Parenting & Screen Time Sticking a Balance

Parenting is often a natural process out of love and affection. It is largely being led by the mutual feeling of dependence between kids and parents. All animals are naturally being wired to take care of their off springs till them achieve a state of having ability to take care of their basic needs. Human Beings being at the zenith of intelligence have a broader perspective and need for parenting. Our parenting go way beyond raising children with ability to find and have food to raising emotionally, mentally sound and stable individuals. This concept of parenting holds good for generations to generations of mankind.

Each generation has its own opportunities and challenges in bringing up their children. Our generation has the opportunity of technological advancement. Well, nothing comes with only positives. Technology too has its flip side. Increased screen time and its effects on physical, mental and psychological wellbeing of our children is the challenge modern parents have to face and strike a balance at

Let’s explore what ‘parenting in this generation’ demands in general and what parents could possibly take care to address the concern of children spending a lot of time in front of different screens, without compromising on preparing them for the world awaiting them.

There is a need to become a connected parent by knowing the philosophy of connected parenting helps their children to make the best use of modern technology in a safe mode

1 To encourage a child’s uniqueness

You should find out ways to encourage the hidden abilities within your child and then celebrate their uniqueness in a creative way that suits them. This is only possible if you spend quality time with your kids. As all children are unique by birth and have specific but different qualities that require mentorship and polishing only to lead a successful life. You should shape them according to their taste and will by giving their favorite skill (according to their interest) to them.

2 To nurture a child’s qualities

Parents are the only personalities that watch their kids grow from small innocent infants to full-fledged young ones with a lot of qualities (bad/good), ideas, styles, preferences, and emotions. Now, parents have a strong responsibility to nurture those qualities within their kids that make them aware of themselves, that tell them who they are, what is right, and what is wrong in today's digital world.

3 To build a child’s personality

Parents should be fully involved in the kid’s personality from a very early stage. Make sure they are confident enough to explain any fear or any feeling from their parents freely. This confidence makes it easy to get into new experiences, rise from failures with no regret, struggle for innovations, and usage of positive technology towards success. And, finally, building a nourishing personality within your kids.

4 To work on your self-esteem issues

Being parents, you must know the most about your kid's approach. Kids copy their parents’ lives and behavior. So, if you are not willing to accept the flaws and mistakes taken from you, never expect from your child too. Remember, parents are role models for their kids, so, you are responsible only to build healthy characteristics and the best version of your kids in the modern digital era.

Being parents, we are worried about what technology is doing with our kids nowadays. Due to spending much of their time sharing on social media, they are having serious impacts like lack of emotional skills, decreasing their empathizing ability, and robbing them of creativity.

Following are some suggestive to keep a check on screen time to strike a balance between their indulgence in online world and real world.

Parents could define certain rules at home, digital devices should remain unplugged at mealtime, bedtime, study time, and during playtime. You can even identify rooms called screen-free zones like the reading room establishing some times of the day free of screens.

Parents must consider good quality apps for tracking the apps used by their kids. Many apps have been introduced for this purpose available on android and iOS. It helps a lot in determining time usage on different apps, you can create filters or block useless/harmful materials for your kid’s device.

This is one of the dangerous key elements in parenting. When parents have a workload at home with their devices, no time spent on their kids may lead to a bad impact on kids. Remember one thing, this is not their fault if you don’t have quality time for your kids. Try to modify or handle your workload anywhere else like the office, as you need space and time both for your task completion. You must know that too much usage harms the family relationship badly.

Being a parent, you are strong enough to decide what is right or wrong for you and your family's kids. So, plan according to your goals as you want to produce in your family. Pay attention to all family acts towards screen use. If you find something not good for kids, change it according to your plans but start with your behavior first.

Parents' heavy use of devises may result in negative interactions, lacking family learning opportunities, internal home tensions, and conflicts. So it is much necessary to find a balance of technology use for parents as well. Here are some suggested tips for maintaining balance:

1. Strong look at the usage of screens at home and its benefits A self-introspection from time to time into the usage of different screens at home; mobile phones, desk tops, lap tops, tablets, television etc against the benefit of the time and energy spend in short and long term helps us realise and make changes in the way we deal with our screens.

2. Strong look at warning signs of unhealthy tech usage Some kids often complain of getting bored or unhappy, or sleepy due to the limited access to technology. As a result, they show harsh behavior, and neglect face-to-face communication with everyone at home and school. Parents should note these types of signs. No one knows what the current digital world will look like in the coming years from now, but it’s sure that with growing technology, children’s involvement also grows. So, as a parent, you should update the definition of healthy or unhealthy effects or usage of tech towards your children, it's a healthy responsibility.

Parenting is not just about infusing values and beliefs in children that we believe and practice but to create individuals with strong values and consensus to decide right and wrong as they face their world. There is no doubt that the world ahead is a tech savvy, tech lead one. Our children must be equipped not just to use the technology but to create and improvise to create a better world for them and the generations to come. As they embrace this journey called life, they must have a sound body and mind capable to protect and preserve Humanity. Sticking a balance using technology and engage in the real world is thus quite important. Parents have a key role to play to ensure the balance.

As humans, there is no better duty for us than keeping our next generation intact and capable

MS. SANJANA BHARDWAJ

• sanjana.bhardwaj@gmail.com