LANSING, Mich. (WLNS) – It’s Parenting Connection Tuesday and 6 News is here for you with tips, strategies, and helpful reminders from child development experts on how we can be better parents and guardians.
Today’s topic: 6 ways to get kids into healthy digital habits.
With no school, screen time likely increased over the summer for many kids, but the time when students head back to the classroom is fast approaching and so many experts say the right time is now for parents to start reeling back the amount of time their kids sit in front of a tablet or computer. It’s also the right time to foster so new healthy digital habits, that experts say, will greatly help during the school year.
Titania Jordan, tech expert and author of ‘Parenting in a Tech World’ has for many years helped parents better understand why it’s important to manage their kids’ screen time – and offers these 6 ways to get kids and parents ready for the upcoming school year when it comes to all things digital:
*Parents need to get their kids to gradually start shutting down their digital devices a lot earlier, maybe by 5 to 10 minutes a day until school starts.
*Discuss school year tech rules as a family, like time limits or when or where screens are not allowed.
*Do an app inventory by deleting distracting apps or ones taking up too much space
*Download your school’s calendar onto your kids’ device and yours
*Set up a clean and organized homework and study space to help discourage screen time
*Talk about the hard stuff – like cyberbullying, inappropriate texting, and taking photos that don’t go away when they get posted.
Here’s a tip to lessen the chance that your kids are still looking at screens when it’s time to go to bed. Start a rule that all charging devices stay outside of the bedroom.
