ScreenTime

SCREENTIME

According to the article in this Link it would seem the majority of Kiwi youngsters have no set restrictions when it comes to playing computer games, using phones or browsing the internet outside of school. A total of 16 per cent of high schoolers said there was a limit on screen time at home, while 37 per cent of primary school students reported having a limit.

This is a tough one. Some of our boys are already on their laptops for 5 or 6 periods at school (excluding time on their cell phones), and at home they might have another 3 or 4 hours.

Here are two sides of the argument from 2 year 9 students:

Max

Parents should be limiting the amount of screen time their teenage children have. I agree with this statement because teenagers become fixated with looking at a screen, playing games or checking social media. Children will take their devices to bed with them and will stay on it for hours after they should be asleep and when they do eventually get off they can't get to sleep for a good wee while because they have been starring at it for hours resulting in them being tired and unable to learn the next day.

Whereas if parents limited the amount of time they have on a device and make them get off at a certain time at night and not allow their devices in their rooms the teenagers will get enough sleep to be able to learn properly the next day.

Limiting the amount of time children get on a device isn't just going to help them sleep better but it will stop them becoming addicted and feeling like they have to have it with them 24/7 as well as they will have more time to actually be able to go out and socialize with people not on a screen or through a phone. If parents keep allowing their children as long as they want on a device they won't know any other way and will be glued to a device for the rest of their lives.

Ollie

Parents should be limiting the amount of screen time their teenage children have. I strongly disagree with that statement. We know that teenagers average over 8 hours of screen time a day, most of that time is on doing school work. I know that because I do about 4 and half to 5 hours looking at a screen for school, and I spend an hour or 2 on homework each night, and if I was a day boy, I would spend about 2 hours on my phone and PlayStation after school. So if you think about it, about 6 or 7 of those 8 or 9 hours is spent on school work. Yes I agree that you should get your phone taken off you at night, because you might end up on it all night. So to sum it up, I think the only restriction you should have is getting your phone taking off you at night, or if it is really getting out of hand.

Not an easy one with no easy solutions. In the article Rachel Cunliffe mentions that she and her husband tried to set limits but with four young children, that was often hard to police. "Now, in our house, we have a list of morning, afternoon and evening jobs to be done on school days before the kids are allowed screen time,'' she said. "By the time they've done everything expected of them and their out-of-school activities, like swimming and karate, they're not often long periods of time left for gaming.