Establishing a Healthy Screen Time

Raising kids in today's era has its fair share of challenges and problems. Adding on to the list is the increased use of screen time. This has been a major topic of discussion, a rather hot topic parallel to the conversations regarding the pandemic. The lockdown has introduced parents and caregivers everywhere to this new and rising concern which was well under their control before. The transition to virtual reality has made exposure to screen time an indispensable part of our lives. Rather than amplifying the panic around it, parents always have an option of channeling the use of screen time towards the healthier growth of their children. 

Voxbox, an app launched in July, has provided a large canvas to kids to express their creative skills while using screen time. Ensuring that every child could have a voice and be heard, the company created an audio-based platform with fun engaging prompts for kids like 

Go on an adventure - where kids can discover hidden treasure, explore space, battle dragons, and many more!

Relive an experience-  kids get to tell stories about their family holidays, birthdays and relive a wonderful experience.

Spark an idea- Idea is the first step of action. Your kid can share all the innovative ideas with their peers. 

Share your thoughts-  Kid's voice matters too! It can break barriers and inspire others. Here kids can share all their thoughts and opinions.

Explore a city-  where kids get the chance to be virtual tour guides and explore their city.

These and many more prompts are designed to encourage children to share their thoughts, ideas, and stories with other children across the country. Voxbox tries to foster a community where kids can engage and encourage each other to create their own stories. Children speak about their ideas, experiences, adventures for a few minutes and record them on Voxbox, which instantly makes them content creators. These practices can create new career paths for them like YouTubers, public speakers, etc.

Voxbox has complete safety protocols in place. Parents will have their share of responsibility too. Their consent will be required before the child makes their audio recording public or shares it with the community. This way Voxbox also encourages shared screen time and also parents can monitor what their kids are up to.

Presently, when there's a lot of information out there for consumption, Voxbox emphasizes the creative part of the mind so that kids can come up with their creative content. 

What is healthy screen time? 

Healthy screen time implies actively using technology so that it can be productive for kids. It includes how much time children are spending with screens, what purpose they are using screens for, what type of content they are seeing, etc. It demands a balance between physical and on-screen time. If you, being a parent, are smart enough then this screen time can provide the utmost benefits to your child.

Here are few ways that show the healthy side of screen time: 

1. It can help in encouraging learning and  creativity 

Using their creativity, children can learn to shoot and edit videos, draw pictures, and can do coding. Also, try their hands out in animations and illustrations. Voxbox,  allows children to visualize and achieve creativity through their unique prompts, sharing features, and build intuitiveness with knowledge-oriented activities. This allows them to develop their talents with confidence and practice.

2. Build family time and increase togetherness

In the times of Covid, when children are not recommended to go outside and millennial parents don't have any clue what to do, what to talk about, or where to engage them, kids do experience a disconnect physically. 

• Engaging with Voxbox always helps children to come back to the real world. It allows children to enrich their offline world with the information they receive from the virtual world. 
   

• This incites many conversations offline with family members and encourages family members to spend more time with one another. 

• Through more quality family time, parents can engage in critical responsive interactions and boost playful exploration that is necessary for their child’s healthy development.

3. Development of communication skills

Kids communicating their stories and ideas with a whole bunch of children can help them practice a lot of communication. Also gives them a voice to put in their opinions whenever required. Voxbox is exactly the kind of platform for children where they can amplify their voices and opinions.

As parents, you need to ensure that you monitor screen time and the content your kids are exposed to. It is important to engage and educate your child about different digital platforms to make them capable of deciding what devices are beneficial for them and what are not. With Covid-19 and its guidelines, it's an excellent time to hang out with your kids and figure out what they are interested in and how you can help them enhance their skills and talents through healthy screen time. Just like other things we experience in our lives, deciding whether screen time is healthy or unhealthy, depends on the moderation and precaution we establish around it.