How children can be helped with screen time

These thoughts invite some fresh thinking on why screen time is so important to a child:

  • Your child is not addicted to screens.

They are tired.

After a full day of effort, a screen feels easy.

What looks like obsession is often regulation.

  • Screens are predictable.

School is not.

  • Children use devices to decompress — just like adults do.

  • When we fight the screen, we miss the stress underneath it.

  • Many children aren’t overstimulated.

They’re overextended.

  • A screen gives three things quickly:

certainty, control, and a dopamine lift.

  • Before removing the device, restore the child.

  • Snack first.

Connection second.

Questions later.

The more we understand how a child sees the computer in their life the better equipped we are to support and guide them with its use.
— Gail J Smith
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Before You Correct, Connect

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Helping Your Child Learn to Love Reading