Technology is more a part of our life than ever. We all know that screen time has positive and negative effects on our children. The key is to help guide kids to make smart media choices and to have healthy limits. Current guidelines from The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry for each age group are:
- Less than 18 months–no screens except video chatting with an adult
- 18 to 24 months–watching educational programming together with a caregiver
- 2 to 5 years old–limit non-educational screen usage to 1 hour on week days and 3 hours on weekends
- 6+ years old–have ongoing discussions about healthy media consumption and limit activities that involve screens
The American Academy of Pediatrics has many useful articles and tools to help families have discussions about screen usage and internet safety including a guide to help your family create its own media plan.
Both organizations stress the importance of prioritizing educational media, avoiding depictions of violence, utilizing parental controls, turning off screens during mealtimes, and taking steps to prevent online bullying.
