As pandemic restrictions begin to ease, parents are finding out just how reliant their kids have become on their screen time. For many families, shut downs forced us to turn to virtual entertainment. Schools went totally online. We dramatically increased our online communications with the loved ones we couldn’t see in person. The result is that now, more than ever, we’ve embraced the virtual world – and many children are finding it hard to break their screen time “addiction.” How dangerous is screen time for our kids and how can parents restrict their online time?
What Do Kids Say About The Time They Spend On Their Devices?
Back in 2018, the Pew Research Center set up a study to see how much screen time use there was among children. At the time, 54 percent of the teens aged 13 – 17 were voicing concerns about the amount of time they were spending on their phones and online.
The study researchers reported that, “Some 52% of U.S. teens report taking steps to cut back on their mobile phone use, and similar shares have tried to limit their use of social media (57%) or video games (58%).”
But then Covid-19 came into our lives and our device use skyrocketed. We’re now worrying if screen time can cause any mental or physical harm to our children (or ourselves).