"Tech-Savvy Parenting: Balancing Screen Time for Kids"

Introduction

It is a universal truth that parents' relationship with their children is the world's most beautiful. Parents devote all their efforts to the better financial future of their children. But there is another moral duty of parents which often parents forget to perform. What is that duty?? It is the ethical and reasonable training that a parent should give to a child. Moral training?? What precisely does this term refer to?? This term covers many aspects of life training, but herein, we will focus on a specific matter: proper, balanced, tech-savvy parenting. Tech-savvy parenting includes setting the rules and regulations for your children that define boundaries for using technology. One should train their kids that there are some limitations and boundaries for using social media platforms, cells and playing video games. As you dive deep into the following article, you will learn how to give tech-savvy training to your kids, what their benefits are, and what the disadvantages are if you ignore your broods as a tech-savvy…..

Tech Savvy Person

Before ferreting deep into the article, there is a need to acknowledge that the tech-savvy person is who? A tech-savvy person always assists his/her family to make moral, balanced and reasonable use of technology. He/she always possesses the ability and sensible knowledge obligatory to use electronic social media and present technology suitably. Usually, the tech-savvy person grasps technical concepts and knows how to make them usable in different states.

Setting Up Tech-Savvy Rules for Kids:

In today's revolutionized world of technology, where everybody has cell phones, tablets and laptops, it is very tough to restrict children from using them. That is why minimizing screen time for toddlers is a nail-biting situation for parents. It is a big problem for parents that how to reduce screen time. Anyways, to save your young one from health and moral side effects, we should establish some rules and regulations for maintaining a balanced use of screens and technology.

Limit Screen Time:

Define time limits to your children at which specific time they can watch the screen. Tell them how much screen time is too much. Stay stiff about these limitations and do not show any fluctuation while implementing them.

Showcase Yourself as an Exemplar:

Do you think that your children will do as you order them??? Not at all. They will adopt the habits which you are taking on. So try to perform all these tasks by yourself which you want to be done by your children. If they observe you spending most of the time with your laptops, mobile, etc, they will not follow any rules you execute. Therefore, try to follow directions to present yourself as an exemplar to them.

Craft a Tech-free Zone:

Try to define an area in your house where using technology is forbidden. Define a specific time limit when you cannot use a tech-based device to create better family engagement. Use of mobile should be banned while sitting with guests, eating meal or dinner, or spending time with siblings.

Educate Your Child About The Content's Nature:

It is a time of conspiracy; everything has negative and positive aspects. So that is why different content-carrying platforms also have both elements. So it would be best to guide your dears on what content they should watch or read and what type should be avoided. Aware your children of positive and vulgarity-free browsing. Discuss different rules and manners of texting and chatting with them. Tell them about the destructive and constructive influences of social media networking. There's one thing of great importance: TRUST. For the sake of Our Creator, kindly build a trust level between you and your children. It is necessary because if your children have confidence in you, my parent will not scold me; instead, they will guide me to the right path. Consequently, your child will be comfortable to talk each and everything with you. Hence, you can push him/her to the positivity.

The Use of Parental Control is A Plus Point:

About all devices have remarkable features of parental control in them. You can use this feature to control the on-screen activities of your broods. If you do not know how to use this feature, then you can follow these instructions:

For Android Phones:

• Visit the play store. • Go to the Play Store's settings. • Click on 'parental control' and turn it on. • Set a PIN code and limit the use of apps according to your own will.

For iOs:

• Go to settings. • Limit screen time, content privacy, etc. • Use the family share option for more security.

For Browsers:

• You can link extensions to filter content quality.

For Window computers:

• Go to settings • Click on accounts and create a family group • Add your children to the group • Customize features and apps accordingly.

For Mac computers:

• Go to system preferences • Open family sharing • Add your child to it • Customize screen time and app settings according to your desire.

Engage Your Children in Outdoor Activities:

Try to engage your children in outdoor activities like cricket, badminton, exercise, etc… it will help you limit their on-screen engagements.

What Should Be the Average Screen Time Per Day?

This question cannot have one answer. The screen time depends on factors like age group, health, and other necessary activities. There are no specific boundaries on screen time for your kids. The caretaker or guardian must define a particular time for screening, keeping in mind the other activities of their children, i.e. their sleep time, physical activity time, and study time, should not be disturbed. For the 0 to 5-year-old age group, the Pediatric Academy of America recommends one hour of screen time in 24 hours. From the age of 6 to 18, it should be about 1 to 2 hours a day. Remember, there is one main concern that you should not ignore. What is it? It is that you should not eliminate technology from your kids while balancing screen time in their lives. Because the use of technology is also of great importance.

Effects of Overuse of Screen on Health:

Over usage of screen can effect both mental and physical health very harshly. Prolonged use of screens can lead to many health issues, such as eye dryness, and eye stress, in another term you can say it as "screen vision syndrome." Blue light emitted by the phone screens is responsible for throwing melatonin hormone in the blood which disturbs our sleeping pattern. Moreover, small text and images also affect our eyes, stimulate headache and make us blurred vision. In adults, Excessive use of social media causes stress and anxiety. Consequently, to reduce all these health jeopardies, individuals should take breaks and avoid using phone at least 20 minutes before sleeping.

Conclusion:

Tech-savvy parenting is too much necessary. It is the moral duty of parents to check and balance the use of technology made by their children for the sake of their mental and physical health. As well as their moral training is also necessary. For this purpose, we should educate them about content choice. Describe the limitations of browsing online content. Define the pros and cons of using social media platforms. Design rules and regulations for the usage of screens. Limit their screen time. Moreover, with the passage of time and age, make them able to communicate openly with you as open communication can build a strong trust level between you and your dear one. As a result, this will help you to guide them according to their nature and requirements. Additionally, discuss the diverse effects of screen time on health with them so that they can understand why you are paying attention to their screen time. Another important thing is that do not eliminate the use of technology from your kid's life. Because it will be harmful to him in the near future, we accept that the use of technology causes many health issues like eye dryness, blurred vision, headache, etc. Still, on the other hand, there is a lot of positive aspect of technology that cannot be ignored. So please, while trying to minimize the screen time in your children's lives, do not eliminate technology from their lives.