Boundaries With Kids

AURAKROWN BLOG

BOUNDARIES WITH KIDS:

SCREEN TIME

A Personal Story

Raising responsible children is a process of constant learning and experimentation. With the ramping up of modern technology, the increasing dependency on screens is apparent and seemingly unavoidable.

One thing that has always bothered me is seeing kids in public glued to an iPad or a phone, completely disengaged from their surroundings. When I see more and more research demonstrating the deleterious effects of excessive screen time on a child’s developing brain, I feel validated in my irksome reaction!

Thankfully, I’ve been able to turn the mirror on myself to see where I could use improvement in educating my kids on why too much screen time is hurting them, and helping them to limit their usage.

Within the past year or so, my partner and I have been implementing and tweaking screen time boundaries with our children. Previously, they had free rein with their iPads at home, and now we have them down to two, 30-minute segments at the end of the day on the condition that they have finished their responsibilities.

The journey to the current iteration of the boundary has been an incremental one. It started with simply explaining to them why too much screen time is detrimental to their health and development. Once they started to understand what we were telling them, it was easy to come to an agreement about the appropriate amount of time they would be allowed. Proactive and consistent communication about the necessary change was and is a crucial part of the process.

At first, my partner and I closely regulated their iPad time, but after a while we decided to teach them how to set timers for their 30-minute sessions. Increasing their involvement in the upholding of the boundary has empowered them with the responsibility of self-regulation - and they’re enthusiastic about it, to boot!

I’m hoping this story can give you ideas on how you can make incremental changes to better the lives of you and your family. For a step-by-step guide on implementing personal boundaries, check out my previous blog post titled ‘Personal Boundaries: Step by Step’.

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