Screen time.
It’s defined as time spent in front of a computer, phone, tablet or video game.
And the American Academy of Pediatrics says we’re giving our kids too much of it, with the average 8- to 10-year-old child spending about eight hours a day in front of a screen and teens spending about 11 hours a day.
The problem? Experts say too much screen time can get in the way of social development, physical activity and family relationships.
“For their brain development, it’s more important to have social interactions with family and other people,” said Dr. Kimberly Gerhart, division chief of General Pediatrics at the University of Arizona. “If they’re spending all this time on a screen, they’re not having these very important human interactions. And just going outside to play — obesity is such a problem, we need those kids outside playing and using other parts of their brains, as well.”
Eliminating screen time altogether is, obviously, not realistic. And, it doesn’t teach children about how to responsibly view media later in life, but there are guidelines.
The pediatric academy recommends a maximum of two hours of screen time for kids over two, even teens, and none for kids under two.
Setting “no media” rules, scheduling activities and spending time away from the house can help deter children from the screen, Gerhart says.
“The more you increase the family time and the more people are on board and not staring at the phones, the better,” Gerhart said. That allows families to actually have conversations and look each other in the eye.
Kids aren’t the only ones guilty of too much screen time.
“So many adults are addicted to their phone, too,” Gerhart said. “We have to take the time to put it down, too. If we’re not modeling that, the kids aren’t going to catch on.”
Every family is different when it comes to setting limits and finding activities their kids enjoy. We talked with a few Tucson parents to find out what works for them.
Erin Vaughn, full time graduate student at UA and mother of two
Vaughn’s 4ƒ-year-old daughter is allowed about five hours of screen time per week.
“It used to be a fight,” Vaughn said. “It was constant begging to watch something. We’ve since implemented a Friday movie-night approach, so we get to watch a movie together as a family after dinner on Fridays. I think having that to look forward to stems the begging.”
She also gets to watch shows on Saturday and Sunday mornings if she wakes before her parents get up.
Planning other activities helps as well. Aside from preschool, she does arts and crafts at home, imaginative play with her dad, gymnastics classes and soccer.
“Having something one or two nights a week and getting out of the house on the weekend helps,” Vaughn said.
Meanwhile, both parents struggle with putting away their own laptops.
“Since we’re both graduate students, our laptops are our lives,” Vaughn said. “So, we really struggle with keeping them put away when we’re home with the kids. We have to be accessible by email and so, sometimes I have to just put it in the bedroom and say ‘I’m not answering emails when we’re with the kids.’”
However, the laptop does come in handy. “It’s nice to be able to show a YouTube video or use Google to explain things to her. So, we use that for educational or for curiosity’s sake.”
But not for games, even educational ones.
“I think that her sitting and writing letters to her friends, whether or not they’re actual words or not, is much more educational than sitting in front of a computer practicing words.”
Leigh McDonald, full-time graphic designer and mother of two
The McDonald family has taken a rewards approach to screen time for their 4ƒ-year-old daughter.
“Generally, the rule is in the morning when we’re all getting ready, she is allowed to put on a show after she has eaten breakfast and is ready to go,” McDonald said. “We use it as a motivator.”
In the evening, the family watches nature documentaries together, while they’re eating dinner, and talk about what they’re learning.
On Saturdays, she gets to watch a movie or an hour-and-a-half of television. “I feel it’s important to limit it because she’d watch it all day long if we let her,” McDonald said.
Time limits are flexible in the McDonald household. “There’s definitely times when you have to get stuff done and it’s like ‘Hey, let’s watch a show,”’ she said. “Everything in moderation.”
It wasn’t always easy, McDonald said. “Honestly, we’ve gone through different phases of wanting to watch it all the time. The more she watches, the more she begs to watch, which is why we stepped way back,” she said. “We’re at a happy medium right now.”
Serena Rios, stay-at-home mother of two
Rios’ 2ƒ-year-old is fascinated by anything with a screen. She has a tablet that she uses on road trips or when she’s not feeling well and she likes to watch movies.
Due to bouts of morning sickness and other pregnancy issues, Rios was confined to the house during much of her pregnancy with her second child. That meant her oldest daughter got her fill of movies at a young age, which has given the family a different perspective on screen time.
“We got to the point where we’d watch movies all day, and she would literally start asking for the next movie before the conclusion of the one she was watching,” Rios said. “I felt so guilty. I cried to my pediatrician saying she’d be a vegetable and wouldn’t know what real life was.”
Rios’ pediatrician put her mind at ease when she said her daughter would be fine. “Your child is only going to remember you spending time with her. When you feel better, you can get back on track,” she recalled. “So we’d snuggle on the couch together while watching movies.”
Anxious to get a handle on the TV watching after the baby was born, Rios told her older daughter she was only allowed one movie a day. To her surprise, it wasn’t an issue because movies weren’t a big deal anymore.
She currently likes to play with educational apps on the tablet. And the Rios family is OK with that, in moderation.
“I read some article somewhere that said, basically to keep them away from technology,” Rios said. “But, we have to consider this is the world they’re growing up in. If they go to school and can’t use the technology, they’ll be a little behind.”
Brian Stark, father of two and environmental educator
The Stark family has two daughters, ages 8 and 10, and one of them is constantly asking to either watch movies or spend time on the computer.
“We read all of the books as they were babies. One of them suggested not treating a pacifier as a babysitter. When a kid is crying, don’t “cork” them by just putting a pacifier in their mouth,” Stark said. “Instead, try and address what they really want or need... I see TV being treated in the same light. We are often tempted to just put her in front of it to keep her distracted but recognize the danger of that. It would just get out of hand quickly and we don’t want to be a TV family.”
The family doesn’t have a specific daily limit, but they try to make a plan for the day, and when everyone has done their part, the family sits down together and watches something they planned to watch.
They don’t have cable or satellite. Instead, they watch Netflix and rented movies and shows occasionally. “Our kids watch maybe an hour of TV every three days,” Stark said.
The Kindle Fire is set up to give the kids access for an hour a day to sites Stark and his wife have approved.
Family time is key for the Starks. Each weekend, they do something physical as a family, such as bike riding, hiking, crafts, cooking or even family cleaning days.
“What’s probably kept us distracted the most has been scheduling after school activities like horse riding, gymnastics and swim lessons.”
