Tips for healthy screen use
Help your child balance screen use for entertainment with other activities to support their physical and mental health.
For healthy screen use
- Encourage your child to break up watching TV, playing games or scrolling social media with other activities like exercise, social activities and hobbies.
Get involved in offline activities with your child and make it part of the family routine.
Encourage your child to use an alarm clock or app to track or limit the time they spend on social media or playing games.
Limit your own use of screens for entertainment and show how much fun your child can have without a device.
Work with your child to create family rules for screen use, like no TV after a certain time.
Avoid using screens before bedtime
Screen time in the bedroom can lead to adolescents not getting enough sleep. Screens stimulate the brain and make you more alert - the opposite of what you want to do when you’re trying to go to sleep! The blue light from electronic devices can affect the quality of your child’s sleep and disrupts rapid eye movement (REM) and circadian rhythms, causing your child to be tired and moody during the day.
So how to avoid all this? The best way is to encourage your child to turn off screens in the hours before bedtime. If your child really needs to use a device before bedtime make sure it’s on night time mode. Studies show that night time mode reduces the blue light emissions that are so harmful to your brain and your sleep.