How parents can help children reduce screen time
Perhaps this is the perfect winter break for parents to ask their children to detox digitally, according to experts. Some said it would help their imaginations, while others said it was a great way to see their families again.
‘A digital detox is just great for kids to practice skills such as delayed gratification and disappointment management,’ said Noona Nafousi, trainer and founder of coaching company Neo Noor.
‘It’s not removing their screens, it’s giving them time to recharge, with themselves, with family, and with the world. And it’s a chance to show them that boredom is not evil. And that’s when creativity and solving problems start really coming into play."
The majority of the schools in the UAE are taking winter vacation starting from 16th December and resume in January 2025. As Sarah Maamari — a child, adolescent and family psychologist — put it, it’s a good time to "reboot routines" and try something new.
"At the break they can do some play that helps them to think creatively and get active and build family relationships," she said. "Disgust is not the removal of all screen time but instead a balance in which physical versus virtual life is important," she says.
How to get started
The therapy Marisa Peer told me that parents should make sure the digital detox was a "gamy, social process" instead of a strict no. "Mean by asking them what they’d like to play instead of looking at a screen," she said. "Maybe they want to play a new sport, paint or make crafts or even a fort in the living room.
‘There had to be boundaries like tech-free meal times or tech-free evenings,’ she said. "You could even make it fun with a family screen-free challenge with a prize for all who stick to it, not just kids," she said.
Sarah: ‘You’re going to need extra help working parents. ‘If you’re trying to reach out to caregivers and talk through the plan, maybe provide a list of approved activities for children to play while they’re home,’ she said.
"It was also a chance to take some new skills," Noona said of the vacation. ‘I like to give my kids a chance to be independent and get their hands dirty. Emotional resilience is cultivated even through journaling or gratitude exercises. Oh, and board games or puzzles, that are so easy to teach patience, cooperation and strategy while you have a good time together.
Importance of screen break
Marisa shared a story of a student she had helped introduce screen time to. "She was incredibly insecure because she was comparing herself to influencers on social media and not going out because she wasn’t "good enough"," she said.
‘In one session, we discovered [her assumption] that her self-worth correlated with validation from others, and once we dispelled those assumptions, she not only stopped spending more time in front of a screen, but began to make connections and engage in activities in the real world, and said for the first time in years she felt okay being herself,’ said Hollis.
Parents should begin the process, Sarah says, "modeling healthy behaviours, like placing phones away at family dinner or important conversations" because that will lead their children to "consider why they use their device" and ‘have them make more deliberate choices’.
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