Screen Time

Screen time. This issue of screen time is an ongoing discussion in my house. We are in a time of such fantastic technology and much of it requires a screen. Kids see us on our screens all the time. Our phones, the computer, the television, ipad, ipod, you get the idea. So it is only natural that they want in on the screen time too. We control what Cooper watches on television, what movies he watches, which games he plays on the ipad and so on. Even with this control, I have a hard time deciding how much is okay. This may sound obvious to some of you or may be a non issue but for us we are still trying to figure it out. I know research says too much TV is bad, but what about all the other types of screen. I know I don't want him to be one of those teenagers who only wants to play video games and I know I don't want him playing the violent games. Most times, I think his time would be better spent playing and being creative. It really blows me away how good he is at navigating the computer or the ipad. In some ways, it is helping him learn to read, which he is doing all on his own, by the way. Actually, you would think he could read when you see him using the ipad. He loves to get on groovshark and play DJ for the family (groovshark is an online radio, check it out) . While this is very limited screen time and the end result is music, he is still looking at a screen. In the photos above, that is what he is doing, selecting the next song. This is after I told him that he was done with screen time for the day. My point is, it is so hard to escape it. I usually try to keep his screen time under an hour a day. Some days that is easy peasy but some it is not. How do you regulate screen time? I would love to know.