Let’s Get Real About… Screentime!
Okay mama, hear me out, what if everything we’ve been taught about screen time is a lie?
We are about to cover a hot topic here so first thing first, you know what’s best for your family. These are just my thoughts on a ~spicy~ topic.
I care about the future generation so much that I want to share with you all my experience and research. I want you to see the truth. So let me get real with ya, screen time isn’t all it’s cracked to be.
Is your child cranky, uninvolved, and throwing random tantrums? Are you worried that their language skills are behind? You’re not alone. We’ve been tricked and manipulated into believing that TVs, iPads, video games, and colorful singing light-up toys are good for our children. That maybe they’ll even learn the ABCs and colors! Boy, have we been lied to. All these things do are overwhelm, overstimulate, and decrease our children’s development.
HERE’S THE FACTS…
“Educational” light-up, singing toys, line every toy aisle. They seem ideal for developing minds, the perfect way to keep the kids entertained and provide a teaching element. We’re finding out that just the opposite is true. When the toy is talking and singing to the babies, they’re just listening. When children are playing with the electronic toys that are captivating all their attention they aren’t interacting with the world around them, they’re just watching and listening to some toy.
Studies even show that when kids have electronics they interact with their parents less and the parents speak to them less! The heartbreaking result of this is not only huge developmental delays in language but also a distance in the parent-child bond. Hearing conversations going on everywhere around them isn’t enough to encourage speech and connection- it has to be face-to-face.
Kids don’t know how to multitask yet, so even the TV running in the background is causing distraction and disconnect. Children aren’t learning socializing and playing skills because their full focus isn’t on building the block tower. Problems with reading and overall learning have been a consistent presence with kids that have a constant TV background.
Don’t even get us started on “educational” TV shows. It’s all a scam to make sure you don’t feel guilty about sticking your baby in-front of a TV for hours. When corporations are creating shows their goal isn’t to better society, it’s to make moo-lah!
You are smarter than that, Mama.
The best way to stop screen time is to cut it off cold turkey. Screen time has a drug-like effect on the brain. It releases dopamine, activates the reward cycle, produces an excess amount of stimuli, and also interferes with the development of the prefrontal cortex.
IT’S LITERALLY REWIRING THEIR BRAIN, Y’ALL.
Coming down from the dopamine high causes tantrums and fits but if you keep reinforcing positively, providing play, and staying consistent you will see a huge change.
WELL, I CAN’T BECAUSE…
- My family & friends will disagree!! We know that life isn’t always easy and your family and friends might not agree or understand. But don’t sweat it, you are the mama! If they don’t respect you then they don’t get the privilege of getting to hang out with you and your child. Show people the effects, educate them. Your child’s development comes before their feelings. It’s simple enough just to ask for toys that don’t have batteries.
- My kid gets bored easily!! Our culture has gotten it twisted up, boredom is not a bad thing! We should let our children be bored, it forces them to get creative and imaginative and think. Boredom also teaches kids how to deal with frustration and annoyance. And also how to handle with their impulses. So for starters, let your child be bored!
- I need them to be distracted while I work!! For the times when you need a couple of minutes and you need to distract your kids, play is the best way! Challenging play such as puzzles, building blocks, shape matching and more give them something to be focused on that will keep them entertained for hours.
Our children deserve the best quality- we’re not sure who decided that bright colors, obnoxious music, and unrealistic stories are “kid-friendly” but we’d like to have a chat with them! Our children deserve stories that are solid, realistic of the world around them, beautiful, and inspiring. Stories that are full of language and vocabulary that grow them and expand their knowledge.
My family and I very passionate and confident in our belief that children under 3 should have no screen time at all. There’s a time and place for everything- we know that computers and phones are necessary for school and the future. We believe now isn’t the time while their brains are trying to develop and understand the world around them! Babies come out of the womb ready to learn. What your child learns in their first, developmental years sets them up for the future!
Romans 12:2 says, “don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think.” Just because everybody else is doing it doesn’t mean that you have to!
Educate yourself, transform the way you think, & provide your child with a better future.
4 THINGS YOU CAN DO TODAY:
- Cut screen-time cold turkey. I know this seems so hard. I promise you can do it, just try it for 7 days and I swear you’ll see a difference.
- Have a read out loud story-time with your child! This should be apart of your daily routine.
- Encourage them to use their imagination through play-time.
- Educate yourself more & more! Be confident in your choices no matter what you decide to do.