Gadget addiction is becoming a problem that’s spiraling out of control today. According to a survey by Hindustan Times, close to 65% of children have an electronic device addiction. Furthermore, the report revealed that 5 in 10 kids can’t keep away from devices for even 30 minutes. This is certainly not the way to go. Today, we discuss a few pointers to reduce screen time and generally prevent gadget addiction.
Sign up for physical sports
If you’re going to be reducing the time your child spends on fun technology, you need to replace it with even more fun activities in the real world. Physical sports are a particularly great idea. In fact, the euphoria that sports generate can over time provide a greater lure to your child compared to electronic past times.
Some great physical sports ideas for kids include:
- Swimming
- Football
- Cycling
- Tennis
Advisably, we find that team sports are the best to lower child gadget addiction.
Don’t leave gadgets hanging around
When electronic devices are always at arm’s length, then this will do no favors for your endeavor to prevent screen addiction. If you are to reduce gadget addiction, you need to make it harder for your child to access these technologies.
For example, installing a TV in your child’s bedroom might not be the best idea. Additionally, you want to have a safe and lockable location where you can store away your household’s electronic gadgets after use.
Limit screen time
Too much screen time can lead to eye strain and may even impair social skills. Many parents often use electronic gadgets as a distraction to get work done around the house or to relax and catch your breath.
However, you would do well to limit how much screen time your child takes every day. In particular, here are the guidelines across age groups as per OSF HealthCare:
- Children below 2 years generally shouldn’t be having any screen time
- 1 hour daily is the maximum for children aged 2 through 5 years
- 2 hours per day is the maximum for children aged 5-17 years.
Of course, these durations exclude the time when your child uses an electronic device for homework.
Teach your child to restrain
Ultimately, it’s all for nothing if your child doesn’t understand that you’re making changes for their own benefit. They can bend the rules or get around them to still use these gadgets anyway.
To prevent that from happening, you want to educate your child about why moderation is important. Perhaps provide examples of how too much screen time can ruin an aspect of their health to help them understand better. Overall, you want to teach your child about self-restraint, which is ultimately the best solution to help your family stop child gadget addiction.
Gadget addiction is bad for cognitive health
According to an NIH study, about 46% of students with high gadget addiction tend to suffer from poor cognitive function. Therefore, in order to boost the mental well-being, physical health, and social skills of children, it’s important that you embrace these and many other strategies that will help you reduce gadget addiction.