Itâs no surprise that parents, families, and children had to rely on more screen time and technology use during the pandemic because of lockdowns, school closures, and having no access to friends or extracurricular activities for months on end. Anya Kamenetz, an award-winning journalist, former NPR correspondent, mother of two, and author of The Art of Screen Time: How Your Family Can Balance Digital Media and Real Life, has guidelines she uses for her own two children.
Kamentez has also shared her thoughts on other issues affecting children today, such as the climate crisis, on her social media accounts, @AnyaKamenetz on Instagram and @anya1anya on Twitter.
How Screen Time Affects Childrenâs Development
Research and studies have long pointed to negative repercussions on young children's development due to too much screen time. A study conducted by Jama Pediatrics found that âincreased use of mobile devices for calming children aged 3 to 5 years was found to be associated with decreased executive functioning and increased emotional reactivity at baseline.â
Besides emotional reactivity, excessive screen time also can affect a childâs participation in home life and family activities.
"Not just children, but also adults have a tendency to use screens to escape," Kamenetz said. "When your kids are really dependent on screens, it's hard for them to engage in other activities with the family, it's hard for them to try new things," she explained according to Insider.
These Are the Guidelines the Author Uses for Her Own Family
Kamentezâs guidelines for her own family look like 30 minutes per day during weekdays. The author shared that she didnât let her daughter have screen time until she was 2 and only allows her daughters to watch YouTube videos on Saturdays, reported Insider. But guidelines will be unique to each individual familyâs goals. Parents should provide open and honest communication about why family rules are made concerning screen time and tech use.
Kamentez admitted parenting during the pandemic taught her to be more flexible with this.
âI want to take this moment to apologize to anyone who faced similar constraints before the pandemic and felt judged or shamed by my, or anyoneâs, implication that they werenât good parents because they werenât successfully enforcing a 'healthy balance' with screens, either for themselves or their children. That was a fat honking wad of privilege speaking.â she said, according to the New York Times.
Diversify Screen Time Tech Use
The mother and author said she put on guided drawing videos and audiobooks, adding that her oldest daughter played Roblox and Minecraft to connect with friends during the pandemic, reported Insider. Kamentez also said that if their family watches shows together, she counts that as âshared timeâ versus screen time.
Make Room for Adjustments
Kamentez admitted mistakes are likely to happen when it comes to setting screen time boundaries or even changing and adjusting them as needed. "Realizing that you're not gonna get it perfect all the time, but hopefully you have a chance to make those repairs when you need to, I think is really important," she said, according to Insider.
On the authorâs socials, she has shared about her newest book release that further expands on changes children have experienced since the pandemic and how theyâve been shaped by them, The Stolen Year: How Covid Changed Childrenâs Lives and Where We Go From Here.
