New Screen Time Rules for kids, by Doctors

According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, media exposure should be limited to kids. Previously, the AAP set a screen time limit. If you were older than two years old, you weren't suppose to have more than 2 hours of screen time. Other professors think two hours can be too long for some kids. Now, the academy suggests that children ages 2-5 should only be limited to 1 hour per day of screen time. For children over the age of 5, parents should be the ones determining restrictions for the amount of screen time, along with other social media use. While infants 18 months and younger, should not be exposed to any social media. 

Parents with infants really need to watch the screen time for their infants as it is very important for brain development and you get a healthy parent-child connection. The noise and activity from the TV is very distracting for a child so young. Even if the baby isn't looking at the screen, it can still cause distress to the child. 

Experts say shows like Sesame Street and other PBS shows should be the only ones viewed. They are said to be better than standard television because they don't have the advertisements which overstimulates children. Toddler-aged kids can't develop the skills to understand advertisements and animations. Professors say they can't interpret images like an older kid.

Parents are in charge of setting restrictions for their children over the age of 6. The amount of daily social media depends on the family and child, but children should prioritize productive time over entertainment time. The APP agrees that social media should never replace health activities like sleep. 

Questions:

1. How much time should teenagers be limited to social media?

2. If you were a parent, how much time would you limit your kids on social media?

Link

You need to be a member of History 360 to add comments!

Join History 360

Replies are closed for this discussion.

Replies

  • Well done overall Whitney! You only replied on two days instead of three.

  • If I was a parent my kids wouldn't be aloud to have social media until 7th grade or even older. I think if they can get work done efficiently then I don't care how long they are on social media. I would want them to be socially active and have face to face iterations so they would not be aloud on their device. 

  • I think students should know when they should get off social media. I would not limit my kids to a certain number of hours of social media time but I would not let them get a phone till they are older then 10. 

  • I think that teenagers should know when to get off the social media I mean we should be responsibly for it. I think that thought if they are under 6 they shouldn't have a phone or anything like that. I think they just give it to the kid so they can be quiet and not have to deal with the whining and everything that there kid does when they are able to walk and everything. I probably wont give my kids any phones till they are about 10ish..

  • I think that teenagers should know themselves when they should get off of social media. I think they need to take more responsibility in knowing when other priorities need done. They, themselves, should know when enough is enough. If I were a parent, I wouldn't really have an approximate limit. I would just probably not allow social media for the younger ages. I would limit TV time, though, to maybe 1 hour. 

    • I also think that teenagers should know when they need to stop and do something productive. Also, I think if I were a parent, I would talk to my kids about what my expectations would be about social media and screen time. I think I would put a limit because a lot of times, they get bored and go right back to their phones/devices. 

  • Nowadays social media is a really big and important part of teenagers lives. It's used to communicate and keep up with people. I think that teenagers should be able to realize how much time they should spend in social media. If I was a parent, I would probably want my kinds to spend as little time as possible in social media.

    • I agree. Social media is very big in teenagers and even some young kids. If I were a parent, I would try to limit my kids to as much as possible. I think kids always see other teenagers on their phones so they think that has to be them. Teenagers don't know any better than to sit on their phones rather than doing something productive. 

  • If I was a parent I would definitely limit the time my kid spend on a phone or laptop or on television. I know my younger siblings live off of the television and their DS. It's ridiculous. Kids need to get outside more. Excessive amounts of time spent in front of a screen is leading to obesity. It's upsetting. 

  • I feel very yes and no on this. Some apps that you can get on screens are very helpful, lots of them will only learn from educational apps. Around 3 hours would be the max, but that is including the tv time they get to. 

This reply was deleted.
eXTReMe Tracker