Excessive screen time poses two types of health risks for children and adolescents:
- Physical and
- Psychological.
Increased screen time reduces
- The time spent doing physical activity,
- Affecting the sleep cycle.
Prolonged screen viewing can cause
- Dry and itchy eyes,
- Dlurry vision, and
- Headaches.
- Risk of developing myopia.
Secondly, excessive use of digital devices for gaming, accessing social media, and watching online streaming services can be associated with
- Behavioral addictions such as
- Gaming disorder or
- Attention deficit disorder.
Parents must keep a watch on the screen time of their wards and follow the 11-point agenda to bring a child from passive mode due to screen time to an active routine/ mode.
- 1. Go for a walk or run with a child, but without gadgets in his hands or head.
- 2. Take a hobby such as gardening, music etc.
- 3. Take a sports activity on a daily basis.
- 4. Family mealtime without screen all the time as a family rule.
- 5. Family time for Puzzles sudoku chess but not on gadgets after meals.
- 6. Have a fun time with peers/ friends.
- 7. Daily book newspaper reading task, but not e-books or e-newspapers.
- 8. Role play, drama, skit, group tasks.
- 9. Cyber awareness sessions.
- 10. Join weekly experiential learning Groups such as pottery, craft making tailoring.
- 11. Assign a few home tasks to the child as his compulsory daily /weekly responsibility.
- Refer below for what UNICEF advises.
https://www.unicef.org/india/parentingtips/ten-tips-cutting-down-screen-time-during-covid-19
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