Are you a parent who is sick of arguments with your kids about screen time? As a Mum of four children aged between 2 and 15, this is a problem that I am familiar with.
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If you want to know how to end screen time without a struggle, check out the video below, or keep reading for my top tips.
Screen Time Is A Privilege & Not A Right
Kids these days are used to having TVs and iPads and it can be so easy to forget that these things are a privilege and not their right. It is worth explaining this to your children, as it may be something that may never have actually occurred to them.
Screen Time Is Only Allowed During “Free Time”
In our house, screen time only allowed during “free time” which is after other things are done (getting ready for school, homework, chores etc). This is beneficial for a number of reasons.
Firstly, if screen time doesn’t start before the children have done their homework, for example, I am not then locked into a battle attempting to end screen time to get them to do something that they clearly would rather not be doing.
Second, it works as a nice carrot to dangle once they have done the homework or chore or whatever it might be that needs to be done. The promise of screen time afterwards is often incentive enough to get them to do something that they’d prefer to procrastinate.
Take advantage of the “Screen Time” function on Apple devices
By setting your children’s devices up as part of a “family” you can control the amount of screen time that your children are allowed directly from your own device.
Not only can you set hours of “downtime” where screen time will not be allowed (which is a good way to ensure that your child is not awake at all hours on their device when they should be sleeping), but you can set app limits too.
For example, you could set that once they have played on apps categorised as “games” for a predetermined amount of time of your choosing (say an hour for example) those apps would be blocked. If they wanted more time, they would have to send a request to your device for more time.
I have found that by allowing the device itself to monitor the screen time activity and the device is the one to end it when time is up, it creates less friction. It’s a little more, “oh well, time’s up, the device says so” not “oh look, mean Mummy is spoiling all of the fun again”.
I also love that the “Screen Time” feature on Apple shows you as a parent exactly how much time your child has spent on each app.
Answer The “My Friends” Arguments
You know the ones….
“My friends are allowed to use the iPad as much as they want.”
“My friends are allowed to watch X film.”
“My friends are allowed to do whatever they want!”
This is how I answer those arguments…
“Well, I have friends that don’t allow any screen time at all. I have friends that don’t let their friends have chocolate. I have friends that don’t have iPads in the house. Shall we do what MY FRIENDS do?
Funnily enough, this response, although often met will rolled eyes, tends to quiet those arguments.
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