Screen Time (The day CoComelon Died)

Well, the response to the blog about CoComelon and their methods has been a little overwhelming.

If you haven’t seen it, check here.

If you have, then thanks for reading, and thanks for sharing.

So what next then?

First, let me address the elephant in the blog: Yes I have a kids YouTube channel. It is for educational purposes, but there is no ignoring the irony, and potential hypocrisy, of what I’m about to say.

The intentions behind my channel, however, are not malicious. I want to provide something for kids with language delays, etc. Intentions, in this day and age, are important. I swear my intentions are good.

With that out of the way, we need to talk about screen time.

The Mayo Clinic has a great article addressing screen time and its problems, as well as how to handle screens in your home.

So let’s get into it.

WHY SCREEN TIME CAN BE A PROBLEM

Okay. Buckle up.

Screen time and exposure to, and this is important, POOR-QUALITY programming has been linked to several problems in children including, but not limited to, attention problems, behavioral issues, delays in language development, and sleep issues.

This is a big deal.

Kids younger than 2 learn more via play and interactions with real live humans than they will via screens. Not only that, but their brains actually, physically benefit from unstructured play way more than they do from any form of electronic media.

After the age of 2, according to the Mayo Clinic, kids MAY benefit from some types of screen time. Especially if the programming contains music, movement activities, and stories.

But it’s still not that simple.

Because, no matter your desires as a parent or therapist, you’re going to use or come in contact with screens. Maybe you are sick and have to use screens to help get through a family of five having the flu. Maybe your children are at a family member’s home and they turn on the TV or hand over an iPad.

It’s going to happen. And you shouldn’t panic.

So what should we do?

HOW TO SET RULES AND ENGAGE WITH SCREENS

1) Watch Together.

Remember movie nights? Remember TGIF? I do. Some of my best memories are sitting around the TV, eating pizza, and watching Jeopardy with my mom, dad, and sis.

We can do the same thing with screens now. Watch a show together. Talk about the show. Talk about why the characters are reacting to events the way they are. Talk about emotions. Why is Elmo laughing? Why does the puppy look sad? Dance to the music, and sing the songs later. Media can be active and fun. Lots of what is out there is meant to be.

2) Do Research.

Did you know that you can watch kids shows without your kids?

I know that screening 50 different versions of ‘Wheels on the Bus’ sounds painful, but it’s important. If you know a show or channel is safe, then I promise you’ll feel better.

Further, when you send them to grandma’s house for the weekend, instead of saying ‘no screens,’ which will NOT happen at grandma’s house, you can say, ‘Don’t watch Blippi, but you can watch Mister Clay, Crash Course Kids, or Homeschool Pop. Giving options makes people feel like they have control and not like they are being punished.

And check out sites like Common Sense Media. Here you can check out reviews for shows based on your kids age. It’s a great site and easy to use.

3) Use parental controls and locks.

YouTube Kids does a decent job of filtering out inappropriate content for kids, thought it’s not a perfect system. Also, so few people know about Guided Access (watch my how to use guided access video here), which is a function on iOS devices that lets you the parent set limits and lock your kid into certain apps so that they don’t have free rein of the web.

4) Ask Your Kids What They Watch.

If your kids go to a friends sleep over, ask them or the other kids parents what was viewed. Then you can do research and address issues that need to be addressed.

5) Avoid Fast-Paced Programing.

If you watch my videos, or Sesame Street videos, you’ll notice how slow the transitions are. There are lots of static shots. There is a reason for this.

Faster transitions, i.e. cutting quickly to different angles or characters etc., is a tactic used to make people attend. Kids get bored quickly, so if we use these transitions, then they will watch more intently. But fast transitions are bad for developing brains. Check out PedDocTalk TV, and this video in particular, for more info about this.

6) Read Books, Play, and Listen to Podcasts and Music.

Y’all, play with your kids.

Let them lead the play.

This is how they learn.

This is how they work.

It’s also okay if they are bored. We can guide them through this. Furthermore, boredom sparks creative ideas.

Listen to kids music, podcasts, and books on tape. I’ll put my recommendations, as well as recommendations for GOOD YouTube channels, in another post.

And one last thing. Don’t feel guilty about screen time. Your children will be exposed to screens. It will happen. I have three kids and work with kids 8 hours a day. Trust me.

They will be okay. The point of this post is to educate you so you can do better and encourage others to do better.

Good luck out there. You’re a good parent.