Tech the compulsion away from screen time
Q HOW much screen time should I let my 13-year-old son have? He would be on his phone or tablet or playing the Xbox all day if we let him. Surely it can’t be good for him to spend such a long time staring at screens? Experimental psychologist Professor Andrew Przybylski, director of research at the Oxford Internet Institute, said: “It’s not good for someone to do one thing for long periods of time.
“Time spent on screens takes the place of a wider diet of behaviours and opportunities for growth and socialising.
“However, research doesn’t indicate there’s anything special or noteworthy that makes time spent on screens any worse than other sedentary activities, such as reading.
“Games and social media are more engaging for some but the problem is the science on the topic isn’t very good.
“An additional problem is, there’s no such thing as ‘screen time’. We don’t talk about nutrition in terms of ‘food time’ if we’re worried about childhood obesity or blame ‘bed addiction’ if our children seem down or depressed.
“Because the science hasn’t broken down screen time into calories, proteins, carbs or fats, there aren’t any hard and fast rules parents can use to set parameters.
“I’d suggest parents shift their focus from quantity to quality.
“I’m not saying we have to make sure the content is wholesome, rather that the motivation and engagement is.
“Ask yourself, ‘Is my child using the technology in an empowering, active, choiceful way – or is he or she doing so out of a sense of control or compulsion?’
“In other words, ‘Is my child using technology, or being used by it?’”
Parents should shift focus from quantity to quality