Limiting screen time has ripple effect for kids
Posted by staff / April 7, 2014 childrenDouglas GentileIowa State Universityripple effect
A new study finds children get more sleep, do better in school, behave better, and see other health benefits when parents limit content and the amount of time their children spend on the computer or in front of the TV.
Douglas Gentile, an associate professor of psychology at Iowa State University, says the effect is not immediate and that makes it difficult for parents to recognize. As a result, parents may think it is not worth the effort to monitor and limit their children’s media use. But Gentile says they have more power than they realize.
“As parents, we don’t even see our children get taller and that’s a really noticeable effect. With media, what we’re often looking for is the absence of a problem, such as a child not gaining weight, making it even more difficult to notice,” says Gentile.
Full story at Futurity.
Photo credit: Scooter Lowrimore/Flickr
Oh the irony that most of us end up in front of a screen for ~8 hours a day, 5 days a week.
My kids hardly have anything to do with computers and they are top of the class.