This article in the Conversation reports on a recent review of 100 studies about children and screens. The article begins:
Screen time is one of the top worries for Australian parents. In a national February 2021 poll by the Royal Children’s Hospital Melbourne, parents rated it as the number-one health issue facing their children. Our previous research also shows parents feel guilty about screens, even though they are all around us.
At the same time, guidance on what parents should be doing is confusing…
The researchers who reviewed all those studies managed to extract a simple message for parents: four research-based ways parents can help their children use screens in healthy ways:
- Make screen time together time
- Choose age-appropriate content that encourages play
- Don’t let screens get in the way of parent-child interactions
- Don’t have the TV on in the background
You’ll notice that the article examines the way parents use screens themselves, as well as how they manage the children’s screen time.
(See also: Smartphones and mental health)
