Screen time.
It looks
like wherever we go there is a sea of people interacting with the screen of
their mobile phone, tablet, laptop, television, computer or video game. We’re
connected to screens all time and screen dependency is spreading fast.
In fact, by
the end of 2014 the world will have more cell phone accounts than people on
Earth at the current growth rate for that service, concludes a recent study by
International Telecommunications Union.
In other
words, few months from now, there will be more cell phones users than people on
the planet. This doesn’t mean that everyone will have one mobile device. It can
be attributed to the increasing number of users that have a work and a personal
device.
Screen
addiction is a natural consequence of the world trend we are living.
“Screen
time” refers to the entire electronic media: computers, TV, videos, video
games, tablets and cellphones.
According to
the Canadian Pediatric Society, in a public stand taken in 2011, they said that
we spend too much screen time. They are not alone raising the alarm in this
matter. Vancouver Island’s, Health chief medical health officer and a
pediatrician, Dr. Richard Stanwick, urged parents to limit children's screen
time.
Dr Stanwick,
said that parents must avoid a trap set for their children’s via electronic
media delivered in television, video games, smartphones, computer programs and
Internet. Too much screen time can affect your child’s sleep, cause behavioral
problems and leaves less time for active play.
Dr. Stanwick’s
concerns lead us to ask some key question: How we are going to support our kids
if we are screen dependents?
• Do you
check emails randomly throughout the day, even when you are not in the office?
• Do you
interact with your phone first time in the morning as soon as you wake up and last time at night when going to bed?
• Do you
check Facebook more than twice a day?
• Do you
feel like you could miss something when watching television and check all
channels in autopilot way?
• Do you
feel anxious when detached from your smartphone?
• Do you
have difficulty in reading an online article without opening hyperlinks?
• Do you use
your smartphone during dinner or while in company, talking to a friend?
• Do you use
your smartphone while driving?
The best way
to encourage and promote change in our kids is by example.
In order to
create healthy habits in our children’s we should set boundaries to technology.
We should limit screen time to one or two hours per day.
And remember
that less is best when it comes to screen time.
