Research shows that the average time kids spend on screens is on the rise. This is definitely a concern for their physical and mental growth, so how can parents limit screen time for their young ones? Also, one of the reasons is modern slang, which is not always clear to parents and it is useful to learn that fml meaning like example. In this article, we will discuss ways to limit internet time for kids in detail.
Why Should Parents Limit Screen Time?
Here are some reasons why you should try to reduce your children’s screen time.
Improved eye health
Children use different applications and games to glue their eyes to their phones for long hours. Prolonged exposure to screens can cause myopia (nearsightedness). Therefore, parents must reduce screen time to reduce eye strain and avoid potential vision-related problems.
Quality Sleep
Excessive hours of screen time interfere with the melatonin production in your body. This affects the child’s sleep cycle. Hence, screen times must be reduced significantly to ensure quality sleep for your children.
Improved mental health
Children who use screens for 7 hours or more in a day are twice as likely to develop anxiety. Further, the lack of social interactions also impacts their confidence in a negative manner. Reducing this time would allow them to engage in various activities that can improve their overall cognitive abilities.
How Can Parents Distract a Child from Using Their Phone?
Understand that limiting screen time for kids can be a bit challenging. Hence, we will share a couple of proven tricks that can be useful for you:
1. Maintain a strict mobile usage schedule.
Setting clear rules about mobile phone usage could be a viable solution in this case. In this schedule, you may add restrictions such as limiting mobile usage time (2-3 hours a day), setting a daily timetable, restricting some applications, etc. This instills a sense of responsibility and discipline in your children.
2. Indulge them into other activities.
Ensure young children spend time on sports and leisure activities instead of video games. As a parent, you should encourage them to participate in the sports they like and join them whenever possible. Programs like lola after school programs can also provide structured opportunities for physical activity and social engagement. This will open up communication and collaboration with them.
3. Set Data Limits
These days, smartphones come with daily or monthly data limit trackers. You can simply enable the data limits for their phone for each day. On your part as a parent, you must increase or decrease the limit according to the circumstances. However, you must ensure the children do not see mobile usage as a reward or punishment.
Parentaler: The Best Tool to Limit Internet Time
Apart from the abovementioned solutions, you can count on applications like Parantaler to restrict screen time and monitor their activities online. This is quite useful for parents who remain engrossed in their work and have less time to spend with their kids. The Parentaler tracking app provides you access to their mobile phone in real-time. Once you install this, you are all set to get started monitoring the internet usage of the target phone.
But how? Parentaler comes with a feature called app blocking. You can remotely block any application from the target device and even limit the maximum time the user can use an app. So, once you know what your children’s most used applications are, you can set a timer for each of them.
Additionally, Parentaler allows you to monitor all activities on the phone such as SMS, calls, social media (Instagram, Snapchat, WhatsApp and more), TikTok, browser history, gallery and many more!
Other Methods That Can Help
Though Parentaler is the most effective solution for limiting screen time for kids, you may also rely on some alternate methods. Here’s how you can do it.
● Install Family Link
● Create a Google Account for your child using Family Link
● Select the device you want to set limits for
● At the bottom center, you will find “Controls.”
● Head to “Daily limit” and tap “Change for today.”
● Select the hours and minutes in the tab
● Click Done.
And that’s all you need to do.
However, in terms of utility and control over the target phone, Parentaler surely has a competitive advantage over other applications.
Conclusion
Summing up, we have discussed some tricks for limiting screen times for your young one. We hope now, you understand why should screen time be limited, too. The abovementioned tips and tricks have proven effective in ensuring a child’s online safety and reducing screen time.
However, to ensure that all the rules of mobile usage contracts are being adhered to, monitoring apps like Parentaler must be used. As an alternative, you may even use Family Link.
Last but not least, parents should understand that transitioning from excessive phone usage to control requires time and empathy. Hence, parents must provide the required support to their kids and lead by example in reducing screen time.
