As you know, the internet is a vast and ever-growing, constantly changing world. However, with this expansion comes increased risks for your children and it’s up to you as their guardian to reduce these dangers. One of the major concerns that parents should have is limiting screen time for their children, like usage of phones, tablets or laptops at an early age. But you may be thinking that screen time is fun for your kids.

The Pediatrics points out that the brain develops from birth until the age of seven. During this time, children need to spend time interacting with others, playing and learning through role-playing, involving in cooperative games. Children rely on others for their ideas and opinions to grow. Thus, it is important that they learn to play together. If you want your kids to develop their social skills and get along well with other kids, then it’s best if you try to limit screen time for them.

Well, you might be surprised to learn that exposing your children to more electronics actually increases the chances of developing vision and attention problems in the future. That’s why it is important that you limit screen time for your children when they are young.

Effects Of Increased Screen Time On Children:

Leading social scientists and researchers have examined the effects of using technology on kids.

1. More than two hours a day of screen time is associated with mental health disorders, aggression and inattentiveness.
2. Screen time increases the risk of childhood obesity.
3. Exposure to violent scenes increases the risk of developing stress disorder.
4. Screen time increases the risk of sleep deprivation and related disorders.
5. It increases the risk of eye diseases.
6. It also decreases the ability to retain information.

Apart from all these negative effects on toddlers, children who use computers and video games for more than three hours a day have lower vocabulary and cognitive skills than those who use it in a controlled manner.

Need To Limit Usage Of Screen Time

Children who spend almost all their waking hours staring at screens are more susceptible to behavioral problems and health issues. These includes obesity, diabetes, depression and anxiety as they grow up. A study on children found that more than 60% of kids aged between 8 and 11 play up to three hours a day. As a result, their average screen time has increased in the past decade. In today’s society, the amount of screen time children have is linked to how well they perform in school. Also, it impacts their socialization and learning. The researchers seem to be firm on the fact that screen time can have a negative effect on children. However, there are still debates on how much screen time is too much for children.

It is important that you implement preventative measures to lower the risk of screen time in the first place. The best time to limit screen time is when children are young. The earlier you do this, it would be better for your little kids.

As children grow, they become more independent and begin to have more say in what they watch and when they do so. If this happens and screen time continues, it can have a negative effect on their health. It also affects their ability to learn, social skills and overall development. Also, the Pediatrics recommend that limiting TV viewing for children is in the best interest of their development – it’s an easy way to get them off screens too.

Useful Tips For You And Your Kids: 

Here are some helpful tips that will help everyone in the family to take care of your children and involve more with the little kiddos.

• Start with a family discussion and some homework assignments.
• If your family agrees, talk to your children about the dangers of using screens.
• Don’t allow your children to use computers for more than an hour a day, keeping in mind that parents are the ones who decide when it is OK for children to use technologies.
• Do not buy your kids any expensive video games or tablets or laptops. Instead, invest in devices that help them develop their brains and creativity. Examples of such things include: checklists, flash cards etc.
• Also consider buying them the building blocks for learning like toys that can help in developing their creativity and promote interactive play with other kids.

Only if you set limits, then your children won’t be totally dependent on screens, they will learn to do the things that are better for their bodies and minds too.

Considering the negative effects along with the advantages of technology and its usage, you should implement some effective tips to limit screen time for your small kids. So you just want to know, if there was a good scenario where you could get your child some screen time on a tablet or something, but still be able to monitor the usage of it? This is where technologists and experts come in. They have created some technological solutions that can limit the screen time for your toddler kids. One of the best known examples is using a time limit that will stop your kid from using their tablet for more than 30 minutes every day. You can set same parental control on the devices which keeps them away from watching disturbing things on the internet.

With the leading technological advances, it is essential to keep your child updated with the latest things. However, setting the boundaries is equally important.

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