TV, Technology and Social Media Use - Getting The Balance Right Can Be A Challenge! So What Are The Recommended Guidelines For Parents Of Young Children?

Children are growing up in an environment saturated by technology both traditional and new and are using it at an increasing rate.  It's exciting to think about the potential use of these devices and new technologies in educating our children but there's an increasing concern that their overuse during crucial periods of brain development could have long lasting detrimental impact.  
As a mother of 3 boys I know it can be challenging to get the balance right between allowing some television watching and computer game playing as well as ensuring they have plenty of outside activety time and play time.  I've found it helpful from an early age to establish clear rules as a family around television and technology use.  As a family we've needed to regularly discuss and adjust these rules as the boys have got older.  
I know this topic can be controversial and lots of people have strong opinions on what's okay and what's not. Some families I've talked to have very strict rules around television and social media use and others have few or no rules at all and the television is allowed to be on most of the time.  What I do know is it is really important for the development of young children's minds that we get this balance right.  To do so we need to know what the health guidelines are for young children regarding television, technology and social media use.  Getting the balance right and having clear household guidelines while children are young sets a foundation for getting the balance right as they get older.  I feel it's important as a parent and a health professional to stay up to date with what the research tells us and to share this knowledge.  
It's important to be aware that population-based studies continue to show a connection between excessive television watching in early childhood and cognitive, language, and social/emotional delays, likely secondary to  reduced parent-child interaction when the television is on and poorer family functioning with high media use.  Research also tells us that the content of what we let our kids watch is also crucial: switching from violent content (e.g. violent cartoons on some of the kids channels) to  educational/prosocial content (e.g. Playschool, Seasame Street, Mr Maker) results in significant improvement in behaviour.  ​

Research tells us that we as parents need to be mindful of our own social media use as heavy parent use of mobile devices is associated with reduced verbal and nonverbal interactions between parents and children and may be associated with more parent-child conflict.  Since reading the article I've certainly been a lot more mindful of the behaviour I'm modelling to my children when I reach to check my iphone when we are out and about.  We need to be mindful that children copy our behaviours and heavy media use by a parent is a strong predictor that the child will also have excessive screen time habits.  Hence, we as parents reducing our own media use and focusing on enhancing our parent-child interactions may be a very important area of behaviour change to focus on.

A lot more research in this area is needed but there is enough information to be able to provide families with specific guidance in managing their young children's media use.   Hence, I've summarised guidelines from an article published in November 2016 in Pediatrics, the official journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics, providing clear guidelines for parents on what's okay and what's not for children from 0-5 years of age. As pointed out in the article, this  period is a time of crucial brain development where secure attachment and relationships are established and the foundations for health behaviours are determined.

Recommended Guidelines for Parents of Young Children:

1) Establish a Family Media Use Plan (www.healthychildren.org/MediaUsePlan) as early as possible. 

2) Avoid digital media use (except video-chatting with a parent/carers support) in children younger than 18 to 24 months.

3) For children 18 to 24 months of age (if you want to introduce digital media) choose high-quality programming (e.g. Play School, Seasame Street, Mr Maker) and watch it together with your child, because this is how toddlers learn best.  Letting children sit and watch television and play on apps on their own at this age should be avoided.

4) Do not feel pressured to introduce technology early.  Children will intuitively work them out quickly once they start using them at home or in school.

5) For children 2-5 years of age, limit screen use to 1 hour per day of high quality programming.  Watch the program together with your child to help them understand what they are seeing, and help them apply what they learn to the world around them.  Coviewing promotes enhanced learning and greater interaction.

6) Monitor children's media content and what apps are being used or downloaded.  Test apps before a child uses them or play them with the child and ask them what they think about the app.  Avoid fast-paced programs (young children do not understand them as well) and apps with lots of distracting or any violent content.  

7) Turn off televisions, ipads and other devices when not in use.

8) Avoid using media as the only way to calm or settle your child.  Although there are occasional times (e.g. medical procedures, airplane flights) when media is useful as a settling and soothing strategy, there is concern that using media as a strategy to calm children could lead to problems with limit setting, or the "inability of children to develop their own emotion regulation".  A Paediatrician or Paediatric Occupational Therapist may be able to provide further help in this area if needed.

9) No screen 1 hour before bedtime.  Children who have screen time right up until bedtime have poorer sleep.  Remove devices from bedrooms before bed.

10) Keep bedrooms, mealtimes and parent-child playtimes screen free for children and parents.  Parents can choose a "do not disturb" option on their phones during these times. 

Written by Sarah Creagh using content from the following publication:
Media and Young Minds, Council On Communication and Media Pediatrics 2016;138 (5)