Bringing good Screen Time to the Forefront

With screens virtually everywhere, controlling a child's screen time can be challenging. To complicate matters, some screen time can be educational for children as well as support their social development. So how do you manage your child's screen time? Here's a primer on guiding your child's use of screens and media.
The problems with screens
Unstructured playtime is more valuable for a young child's developing brain than is electronic media. Children younger than age 2 are more likely to learn and remember information from a live presentation than they are from a video.
By age 2, children can benefit from some types of screen time, such as programming with music, movement and stories. By watching together, you can help your child understand what he or she is seeing and apply it in real life. However, passive screen time shouldn't replace reading, playing or problem-solving.
As your child grows, keep in mind that too much or poor-quality screen time has been linked to:
• Obesity
• Irregular sleep schedules and shorter duration of sleep
• Behavioural problems
• Loss of social skills
• Violence
• Less time for play

To ensure quality screen time:
• Preview programs, games and apps before allowing your child to view or play with them. Organizations such as Common-Sense Media can help you determine what's appropriate. Better yet, watch, play or use them with your child.
• Seek out interactive options that engage your child, rather than those that just require pushing and swiping or staring at the screen.
• Use parental controls to block or filter internet content.
• Make sure your child is close by during screen time so that you can supervise his or her activities.
• Ask your child regularly what programs, games and apps he or she has played with during the day.
• When watching programming with your child, discuss what you're watching and educate him or her about advertising and commercials.

Also, avoid fast-paced programming, which young children have a hard time understanding, apps with a lot of distracting content, and violent media. Eliminate advertising on apps, since young children have trouble telling the difference between ads and factual information.