Should I show my
toddler, baby, young kid, videos or TV or any screen for that matter? At what
age is it best to expose them to the screens that are all around us? Is it bad
for my kids? If I don’t let them spend any time with screens will they lag
other kids of the same age? With learning shifting to Digital media if I don’t
let my kids spend any time on these media then will they suffer? How much time?
Which media? How to select the best content?
All these and many
more such questions are being asked or thought of, by parents all over the
world. Scientists, Psychologists, Child specialists, Educators and everyone has
an opinion. Some say NO, others say yes but little, some have prescribed ages
such as 3 years and above etc for being the right age for exposing kids to
screens. So, whom do You and I listen to? What is right?
In my opinion the way
to look at this to look at the world around us. Each one of us are jumping from
one screen to the other throughout the day. From the time we wake up to the
time we sleep, we are constantly checking our mobiles, typing away on our
laptops or tablets and watching some TV in between. Well, I am typing this on
my laptop, and you may be reading this on your mobile or tablet or computer
screen. Where are our children at those times? Around us most of time. Are they
oblivious to the fact that our lives are governed by screens? Heck, in some
playschools and schools, they even play videos and e-learning content on
screens to either keep the children occupied or to teach them something or
both.
Let’s face this. Here
are children who are born in a world of screens. They see us and everybody else
spend so much of time on screens. All the time. Be it at home, while out on a
walk, around their playgrounds, at their playschool, while in a bus, or a train
or airplane. So, keeping them away can’t be a solution.
So, what do we do
then? I will share with you how I think and act about this.
Just make sure that
they do not spend ALL the time on screens. Give them opportunity to play and interact
in the physical world. Make sure they get a priority over the screen when they
are with you. Let them learn that screens are okay for some time for some things
but there are other things that are equal or more fun in life too. Let them
interact with more kids, people, animals and toys. Monitor and curate their
screen time. Do let them watch videos or play some games on the Mobile or
tablet. Do let them watch some TV. However, what is important is that you
decide when, what and how much. And the only science to that is the simple term
‘moderation’. It’s not the number of hours and minutes, it’s not the big screen
vs the mobile screen. It’s how much compared to playing with toys, spending
time reading or playing with physical books, playing with other children,
spending time with you and other relatives and family.
Next thing is to make
sure you take some time and research and then curate what they are spending
time watching or interacting with on any screen. For example, lets take
YouTube. Being a free and easy to access platform with content of all any type
most parents tend to show their kids videos on YouTube. So, what is the best
way to use YouTube? Well first spend a little time researching. Which channel
is showing what kind of content and how suited is it for your kid. For example, I
was looking for Baby Songs and Nursery Rhymes and short funny cartoon videos
for my kid. I know he loves robots and magic and I found a channel called https://www.youtube.com/c/RoboGenie which seems like a new channel, and has a good
mix of rhymes and fun videos plus their main character is a robot genie kid. Bingo!
I subscribed to their channel. I also subscribed to some other channels such as
LittleBabyBum among others that has great nursery rhymes for kids. But what I
do from these subscriptions is see their videos and add the ones I think are
most appropriate for my kid to my Playlist. And I keep making playlists based
on what I want to teach my kid or show him. That way I control what my kid
watches as well as I can keep adding new content (thanks to subscription
alerts). The length of my playlist controls their screen time too.
Your instinct, your
knowledge about their grasping power, and their surroundings, is the best guide
to select what and how much. Check out what content is good on YouTube, check
out kid specific channels on Broadcaster networks or OTT channels and make your
own play lists and select content and then decide on what to expose them to,
when and for how much time.
I have seen kids start
coding at a very early age and make a name for themselves. I have seen kids
make very interesting videos on their own at a very young age and develop a
sense of creativity. I have also seen kids get spoiled silly but watching too
much TV or Videos on mobile hours on a stretch with no moderation at all.
So, the answer in my
view, is simple. At least that’s what I do. I watch, I study, and I make sure my
kids have an exposure to everything that’s appropriate for them. And that goes
for everything, play, read, draw, eat, sleep and everything else. Then Why
should screen time be any different?
Agree? Disagree? Have
a point of view or opinion? Please feel free to share in comments below.
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