American Academy of Pediatrics has Changed Their Stance on Screen Time for Children

How much screen time is the right amount of screen time? This question has been plaguing parents and child care professionals for years. Now, the American Academy of Pediatrics has shifted their original stance from a 2 hour limit to screen time to something more nuanced. 

Jordan Shapiro, contributing editor for Forbes Magazine, recently wrote an article outlining the AAP's new stance on screen time for children.  Click here for the article

“In a world where ‘screen time’ is becoming simply ‘time,’” they (AAP) write, “our policies must evolve or become obsolete. The public needs to know that the Academy’s advice is science-driven, not based merely on the precautionary principle.” Of course, that’s exactly what most experts in children and digital media previously thought, that the AAP guidelines seemed like they were the result of familiar technophobic paranoia that always accompanies new technologies.

Common Sense Media's 3 Rules for Screen Time for Kids

Common Sense Media has added a new post to their parenting section about a 'Healthy Balanced Diet of Screen Time for Kids."  As with anything, balancing screen time with non-screen time is the goal you, as parents , want to achieve.

Below are the highlights of the article. For the full article, click here 

Use media together.

• Whenever you can, watch, play, and listen with your kids. Talk about the content.
• When you can't be there, ask them about the media they've used. Help kids question and consider media messages.
• Share your own values. Let them know how you feel about solving problems with violence, stereotyping people, selling products using sex or cartoon characters, or advertising to kids in schools or movie theaters.
• Help kids connect what they learn in the media to events and other activities in which they're involved -- such as sports and art -- to broaden their understanding of the world.

Be a role model.

• When kids are around, set an example by using media the way you want them to use it. Avoid posting everything that happens in your life, ask permission before uploading photos of others, and establish some media-free family time.
• Use media as a tool. Show your kids your mapping program, your news app, or your photo-editing programs. Demonstrate how your devices are a means to an end, not an end unto themselves.
• Avoid using media as a reward or a punishment -- that gives it too much power.

Keep an eye on the clock.

• Establish time limits that work for your family's needs.
• Let kids choose their entertainment options for the day. It could be a show, a game, or a learning app -- but giving them the choice helps them regulate their usage.
• Limit distractions. Keep phones and devices away when kids need to focus on other things -- homework or chores, for example. That'll make it easier for them to stay on task and make media use easier to track.