instead. What to include in a screen time routine. Too much screen time has been linked to behavioural problems, depression and anxiety as well as negatively impacting self-esteem, making a screen routine all the more important. Most kids exceed this guideline with only 15% of Australian kids sticking to the 2-hour limit. Some recommendations suggest primary school aged kids should be spending no more than 2 hours on recreational screen time per day. The important thing is how you bounce back, and setting a screen routine is a simple way to help the whole family stay on track of their screen time.įirstly, how much is too much screen time? It can be so easy to feel discouraged when things like this happen, but that’s ok! We’ve all had times where we’ve given in to kids asking for ten more minutes on the iPad or sat a toddler in front of the TV just to have a few moments to get something done. Setting screen time goals is all fun and games until we slip up and start feeling hopeless about the whole thing.
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