Studies have shown how excess screen time can impact a child's well-being, from obesity, mental health issues to thinking and language skills. Screen time for more than an hour has been linked to lower brain development in preschoolers.
Molly DeFrank, a mom blogger from Simi Valley California has found a way to keep her kids away from screens by putting a blanket ban on it.
In a social media post, the mother talked about how doing this encouraged her four kids to go back to reading quietly in bed, seven months after she banned screen time for them.
Molly initially limited screen time to one hour a day but she realised even that was affecting her kids’ creativity. This led her to impose a complete ban.
“We’d only allowed an hour a day, but still, the screens apparently muted their creativity, caused grumpiness, fighting and whining. I was not into it. So we pulled the plug, literally. They protested for a hot minute and then we all moved on. I could not believe how easy it was. Seriously, it was like I had my kids back,” wrote the mother.
Molly also talked about her daughter has crossed five reading levels already, thanks to the ban. She added, “I watched my kids go from screen-dependent to cooperatively playing, creating and even making their own ‘school’. I couldn’t believe how easy it was.”
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For Molly’s kids, books have become their best companion now. “A few Saturdays into our screen detox, my kids woke up one by one and saw my husband and I reading in bed. They grabbed their own books and joined us. At restaurants they bring a stack of books instead of propped ipads,” she further wrote.
Studies have shown how excess screen time can impact a child’s well-being, from obesity, mental health issues to thinking and language skills. Screen time for more than an hour has been linked to lower brain development in preschoolers. Besides, it can also impact parents’ bonding with your child, with the two getting to spend lesser and lesser quality time with one another.
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