We've invited John Parsons to write a few articles for the next few newsletters. He will be sharing some gems that will be well worth a read. We are sure he will challenge all of us to think about our use of online tools and how we support our kids as they grow up using online platforms.

Screen time is the new white sugar and perhaps one of the most debated and stressful issues for parents in today’s modern world, a world in which screen enabled devices are now everywhere – what is the acceptable amount of screen time for my child?

And a very common issue parents tell me about is how frustrated they are that their children are constantly going online surfing the net or spending so much time playing online games seeming to ignore priorities in their life like schoolwork or taking part in family activities.

Many in the health sector, education sector, parents and increasing numbers of the children I work with believe we are becoming self-isolated sedentary beings. We seem to be sleeping less, moving less and socialising less. And logic and wisdom seem to shout out to us that information communication technology is a contributing factor.

Screen time is the amount of time per day a person uses any form of technology which is screen enabled. This includes Smartphones, Televisions, Tablets and video consoles designed primarily to connect to TV’s.

Screen Time Activities Include:

Recreational time: playing online games, surfing the internet, watching TV, playing online games on multilevel servers with other players, talking via camera/video enabled platforms and being creative.

Goal orientated time: educational commitments like homework and research, doing work for
your employer

They allow young people to do research and learn about the world in which they live. To me that would seem like something we would want to support and encourage. And then off course we have the games that people play, these games can be collaborative and educational or destructive and repulsive. Asking a young person how much screen time they spend each day is impossible to calculate with any reliability. If we want to interact with this world, we have to use screens and often not by choice.

Imagine a mother and father with a child of 3, a child who is 5 and a child who is 10 living in a small house. How could a mother or father really hope to completely stop the 5-year-old from any exposure to the older child’s screen time? Another issue that is of great concern is children are becoming sedentary, and overuse of technology generally means we sit for too long. So, a natural response from mom and dad would be to get the child to put the technology down and go outside and play. Well that is easy for some parents, especially if you live in a small rural town where everybody knows each other. But what happens when the family live on the 10th floor of a block of flats in a major city. Suddenly it’s not so easy to just go outside. Let’s go one step further, what about parents that are working day and night to put food on the table and just don’t have time to take the kids out to play one hour per day to get their daily exercise.

Helping to raise my own 3 children into adulthood and working in schools and front line in online child protection I have learned that life and things parents contend and deal with rarely have black and white solutions. Life is complex and one size never fits all.

However, there are some basics we need to focus on as they contribute to a child’s health
and wellbeing.

Sleep

In my work I am constantly seeing children turn up to school who have not got there required amount of sleep for their age. Lack of sleep will impact a child’s health and wellbeing. Go and ask any health professional about what lack of sleep does to the body, you may be shocked.

Try to create an environment that allows your child to get the correct amount of sleep 7 days a week Sometimes that is not possible because the schedules children operate in. However, do remember lack of appropriate sleep is a major contributor to poor health. Remember a teenager who hasn’t had enough sleep is at increased risk of having an accident while driving. Lack of sleep can harm the driver, passengers and others on the road.

Children and young people (5–17 years)

For school-aged children and young people (aged 5 to 17 years) high levels of physical activity, low levels of sedentary behaviour, and sufficient sleep each day achieves greater health benefits.

Uninterrupted sleep of 9 to 11 hours per night for those aged 5 to 13 years and 8 to 10 hours per night for those aged 14 to 17 years, with consistent bed and wake-up times

An accumulation of at least 1 hour a day of moderate to vigorous physical activity (incorporate vigorous physical activities and activities that strengthen muscles and bones, at least 3 days a week)

Reff: Ministry Of Health: https://www.health.govt.nz/our-work/preventative-health-wellness/physical-activity#kids

Movement

Create daily opportunities for regular exercise. Be mindful of how Screen time increases over the weekends or holiday periods. No more than 2 hours per day at the weekend or on school holidays for recreational use. If they don’t self-regulate help them by taking the device of them.

Fortunately, at school when they are at break times, they run, shout, climb, bounce, laugh
and socialise.

If they have homework, ask them how long they need to do it. You could also ask the school what time they allocate to outside schoolwork is.

Children and young people (5–17 years)

An accumulation of at least 1 hour a day of moderate to vigorous physical activity

(incorporate vigorous physical activities and activities that strengthen muscles and bones, at least 3 days a week) No more than 2 hours per day of recreational screen time.

For the remainder of the day:

Sitting less and moving more – break up sitting time

Participating in structured and unstructured light physical activities.

Reff:: Ministry Of Health: https://www.health.govt.nz/our-work/preventative-health-wellness/physical-activity#kids

Socializing

No ICT at family mealtimes. Turn off Tv’s and try not to answer phones or text messages during these threptic exchanges. Reduce any nose pollution you have control over. When eating food together breakfast, lunch and dinner try to disconnect from all forms of ICT within the home and any other external triggers. This includes TV, magazines and any form of noise pollution you have control over. Disconnect completely 15 minutes before dinner and try not reconnecting for 15 minutes after. Eating and talking can be threptic for children who are dealing with stress. If you go to a restaurant or on a picnic, try doing the same thing.

The role of us as parent/caregiver is to nurture and protect our offspring as they grow, empowering them to go on to live successful and meaningful lives. One of the most important questions we can ever ask a child is how are you feeling? and the one of the most important gifts we can give a child is the courage to tell us.

Sitting with our children, being present in their lives lets them know on a daily basis they are valuable, they are loved, and they are unique.

John Parsons

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