With many kids and teens home for the summer, parents are looking for ways to keep them active and learning as screen time competes for attention.
University of Missouri Health Care pediatrician Doctor Benjamin Black says summer brings a break from routine, which can be especially challenging.
“For adolescents, certainly summer employment can be a way to get them out of the house. Adolescents are motivated by money. They like to have some money to spend on those video games," Black says. "In the absence of gainful employment, looking for volunteer roles can be a great way to get them out of the house.”
Black says not all screen time is negative.
“But certainly, you want to be thinking about what is that screen time replacing. So, if that screen time is replacing in-person social engagement, it's replacing sleep or it's replacing movement, that is not an ideal scenario," Black explains. "But if it's true downtime, that's actually a pretty appropriate time that a child can be engaging devices.”
Black says for teens, summer jobs or even volunteer work can be a great way to get them out of the house and away from screens.
Black says it’s less about a strict time limit and more about the quality of what kids are watching and doing on screens.
“If a person's aimlessly scrolling through YouTube videos, that's not time well spent, that's not cognitively stimulating, but there are other ways to engage with screens that can be more socially engaging, so playing interactive games, socially engaging with others," Black says.
Black says devices can be part of a healthy routine, but not if they crowd out sleep, movement, or real-world connection.
Missourinet