Electronic Games have no negative effect on children, but watching TV does ?

A new study in the UK, involving about 11,000 children, has concluded that playing electronic games was not associated with increased risk of problems in children. However, they did find that watching TV for 3 hours or more daily predicted increasing conduct problems in children. (Read the full report here.)

The study looked at the children when they were 5 years old and again when they were 7 years old. So we don't really know how TV and video games would affect them later in life. The authors also mentioned that there were probably more parental restrictions on the age-appropriateness of the video games, compared to TV.

So in spite of the result of this study, I would caution parents to still exert their control in how long their children can watch TV or play video games. And more importantly, what their playing and/or watching. 

Watch and play with your children. Talk to them about what they're watching and playing. Get involved in their life. TV and games are just accessories of life. Use them but don't let them 'parent' your children. Let your children have fun with TV and games but take control. 

2 Hour Children's Screen Time.. Realistic or not ?...

2 Hour Children's Screen Time... Realistic or not ?

The American Academy of Pediatrics has just released a new recommendation for parents to limit children entertainment screen time to less than one or two hours a day. While some parents say that is unrealistic, I say it's very realistic. Children spend most of their time at school. Once they get home, they do their homework, and they should PLAY. Either play with their siblings, or do extracurricular activities, or simply play with their toys. One or two hours screen time a day is plenty.

My boys play games on the internet for 30 minutes each, 3 days a week (including weekends). They can watch DVD after they're done with their homework, so on average they watch about 3 movies a week (including weekends). The older children have more homework so they tend to have less screen time. So yes, it is realistic. You just have to work on it.

What happens is once you introduced a child to screen (be it TV or internet), he/she will be asking for more. Parents have to resist that temptation to allow their children a lot of screen time (especially if they're young). I believe that children will loose their creativity to play if they watch too much. That's what happened to mine, at least. They watch a lot of TV or internet, and then you ask them to stop and do something else and they say "But I'm bored, I don't know what to do." But if you stick to it, they'll find their creativity again and will start playing. Children can play all day if you let them. Once they're 'addicted' to screen, they'll forget about playing. Parents have to limit screen time and children will find that creativity again. 

In this day and age children are exposed to technology at a very young age. They grow up watching parents take pictures on their phones, reading e-books, searching on the internet, playing on the iPad, texting on the phone. So yes, kids will be using them too. But parents need to limit that. There's already so much discussion about the effect of too much screen time. Obesity and violence to name a few.

The point is, limit the time you allow kids to watch alone. And please, always be mindful what they're watching. That's why it's easier to allow them to watch DVD because you can see the ratings and probably even watch with them and discuss it with them. The internet is a lot harder to control, so yes, more restrictions here please. And letting children have their own cellphone ? I say wait till later.

Resources : 

Managing Media: We Need a Plan
One hour of daily media for kids 8-10 unrealistic, say parents