Back to school can be an exciting time for your children as they reunite with friends, discover new subjects, and meet new teachers.
This opportunity to learn, grow, and embrace new opportunities can be hindered, however, by overexposure to screens.
According to the National Center for Education Statistics, 98% of schools use computers in the classroom, while 75% use iPads or Chromebooks. In addition, roughly 57% of students use digital learning tools every day and spend at least 50% of their classroom time engaging with a device.
While technology has its place in education, a national survey found two-thirds of K-12 teachers say screens have negatively impacted 75% of their students by decreasing their ability to focus on educational tasks. According to the National Center for Biotechnology Information, high school and college students spend as much as one-fifth of their classroom time texting, emailing, surfing the web, checking social media, and even playing video games.
In addition to contributing to missed educational opportunities and lower academic performance for kids, spending this much time on screens can have other repercussions.
In a National Institutes of Health study of children ages 8 to 12, more screen time and less reading time were associated with decreased brain connectivity between the regions that control word recognition, as well as the regions responsible for language and cognitive control. Another study of children between the ages of 4 and 8 found excessive screen time not only negatively affects mathematics and literacy in school-age students, but it can also lead to emotional dysregulation. Excessive screen time among 4- and 5-year-old children may cause children to suffer from irreversible damage to their developing brains and limit their ability for school success, while use of tablets has been linked to increased anger and frustration in preschoolers.
In addition to the issues mentioned above, excessive screen time can limit social interaction and physical activity like outdoor play, both of which are important for a child’s development. It can also lead to eye strain, headaches, and disrupted sleep patterns if screens are used before bedtime.
While high school students in several states are petitioning against full and partial cellphone bans in schools, school districts are correct when they say that something needs to be done to “ensure a distraction-free and safe learning environment.”
Establishing a Healthy Screen Time Routine
Regardless of whether your child’s school takes measures to address excessive screen time or not, there are steps you can take to help establish a healthy screen time routine this school year.
Consider these tips:
- Educate your children about the negative effects of too much screen time on their well-being and brain development. Help them to view a healthy screen time routine as an important protection and prevention strategy, rather than a punishment.
- Instruct your kids to use screens for educational purposes first, such as homework, research, or reading.
- Set clear daily limits on recreational screen time. For preschoolers through elementary school children, aim for less than an hour. Middle and high schoolers should ideally have no more than two hours of non-educational screen time per day.
- Consider using screen time management functions and apps like Apple’s Screen Time (for iOS), Google Family Link (for Android households with children under 13), or Qustodio (for Android households with kids over 13), which allow you to manage your child’s phone remotely while they’re at school, curb access to the phone at bedtime or other times, and set limits on how much time your child can spend on specific apps, on categories of apps, or on the phone in general.
- Establish a consistent daily schedule for your children that includes homework, physical activity, and family time. Promote a variety of activities that don’t involve screens, such as reading, playing outside, sports, exercise, arts and crafts, or family board games.
- Reinforce your daily schedule by creating a family media plan to help your kids avoid overusing social media by balancing it with other healthy activities. Your media plan should consider each child's age, health, personality, and developmental stage. It should also account for adequate sleep (8-12 hours each night, depending on age), physical activity (1 hour a day), and time away from their screens. Click here to create a family media plan.
- Designate certain areas, such as your dining room or bedrooms, as screen-free zones. This can promote conversation during meals, boost family interaction, and ensure better sleep habits. (Tip: Consider putting the charging station for all of your family’s phones in your room, as this can cause less temptation for your kids to use their devices at night.)
- Implement tech-free times, such as during meals or before bedtime, to foster conversation and relaxation away from devices.
- Be mindful of the content your children consume. Choose age-appropriate, educational programs and apps, and consider co-viewing to engage with them and discuss what they’re watching.
- Model healthy screen habits by being mindful of your own screen usage and prioritizing quality family time without using devices.
Click here for more tips on how to help your family navigate the influence of screens.