The Dangers of Child Screen Addiction

American parents should take a warning from what is happening in China. Doctors over there consider internet addiction a clinical disorder. Chinese children may spend months in a rehabilitation center for their addiction.

Parents in the U.S. often use electronic devices, whether television or a smart phone, to occupy and entertain their children. Some of the negative results of using electronic media too much when it includes simulated violence is a decreased senstivity to violence and an increase in aggresiveness and arguing. Poor academic performance and unhealthy weight gain are other results of high screen time. Children's emotional maturity may also be hampered.

To learn more, read the original article here: http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/07/06/screen-addiction-is-taking-a-toll-on-children

How to Reduce Kid's Screen Time: Set the Example

Wondering how you can reduce the amount of time your children spend interacting with digital devices? A New York Times article offers some suggestions. These include:

  1. A link to “Outsmarting the Smart Screens: A Parent’s Guide to the Tools That Are Here to Help
  2. A link to Harvard's "Food & Fun" online curriculum, which includes physical activities kids can do instead of using their electronic devices.
  3. Don't allow children to "have their own cellphones or televisions in their bedrooms."
  4. Parents need to learn to interact socially without electronic devices.  (In other words, set the example.)
  5. Create and enforce rules regarding the use of electronic media.

To learn more, read the original article here: http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/07/13/how-to-cut-childrens-screen-time-say-no-to-yourself-first