Limiting your children's screen time during the vacations?
As parents, how do we get our kids to reduce their screen time? What if they don't want to play outside anymore and get bored by board games?
Of course, you can encourage them to play outside, to exercise more, to be creative, to do something fun with them. It takes some experimentation to keep the kids occupied in a meaningful way.
Are your kids glued to their tablets all day? Karla Van Leeuwen, professor of family pedagogy, addresses this question in Goed Gevoel. "There are no golden rules about how much screen time is acceptable. If you sense that your children are looking at a screen too often, it's a good idea to find out the reason. Are your children watching primarily to relax? Are they actively moving or dancing along with movies? Are they being cognitively challenged? Is it stimulating their creativity or keeping them in touch with friends?" But the professor also invites you as a parent to take a look in the mirror. "Also look at your role: is the screen a helpful babysitter, how often do you look at a screen, and are there fine moments in your family without it?"
For children under six, as a parent you decide how much time they spend with a screen. From the age of six, you can make arrangements together. This is the advice of professor Van Leeuwen. "If children can participate in the decision making, they are more likely to stick to the agreements. Also test whether it works for you to limit screen time with an alarm clock. Also explain why you don't think screen use is okay in certain situations (e.g., at the table). Not every solution fits every family. Experiment a bit to find the right approach."
(FVDV for Tagtik/Source: Goed Gevoel/Illustration picture: Pixabay)
