Limiting Screen Time -For Both Parents & Children

I am currently taking a Parenting class through BYUi and as part of my final project I will be doing some mini-posts on principles I learned that really stood out to me.

Disconnecting from Electronics, and Connecting Heart-to-Heart

The quaint scene of a family gathered lovingly around the dinner table is becoming less common in todays society.  Often busy schedules require members of a household to eat at different times, or pressures from work and school may entice some to multi-task while they eat.  Often the desire for constant stimuli turns many to face a screen rather than one another. 

The following scene from the Netflix movie "The Mitchells vs. the Machines" illustrates how difficult it can be to limit screen time in the home: 

"A study that surveyed 1,600 people discovered the following information:

• 70 percent of people surveyed said they check their smartphone within an hour of getting up.

• 56 percent check their phone within an hour of going to sleep.

• 48 percent check during the weekend, including on Friday and Saturday nights.

• 51 percent check continuously during vacation.

• 44 percent said they would experience "a great deal of anxiety" if they lost their phones and couldn't replace them for a week."

  (Rarick, 2)

  
  

  Rarick points out in his study what I have been feeling for a long time, that to unplug my children, I first need to set a good example.  I often feed my kids and clean up while they eat, then sit down with my food in front of the computer to do my homework and work-work.  This is a disconnect on my part from family time, when what I need to do is disconnect from distractions and electronics instead.  

  
  

  Anne Fishel, Family Therapist, says the following about family dinners:

  "There have been more than 20 years of dozens of studies that document that family dinners are great for the body, the physical health, the brains and academic performance, and the spirit or the mental health, and in terms nutrition, cardiovascular health is better in teens, there's lower fat and sugar and salt in home cooked meals even if you don't try that hard, there's more fruit, and fiber, and vegetables, and protein in home cooked meals, and lower calories. Kids who grow up having family dinners, when they're on their own tend to eat more healthily and to have lower rates of obesity.

  Then the mental health benefits are just incredible. Regular family dinners are associated with lower rates of depression, and anxiety, and substance abuse, and eating disorders, and tobacco use, and early teenage pregnancy, and higher rates of resilience and higher self esteem." (Anderson, 1)

  As a start in applying what I've learned, I made home-made bread, salad, and spaghetti for dinner tonight (One of the few meals that everyone likes).  We didn't all eat together (my middle child and husband were at the skatepark till 8pm) but when they got home my son told me it was "the best meal" he'd had in years, and he thanked me profusely several times.  My oldest son just got braces and his teeth are sore, so he appreciated the soft bread and noodles.  My daughter is a bread-a-holic and was thrilled to smell it baking in the oven.  I even made it a point to wait until after I had eaten dinner with the kids, to sit down at the computer and begin my homework (ie: this post).  I hope to establish better habits now while my children are still young.  

Sources: