We recently had to scale back the screen time in our household.
I’m not one who thinks that devices are evil or anything. I think they’re pretty great, and I think we live in a day and age where we need to know how to use them and how they can add to our lives.
All that said though, we were starting to notice some behaviours directly relating to screen time and some serious entitlement issues. When I say “no” to screen time and we have a 10-minute meltdown on our hands, the screens have become too important.
We started with a complete device fast for about 10 days. No screen time, ever, for 10 days. There was whining. But when isn’t there? After those 10 days we sat down, had a discussion and laid out the new screen time guidelines.
They weren’t overly thrilled initially but I do find kids amazingly resilient, and within a few days, it just became the new norm. Attitudes improved and I would randomly see my son reading all over the place.
During the summer we love to just enjoy life. I’m okay with a lack of structure as long as my kids are playing, engaging people and finding ways to fill their hours. Once the boredom sets in though, they want screens. This summer I’m going to attempt a bit of a compromise.
I normally wouldn’t expect them to do much sit down school work besides reading over the summer, but if they want screen time, they’re going to have to earn it. They will earn it by completing educational tasks or chores that have assigned screen time amounts attached.
Reading an additional 15 minutes, completing a math exercise or writing a journal entry each generate an additional five minutes of screen time.
You’ll notice that I’m not giving equal time for time. I also won’t include any chores on that list that are their regular tasks. I don’t reward for regular chores, that’s just being a part of the family.
I’m hopeful that this system will support the balance in our home and keep my kids engaged through the summer.
