So, what is the "Screen Secret" you ask? It is simple and effective and it will make your life less stressful. You won't have to spend hours nagging your child to 'get off' their screen or give various threats to "turn that thing off before I..."
I will teach you the steps to Organise Your Kids Screen Time. "
Anyway, relating to screen time the issue is boundaries that you as a parent control. These are time boundaries. For some children if you do not set the time perimeters of the amount of minutes they can play on their device it could have very negative consequences ranging ffrom them learning negative behaviour from what they are watching, to not knowing how to talk because of a lack of human interaction (sadly, I have seem this).
As a Mum whose only screens in her home as a young child were TVs (the small one in the kitchen was black and white - it was in the 1970's. Is that showing my age?) I now have multiple screens in my home. These days, if you take a tour through most family homes you probably wouldn't be shocked to see 2-3 screens in every room. Children can walk in the front door and watch TV. As they walk through the kitchen for a snack they can check their social media on their Tablet/iPad. When it's time to go to their room they often have the opportunity to play a game on their personal Xbox, and if they haven't already checked their email on their phone or iPod it's probably not far away to do so.
So, as parents we have some responsibilities!! For some the challenge will be greater than others. The ffollowing things will all have an impact on how easily you will be able to implement the time boundaries needed with your child (or even your teenager!)
The factors include :
1) your parenting style
2) how you were raised
3) the age of the child
4) the habits of the child
5) the temperament of the child.
To make my secret work you need to create a predictable routine. You as the parent need to begin to set a schedule to say who does what, and when they can do it. It needs to be reasonably consistent each day.
Your ultimate Secret goal is to slowly make
the length of the screen time shorter and most of all LATER. Making screen time the last part of the afternoon routine before dinner is your secret weapon to making the change.
I must say if you don't have a good night routine for putting your children to bed start with that. When it is going smoothly then create a written afternoon routine (I jot one down on paper every afternoon, as no two days are ever identical, and read it to them after school).
My suggestion is to start by making the first thing on the routine having afternoon tea (snack). When they have enough patience to do that before screen time then make them have their afternoon tea AND a play outside a requirement before screen. At the start of a new term it's a great time to start a new routine for your children.
Your final step is to reach the point (you could go cold turkey or it may take a few months depending on the factors mentioned earlier ) where you have a routine that goes a little like the one below where the very last time slot in the day is allocated to screen time. To be honest it is working so well for me because my child gets so busy with the routine that sometimes they end up with as little as 5 minutes left before dinner (night meal) for time on a screen.
I should mention my children are all under 12. And for a few years I have implemented a 'no screen time after dinner' rule. On a very rare occasion, like a friend staying over or a special Saturday night when Daddy is away, we have a real treat watching a movie together. Otherwise, Screen Time in our home is at 530pm. It's only one half an hour slot out of the day when they can check Instagram, play Xbox or watch a favourite show etc.
An example of a typical afternoon (Homework is all done on one afternoon)
330pm Eat afternoon tea and chat
4pm Ride Bikes
430pm Play hand ball
5pm Do jobs (chores) like unpacking dishwasher (my kids start at age 3 unloading plastic items)
515pm Have a bath
530pm Screen Time
6pm Dinner
630pm Story, Teeth, Toilet, Prayers
715pm Lights Out
Your routine will vary. But as the parent you are the one who is responsible for the amount of time your child is spending of their children on a screen. Help your children create real life memories by organising their time for them with a schedule where screen is the last activity of the day before dinner. You won't regret it. That is the secret and the hard work will be worth it.
One more thing I think is that like you put your children to bed, your children can put their screens to bed. My children don't keep their screens in their rooms! No way. I am creating good habits. In the day they can charge them as needed (in the Lounge Room). At night (and it actually works out they are hrte when not using them) they put their screen to bed in a designated draw in our living area. This really impacts on the Secret of the routine because they are out of site!! And the TV remotes are kept in a draw, too. If you don't want too much screen it's best not to make it too easy to use.
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